Talks
In Conversation with the Museum Rietberg
Kamini Sawhney, Annette Bhagwati
This episode of MAP’s series Director’s Cut features Annette Bhagwati, Director of the Museum Rietberg.
A visit to the Museum Rietberg, not far from Lake Zurich, takes visitors on a journey around the world: the collection comprises art from Asia, Africa, America, and Oceania. World-renowned for its collections, the Museum Rietberg is also a historical site that has accommodated many illustrious artists since its inception. Since joining the institution as its new Director in 2019, Annette Bhagwati has steered the museum through the pandemic and helped rethink its approach to public engagement in the years that followed. Bhagwati has previously taught Anthropology of Art, Museology, and History of Exhibiting Non-Western Art at the Department of Art History at Concordia University, Montreal.
The Director’s Cut series, anchored by MAP’s Director, Kamini Sawhney, offers a glimpse into how the institution of the museum is being reimagined and reinvented today and presents a unique opportunity to hear from reputed practitioners in museums around the world as they reflect on their institutional experiences, behind-the-scenes challenges, unique initiatives, and more.
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Annette Bhagwati
Director, Museum Rietberg
Annette Bhagwati studied Anthropology, African Art and Literature, Art History, and Geography in Freiburg im Breisgau, Berlin, and London and received her PhD at the School of African and Oriental Studies London. From 2012 to autumn 2019 she worked at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin where she headed various curatorial, long-term research projects.
At the same institution, between 2000 and 2006, she realised a number of exhibition projects at the interface of art and science in curatorial as well as organisational terms. From 2009 to 2012, Bhagwati taught Anthropology of Art, Museology, and History of Exhibiting Non-Western Art at the Department of Art History at Concordia University, Montreal. She took up the position as director of the Museum Rietberg in November 2019.
Bhagwati has close ties with numerous associations and research networks, some of which she co-initiated herself. She is a highly sought-after speaker and host at international symposia and congresses.
Kamini Sawhney
Director, Museum of Art & Photography (MAP)
Kamini Sawhney is the first Director of the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), Bangalore. She has brought together a young, inspired team that is focused on creating a new museum experience for audiences in India.
In her earlier role, Kamini was the head of the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation. Bringing institutions together in collaborative projects has been one of her special skills enabling audiences in India the opportunity to enjoy several exhibitions in collaboration with Tate, London, Foam, Amsterdam, Duke University, Durham, the KNMA, New Delhi and more. Sawhney was selected as one of the first candidates for the Brooks fellowship at Tate Modern, London in 2014 in collaboration with the Delfina Foundation.
In a previous avatar as a journalist and television anchor, Kamini was the Bureau Chief of NDTV, Mumbai, one of India’s leading news channels where she reported on a whole range of events, both political and cultural.
