JAIPUR.- The Saat Saath Arts Foundation and
The Sculpture Park at Madhavendra Palace announced the appointment of Noelle Kadar as the Director of The Sculpture Park, effective immediately. Kadar brings years of dynamic art world experience to the park, most recently serving as the International Director of the Indian Art Fair in New Delhi. During her tenure, Noelle shepherded the growth of its VIP and Patrons program and was instrumental during the fair’s pivotal years through its rebranding and acquisition by Swiss company MCH group, the parent company of Art Basel. Kadar graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2006 and has lived and worked in India for over a decade.
Kadar joins The Sculpture Park near the completion of its inaugural edition, which opened in December 2017, and will focus on planning its second edition, set to open on December 9th, 2018. The second iteration will be curated by Peter Nagy and will include a site specific installation by Richard Long in the main courtyard. The full artist list for edition two will be announced in October.
In addition to organizing the annual editions, Kadar will develop the park’s public programming, which will feature community-focused educational programming geared especially towards the local community in Jaipur and the region of Rajasthan.
The Saat Saath Arts Foundation supports international exchange between India and the rest of the world through its visual arts and education initiatives. Founded in 2010 by Director Aparajita Jain, it is a nonprofit initiative, headquartered in New Delhi, working with museums and galleries internationally.
One of the foundation’s main mandates is the Saat Saath Arts Curatorial Research Grant, which bestows international curators with the resources to travel to India in order to support ongoing research with first-hand experience in the region. By providing international curators a deeper understanding of Indian Contemporary Art within the wider geographical context, Saat Saath aims to nurture a vital exchange of knowledge between India and the rest of the world. Through these curatorial grants, the foundation has supported the mounting of Matter Bharti Kher’s first North American survey at the Vancouver Art Gallery curated by Diana Freundl in 2016 and Mémoires des futurs – Modernités Indiennes - 2017 (Memories of the Future – Indian Modernity), at the Centre Pompidou, curated by Catherine David in 2017.
Most recently, the foundation joined hands with the Government of Rajasthan to produce The Sculpture Park at Madhavendra Palace, Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur. The first of its kind in India, both in patronage model and site setting, The Sculpture Park has become a creative art hub not only in Jaipur but internationally as well. The inaugural exhibition showcasing artwork by Indian and International sculptors of repute, is curated by Peter Nagy and is on display until November 1, 2018.
The first contemporary public sculpture park in India and also one of the first examples of public and private partnership in the arts, The Sculpture Park at Madhavendra Palace has turned an 18th-Century fortress into a Sculpture Gallery with works displayed throughout the meandering rooms and grand courtyards. Traditional Indian architecture creates a dramatic backdrop for the monumental works occupying central positions and more intimate works featured throughout the many rooms, awaiting discovery. Visitors are invited to meander through the palace, to encounter and experience each work in a range of settings and display.
Completed in 1892, the Madhavendra Palace was commissioned by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh, the founder of Jaipur. The palace is the most pristine element of the rambling Nahargarh Fort which dates from the first half of the 18th-century and features an impressive entry gate and an undulating and weathered wall that follows the geography of the hilltops. The Palace was built as a royal pleasure retreat with a series of nine identical apartments for each of the Maharaja’s queens.
