Meet the stellar team of curators for KALA
KALA in association with the Lionel Wendt Art Centre will present its first iteration, opening to the public on Monday, January 29. Alongside the central exhibition of modern and contemporary artists, KALA’s goal as a platform is to present programming and projects building strong regional connections while benefiting the growth of the local art ecosystem.
KALA’s curatorial advisor for the first three years is Sandhini Poddar, adjunct curator at large of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which is to open in 2026. With a deep understanding of South Asian modern and contemporary art, she has played a pivotal role in shaping discourse surrounding art from the region, both in India and internationally. Her academic background, combined with her professional experience over the past 20 years, have made her an authority in the field. In addition to her participation in the opening talk, ‘What is KALA?’ Poddar is one of the three senior curators who will conduct the artist portfolio reviews for 18 artists selected via open call.
With Poddar, Diana Campbell and Iaroslav Volovoda make up the stellar team of curators from major international art institutions, who will handle the Artist Review Workshops - a rare opportunity to compare notes with art world professionals who have previous experience working with Sri Lankan and South Asian artists regionally, giving the artists an in-depth and knowledgeable perspective from which to review their portfolios.
Diana Campbell has served as the Artistic Director for the Samdani Art Foundation and Chief Curator of the Dhaka Art Summit launched in 2012. Diana was instrumental in developing the summit from a small Bangladesh pop up art festival into a major international art platform, one of the most prominent festivals in South Asia, celebrating the arts of the region. Curators and artists from around the world now converge at the summit to conduct research and explore the diverse landscape of South Asian arts across many disciplines.
In addition to her role as Chief Curator for the Dhaka Art Summit, Diana is currently establishing the new permanent home for the Samdani Art Centre and Sculpture Park, Srihatta, based in Sylhet, and curating various international exhibitions and presentations for the Foundation. She will also be presenting a talk titled ‘Creating Space: South to South Dialogues’ on January 29 at 5 p.m.
Iaroslav Volovod is curator of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project. Formerly a curator at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, Iaroslav was awarded a Diploma of Excellence from Central Institute of Hindi in New Delhi, India and participated in the TRANScuratorial Academy in Berlin and Mumbai. His field of research has recently included investigating South Asian artists in Britain, in addition to working as a curator with international and local art practitioners.