About
To carry forward the legacy of Amrita Sher-Gil and the Sher-Gil Sundaram family by supporting contemporary art, photography, research and archiving; to advance creative independence and secular cultural practice.
The Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation (SSAF) was established in 2016 with the mandate to carry forward the legacy of the Sher-Gil Sundaram family: scholar and photographer Umrao Singh Sher-Gil (1870-1954), his daughter and pioneering modern Indian painter Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941), and his nephew and niece, artist Vivan Sundaram and filmmaker Navina Sundaram. The Foundation supports contemporary art practice, photography, research, archiving, documentation, publishing, and education across disciplines. It runs the annual Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Grant for Photography and is reinventing the Kasauli Art Centre -- founded in 1976 by Indira Sher-Gil Sundaram at Ivy Lodge, Kasauli -- as a continuing artist residency. SSAF works in solidarity with marginalised and heterodox practices and is committed to secular, non-sectarian cultural programming.
The Sher-Gil family occupies a unique position in Indian cultural history. Umrao Singh Sher-Gil was a Sanskrit scholar and a pioneering photographer who documented India and Hungary in the early 20th century. His daughter Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941) is now considered one of the most important figures in modern Indian painting -- a contemporary of Frida Kahlo, deeply influenced by the Ajanta frescoes and Mughal miniatures, who died at 28 leaving a body of work that shaped post-independence Indian art. Vivan Sundaram, Amrita's nephew, is himself one of India's leading contemporary artists. The Foundation was established to ensure this legacy is actively carried forward through support for living artists rather than merely preserved in archives. The Kasauli Art Centre, founded in 1976 as one of India's earliest artist residency spaces, is being revived as a functioning residency under SSAF's stewardship.
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Founding & Leadership
Vivan Sundaram (born 1943) is one of India's leading contemporary artists, known for large-scale installation work, photography and political art. He is the nephew of Amrita Sher-Gil. The Foundation was established by the extended Sher-Gil Sundaram family to carry forward their combined legacy.
Initiatives & Portfolio
Annual photography grant awarded to Indian photographers. Named after Umrao Singh Sher-Gil, one of India's earliest serious photographers. Among India's few dedicated photography grants.
Revival of the Kasauli Art Centre founded in 1976 by Indira Sher-Gil Sundaram at Ivy Lodge, Kasauli. One of India's oldest artist residency traditions. Being reinvented as an active residency.
Books, journals and documentation projects related to the Sher-Gil Sundaram legacy and contemporary art practice.
SSAF's significance operates on two levels. As the institutional steward of Amrita Sher-Gil's legacy, it holds responsibility for one of the most important artistic inheritances in modern Indian art. As a contemporary arts funder, it supports photography, experimental practice and research -- areas often less served by larger foundations. The Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Grant for Photography is among the few dedicated photography grants in India. The Kasauli Art Centre revival connects an artist residency tradition dating to 1976 with contemporary practice.
[Atlas Perspective] CultureAtlas profiles SSAF as an institution whose cultural significance exceeds its institutional age. The Amrita Sher-Gil legacy it carries is among the most important in Indian art history, and the Foundation's commitment to secular, critical and marginalised practice gives it a distinct positioning in India's arts philanthropy landscape. Its photography grant and Kasauli residency are the two most impactful current programmes for the practitioner community.