Roshan Mishra

Biography

Roshan is the Director of Taragaon Next and a visual artist based in Kathmandu.
He began working at the Taragaon Museum in 2013 and played an instrumental role in transforming it into Taragaon Next in 2022.

He heads the Nepal Architecture Archive (NAA), which is run by the Saraf Foundation for Himalayan Traditions and Culture, a patron organization of the Taragaon Next. For the past 11 years, he has been affiliated with the institution, working with its permanent collection, launching the Contemporary Art Gallery, and creating an archive and library.

In 2014, Roshan officially opened a contemporary art gallery at Taragaon and began curating works of Nepali contemporary art. Since then, he has curated numerous exhibitions. In 2024, he co-curated an exhibition titled Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now at the Rubin Museum, working with 32 artists from the Himalayan region.

In 2018, after returning from the British Museum’s ITP, he initiated the Object in Focus exhibition series at Taragaon Next, focusing on contemporary art, he has organized seven series so far. In 2019, he launched the Taragaon Studio program, providing dedicated working and exhibition spaces at Taragaon Next.

Roshan is also actively involved with Sagarmatha Next, where he support the resident artists and art projects.

He is the founder of the Global Nepali Museum and Nepalian Art and an initiator of the Mishra Museum. He is a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, specializing in research, documentation, and archiving programs. He studied Fine Arts in Nepal, Japan, and the UK and holds a Master’s degree in Digital Art.

Roshan is a member of ICOM Nepal, CIMAM, IKT, the British Art Network, and other organizations.

In 2020, along with four other members, he formalized the Nepal Heritage Repatriation Campaign. Since then, he has been actively involved in efforts to bring back Nepal’s lost and stolen heritage. The campaign has successfully recovered almost 60 artefacts from museums, private collections, and auction houses within four years and has identified over 200 Nepali artefacts that illegally left the country.

Further details can be found at: https://linktr.ee/r0shanmishra

At the British Museum
During his time on the International Training Programme, Roshan was based in the Asia Department, and spent his partner placement at Glasgow Museums.

In 2018 participants were asked to plan and propose a temporary exhibition, drawing on their existing museum experience and the skills learnt during the programme. Roshan worked with Hoda Abulgheni El Chayah (Lebanon) on his Object in focus project, A Story of a Youth.

Roshan’s place on the International Training Programme was generously supported by the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust.

Legacy Projects
In October 2019 Roshan participated in the ITP MA Conference programme in Brighton. With fellows from Egypt, India, Armenia and China, Roshan attended a programme structured around the 3-day MA Conference on Sustainable and Ethical Museums in a Globalised World.

Roshan returned to the British Museum in 2022 in the role of Senior Fellow. He supported the ITP team in the build up to, during and after the Annual Programme, attended by 15 museum professionals from 12 countries. Following on from this Roshan also took on the role of guest editor of the 2023 ITP Newsletter.

Roshan is also a member of the ITP Advisory Board.

ITP Newsletter Publications
ITP Newsletter Issue 6 (2019) Connectivity in the 21st century: making collections accessible; Global Nepali Museum – a database of Nepali objects
ITP Newsletter Issue 10 (2023) Contemporary art in traditional Museum space