Victoria Noorthoorn in conversation with Kamini Sawhney

Victoria Noorthoorn has been the Director of the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires since 2013. She holds an MA in Art History from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and in Curatorial Studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, New York. She has acted as Projects Coordinator for the International Program at MoMA, New York; Assistant Curator of Contemporary Exhibitions at The Drawing Center, New York; and Curator at Malba-Fundación Costantini in Buenos Aires. he also worked on independent curatorial projects such as the 29th Bienal de Arte de Pontevedra, in Pontevedra, Spain; the 41 Salón Nacional de Artistas, in Cali, Colombia; the 7a Bienal do Mercosul, in Porto Alegre, Brazil; ‘A Terrible Beauty Is Born’, in Lyon, France; and ‘The Circle Walked Casually’, Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, in Berlin, Germany, among others.

In 2012, she was honoured with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2014, she was selected to attend the Global Museum Leaders Colloquium organised by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Since November 2019, Noorthoorn is an active Board member of CIMAM (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art), where she actively works for the Museum Watch Program. Since March 2020, during lockdown, the Museum has launched its digital programme  #MuseoModernoAtHome (www.museomoderno.org/en/museo-moderno-home) created in close collaboration with the artistic and educational communities from all over Argentina that has reached more than 8 million people so far.

As the Museum of Art & Photography’s (MAP) first Director, Kamini Sawhney has brought together a young, inspired team that is focused on creating a new museum experience for audiences in India. In leading this founding team, Sawhney has helped shape a vision for MAP that seeks to inspire people to interact with art in ways that encourage humanity, empathy and a deeper understanding of the world we live in. She has been a vocal ambassador for MAP presenting the institution’s plans and aspirations at various fora including the India Art Fair, at workshops at the CSMVS, Mumbai (Museums and the City), the Bangalore Literary Festival and the Bangalore International Centre. 

In her earlier role, Kamini was the head of the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation – one of the premier private collections of Modern Indian Art, at the CSMVS, Mumbai, formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum. 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, the 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 journalist and television anchor, Kamini was the Bureau Chief of NDTV, Mumbai one of India’s leading news channels where she reported on her whole range of events both political and cultural.