Director’s Dialogue Series

Abhishek Poddar, founder of MAP in conversation with Brian Kennedy as a guest on the Director’s Dialogue series.

Abhishek Poddar is a prominent collector and patron of the arts in India. He has been collecting art since high school and has created a significant collection of South Asian art, craft and antiquities, including modern and contemporary art and photography.

Apart from being an industrialist, Poddar also serves as the Founder-Trustee at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP). MAP is a Bangalore-based museum, whose physical space is set to open in 2021. Prompted partly by the lack of any kind of museum culture in Bangalore, Poddar intends for this museum to be a living institution characterised by a dynamic programme that aside from a wide diversity in its collection, would also offer multiple avenues for learning and engagement. As the first major private art museum in India’s tech city, it already has more than 18,000 works covering the gamut from modern and contemporary Indian art to photography and popular culture.

The Director’s Dialogue Series is a monthly virtual event by the Peabody Essex Museum. Each program features a lively conversation between Brian Kennedy, the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Director and CEO, and a special guest from the arts community.