Vandana Anuraag Prapanna

Biography

Vandana is Senior Curator at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai with a particular focus on Indian miniature painting.

During her time at CSMVS Vandana has co-curated the following permanent galleries in the Museum with her colleague Manisha Nene:
Indian Miniature Painting Gallery (2010)
Karl and Meherbai Khandalavala Gallery – the gallery is based on the personal collection of Mr. Karl J Khandalavala, the former Chairman of the museum who has donated his entire collection of 800 valuable artifacts to the museum (2011)
Indian Textiles and costumes – 2015
Himalayan Art – 2016.

In 2010, Vandana contributed entries on Indian Miniature Paintings for the publication East Meets West, Selection of Asian and European Art from the Tata Collection in the CSMVS. In 2015 she curated a temporary exhibition under the exhibition series Art Unseen on the folios of a 16th century manuscript – Chandayana. In the same year she co-authored the publication with Manisha Nene, Humsafar the companion, the story of Indian textile based on the CSMVS Collection.

Internationally, Vandana was awarded a short term Nehru Fellowship to study early Mughal miniature paintings in the collection of V&A in 2011. She was also awarded The Asia Foundation Brayton Wilbur Memorial Fellows in Asian Art Programme at San Francisco (USA) in 2013 and she has worked on a collaborative project with the Dresden Kupferstich-Kabinett, Germany on their miniature painting collection for an exhibition.

Most recently Vandanna has been working on a collaborative project between CSMVS and the British Museum entitled India and the World: A History in Nine Stories. The exhibition, focused on some of the most important objects and works of art from the Indian subcontinent, in dialogue with iconic pieces from the British Museum collection.

At the British Museum
During her time on the International Training Programme in 2010, Vandanna was based in the Asia department and her partner placement was spent at the National Museum of Wales.

In 2010 participants were asked to develop a proposal for a small temporary exhibition – based on British Museum objects – on some aspect of their own cultures.  Vandanna’s exhibition project proposal was entitled Bountiful Nature.

Vandana’s participation on the International Training Programme was generously supported by the Charles Wallace India Trust.

Legacy Projects
In November 2015 Vandana attended the ITP Mumbai Workshop Creating Museums of World Stories. The workshop was held at CSMVS and was attended by many ITP fellows from different years and countries, UK partners and British Museum Colleagues.

In October 2018 Vandana helped to deliver an ITP+ course on Museum Interpretation at the Nubia Museum in Aswan, Egypt. The course used a series of case studies, a visitor experience activity, four workshops, two label writing sessions and a panel discussion to think about the types of interpretation being used in museums across the globe.

ITP Newsletter Publications
ITP Newsletter Issue 3 (2016), Reasons for celebration: A new gallery at CSMVS