About
To make Indian and South Asian modern and contemporary art accessible to all and to nurture a museum-going culture in India.
The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) is India's first private philanthropic museum of modern and contemporary art, established in 2010 by collector Kiran Nadar under the Shiv Nadar Foundation. It holds a collection of over 7,000 works spanning all major phases of modern and contemporary Indian art, displayed across two spaces in Saket and Noida (~50,000 sq ft combined), and is building a new standalone landmark museum near Delhi's airport designed by Adjaye Associates, slated to open in 2026.
KNMA began in 2010 as a gallery within HCL's Noida premises and opened to the public with the exhibition 'Open Doors,' growing into India's most significant private art museum across two Delhi-NCR spaces. Under Director and Chief Curator Roobina Karode, it has mounted landmark retrospectives of artists such as Nasreen Mohamedi, Himmat Shah, Vivan Sundaram and Arpita Singh, and taken Indian art abroad to the Reina Sofia, the Met Breuer and Musee Guimet.
Its next chapter is a roughly 100,000-square-metre landmark museum on NH8 near Indira Gandhi International Airport, designed by Adjaye Associates and conceived as one of India's largest cultural centres. In 2026 the museum appointed Manuel Rabate, founding director of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, as its first CEO and Director - a signal of international ambition as it scales from a collector's museum into a global institution.
Visit & Access
Two public museum spaces in Saket and Noida, Delhi-NCR; a new landmark museum on NH8 is due to open in 2026.
Founding & Leadership
Kiran Nadar is one of India's foremost art collectors and philanthropists. From 1994 she built the Sangita-scale Kiran Nadar Collection of modern and contemporary Indian art, and in 2010 founded KNMA - India's first private philanthropic museum - under the Shiv Nadar Foundation, the philanthropy of her husband Shiv Nadar (founder of HCL). She is also an internationally ranked competitive Bridge player. Her stated mission is to take art to the common public and nurture a museum-going culture in India.
A unit of the Shiv Nadar Foundation, governed by Founder-Chairperson Kiran Nadar with a museum leadership team.
Leadership & Trustees
Initiatives & Portfolio
Two museum spaces (~50,000 sq ft) displaying the collection and curated exhibitions of modern and contemporary Indian art.
A ~100,000 sq m standalone museum near Delhi airport designed by Adjaye Associates, conceived as one of India's largest cultural centres; opening targeted for 2026.
Drove India's national pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, with the Ministry of Culture, CII and NGMA.
School, family and youth programmes, workshops, talks and symposia to build a museum-going culture.
Major monographic shows of under-represented modern masters (Nasreen Mohamedi, Himmat Shah, Jeram Patel, Vivan Sundaram, Rameshwar Broota).
Indian art presented at the Reina Sofia (Madrid), Met Breuer (New York) and Musee Guimet (Paris).
Impact & Metrics
Partnerships & Network
Partner institutions
Government partners
Funders & patrons
International museum partnerships and loans; the India Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
Credentials & Compliance
CSR-eligible · Schedule VII(v) - art & culture
KNMA is a philanthropic unit of the well-established Shiv Nadar Foundation rather than a standalone trust, so its specific 80G/12A/FCRA particulars are reported within the Foundation rather than separately. Governance is credible and well-resourced; standalone financial evaluability is limited by the embedded structure.
Funded through the Shiv Nadar Foundation's philanthropy; aligns with CSR Schedule VII(v) (promotion of art & culture).
Recognition
India's first private philanthropic museum of modern and contemporary art; drove the India Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale.
[Atlas Assessment] KNMA is the most important private museum in India and a primary engine of public access to Indian modern and contemporary art. By collecting at scale, mounting serious scholarly retrospectives, and taking Indian art to the world's leading museums, it has done more than perhaps any private body to institutionalise the field. Its forthcoming landmark museum and the hire of a Louvre Abu Dhabi director mark an ambition to become a global institution of the first rank.
KNMA's strengths are exceptional: a deep collection, patient philanthropic capital, world-class curation and a forthcoming landmark building. The honest caveats are structural and familiar for a collector-founded museum - it is embedded in a family foundation (limiting standalone financial transparency) and historically shaped by a single collector's taste and vision. The 2026 transition to professional CEO leadership and a public landmark are precisely the moves that address founder-concentration; how the institution balances the founder's collection with an independent curatorial mandate is the question to watch.