Jinah Kim, the George P. Bickford Professor of Indian and South Asian Art, Department of History of Art and Architecture, and Professor of South Asian Studies in the Department of South Asian Studies at Harvard, runs the Mapping Color in History (MCH) Project, a digital research platform that brings together the scientific data drawn from existing and ongoing material analyses of pigments, especially in Asian painting, to enable historical research.  She has been working with the MFA from the beginning of the project and shared more in this Q&A about the collaboration and the exhibit now on display. 

Hitesh Vaidya, the Mittal Institute’s newest Visiting Artist Fellow, is a visual artist and cultural practitioner based in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Vaidya’s practice explores how everyday objects, spaces, and rituals quietly shape collective memory, bridging traditional culture with contemporary life. Drawing on the lived histories of Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, and Patan, Vaidya interprets the city through its domestic rhythms, communal architectures, and interpersonal relationships. We spoke with him about his work and what he hopes to explore during his fellowship.

The Mittal Institute is excited to announce the release of the 2023–24 Year in Review and 2023–24 Arts Program reports. Like every year, the comprehensive Year in Review Report includes updates on all major faculty-led programs, lists awards and fellowships, highlights the work of students, student organizations, and scholars, and summarizes events and other achievements. The Arts Program Report highlights the incredible impact and accomplishments of the Mittal Institute's various arts initiatives, which include fellowships, exhibitions, and events. Both reports offer valuable insights into the institute's mission of connecting Harvard with South Asia. 

The Mittal Institute is excited to co-host "Intersections 2025: Traditions and Innovations in Indian Classical Dance" on September 27–28, a national conference convening artists, scholars, presenters and community leaders to explore innovation, preservation, and progress in the Indian classical dance artforms in the U.S. Applications are open until May 25 for Original Works (performance + talk), Research Talks, Workshops (movement, pedagogy, professional development), and Poster Presentations

Last week, the Mittal Institute was honored to host Naiza Khan, a renowned artist from Pakistan, as the Institute’s second Distinguished Artist Fellow. In a lecture on campus on April 14—co-hosted by the MFA Boston—Khan presented her powerful work that weaves together themes of land, body, and memory through drawing, sculpture, archival material, and film.

The Mittal Institute is delighted to welcome our newest Distinguished Artist Fellow, Naiza Khan, for a week-long residency on Harvard’s campus this April. A visual artist with a multidisciplinary practice spanning drawing, sculpture, archival material, and film, Khan explores themes of land, body, and memory.Her work engages deeply with museum collections and the circulation of objects linked to migration across the Indian Ocean, offering a critical lens on contemporary issues.

Masuma Halai Khwaja joins the Mittal Institute this spring as a Visiting Artist Fellow. A visual artist, she explores textiles as a medium to weave together personal memory, diverse histories, and cultural intersections—creating narratives that transcend their origins. Working with fabrics sourced from local flea markets, she integrates embroidery to symbolize the fragmentation of traditions in the face of globalization.

The Mittal Institute is delighted to welcome Abir Abdullah to our cohort of Visiting Artist Fellows this spring. A Bangladeshi photographer and educator, Abir is renowned for his powerful visual storytelling on climate change and human resilience.

Parul Gupta, a visual artist from India, joins the Mittal Institute’s Visiting Artist Fellows program. Her work explores movement in architectural spaces as a catalyst for perceptual experiences, using parallax, geometry, and light to shape spatial interactions.

This winter, the traveling exhibition, “The Architectures of Transition - Emerging Practices in South Asia” began its journey across South Asia. It displays the works of 41 emergent architecture practices in South Asia that have engaged in the making of architecture, landscape, and infrastructure in the public realm.