Vaishnavi Patil is a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University specializing in South and Southeast Asian art. Her dissertation examines the evolution of the “mother-child” iconographic type in South Asia to illuminate the religious lives of ordinary people through the lenses of gender, trans-regionalism, and trans-sectarianism. Her scholarly interests also encompass cross-cultural interactions within Asia. Her recent scholarship also includes writings on contemporary South Asian Art.
At the Harvard Art Museums, Vaishnavi has contributed to projects involving South and Southeast Asian Art collections, most recently cataloging Gandharan and later Indian art, emphasizing its digital representation. Her role as a Research Assistant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art included work on the exhibition Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 BCE–400 CE, and contributions to the accompanying catalog. She also works with the Digital Humanities project Mapping Color in History, conducting research on South Asian paintings and drawings from the 15th to 18th centuries, and has curated virtual exhibitions to reunite dispersed manuscripts.
Vaishnavi’s academic journey includes a B.A. in Ancient Indian History from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, an M.A. in Art History from SOAS, University of London, and an M.A. in China Studies from Peking University.
