Profile
Jyotindra Jain is an art historian, museologist, and educator based in India. He is a scholar who has researched and curated exhibitions on various subjects, including the lives, religious customs, and folk arts of indigenous communities across India. Jain has authored several books, including "Painted Myths of Creation: Art and Ritual of an Indian Tribe" (1984), "India's Popular Culture: Iconic Spaces and Fluid Images" (2007), and "Temple Tents for Goddesses in Gujarat, India" (2014), exploring the intersection of art, culture, and society.As the former director of the National Handloom and Handicrafts Museum and the first dean of the School of Art and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jain has played a significant role in shaping the discourse around Indian art history and theory. He has curated acclaimed exhibitions such as "Other Masters: Five Contemporary Folk and Tribal Artists of India" (1998) and "Autres Maîtres de L'Inde" (2010), showcasing the works of indigenous artists within the framework of contemporary art.Jain's contributions have been widely recognized, earning him the Cross of Merit - Germany's highest civilian award, and the Frank Jewett Mather Award for art criticism. He is currently the director and managing trustee of the Centre for Indian Visual Culture (CIViC) and resides in New Delhi.
