Chithra Kallur

Biography

Chithra is a curator specialising in Indian art. Her research interests include Hindu art, folk arts, crafts, oral histories, museum historiography and digital archiving. Chithra received her MA in Museology (2001) and PhD in Art history (2010) from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India.

She presently works as the Head Archivist at Museum of Art and Photography, Bangalore alongside independent curatorial ventures.

Chithra heads the documentation of a large and varied collection of art, photography, textiles and design – predominantly from the Indian subcontinent. She and a team comprising of a photographer, image editor and assistant archivists are currently developing a digital database for the collection of over 20000 artefacts. Chithra’s other responsibilities include working with the team on exhibitions, publications and public outreach activities. Besides her career as an archivist, she pursues independent curatorial and research projects.

Select other projects include:
• Documentation of folk art of Karnataka state for an exhibition of contemporary folk arts (for Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi)
• Digitizing of the personal archives of eminent artists from Baroda (for Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong).
• Curated exhibition on folk performing arts of Karnataka (for Janapadaloka Folklore Museum, Bangalore).
• Research (ongoing): Mapping the Museum Discourse on Modern Indian Art – A Case Study of the Picture Gallery at the Baroda Museum (for FICA, New Delhi)

At the British Museum
During her time on the International Training Programme 2017, Chithra was based in the Asia Department and spent her partner placement with Glasgow Museums.

In 2017 participants were asked to develop a proposal for an Asahi Shimbun Display – a temporary exhibition in Room 3 at the British Museum – based around a ‘spotlight’ object.  Chithra worked with fellow Fadzai Muchemwa (Zimbabwe) on her exhibition proposal project, entitled Spirits of the Wild: Exploring the World of Animal Worship.

Chithra’s participation on the International Training Programme was generously supported by the Charles Wallace India Trust, RA Association and Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation.

Legacy Projects
In 2018 Chithra returned to the British Museum, with Nelson Abiti (Uganda, ITP 2013), to take part in the Exhibiting the Experience of Empire Symposium.