Vishakha N. Desai

 

Vishakha N. Desai is the sixth president of the Asia Society, assuming the position in July 2004. As chief executive officer, she is responsible for managing an international organization with offices throughout the U.S. and Asia. She sets the direction for the Society’s programs in the diverse fields of arts, culture, policy, business and education, overseeing a budget of $22 million.

 

Since 1990, Dr. Desai has served the Asia Society in various leadership capacities, most recently as Senior Vice President and Director of the Museum and Cultural Programs. She was responsible for the management of the Society’s $40 million renovation of its New York City headquarters and for its 2001 inaugural season. The new facilities have generated a marked growth and diversification of the Society’s programming, audiences and funding sources.

 

A scholar of classical Indian art, Dr. Desai has built an international reputation for introducing contemporary Asian art to a broad audience and using it to illuminate historical trends and their influence on the development of today’s society. She has been at the forefront of integrating Asian American issues into the Society’s public programs. A regular commentator in the news media, she frequently addresses business and foreign policy audiences on topics ranging from the evolution of U.S. engagement in Asia to the role of culture in changing Asian societies.

 

Prior to joining the Asia Society Dr. Desai was a curator of Indian, Southeast Asian and Islamic art at The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where she also served as head of public programs and academic affairs. She has also taught at the University of Massachusetts, Boston University and Columbia University.

 

Dr. Desai received her B.A. from Bombay University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. In 1996 Susquehanna University awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in Arts. The recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, Dr. Desai has published widely on traditional Indian art and on issues in contemporary Asian art. She has lectured extensively in the U.S. and in Asia, and has served as an advisor and juror for numerous international projects on contemporary art, including the Venice Biennale in 2003.

 

Dr. Desai serves on the boards of The Brookings Institution, Citizens for NYC, and the New York City Advisory Commission for Cultural Affairs. She served as the President of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) in 1998-99, and was on the Board from 1995-2000. She has also served on the Boards of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics), the South Asian Council of the Association of Asian Studies, the College Art Association, ArtTable, and the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Asian Americans for Equality 2004 Asian American of the Year Award and the National Institute of Social Sciences Gold Medal.

 

Dr. Desai is married to Robert B. Oxnam, a China scholar, who was the Asia Society’s president from 1981 to 1992.

 

I was recently in India and had the opportunity to speak with a number of friends who are architects and designers.  The conversations quickly turned to the observation that when they went to school, in India or abroad, the concept of “universal modern” ideas of design reigned supreme.  The fact that this notion of “modernist” design was historically grounded in the western, 20th century traditions, with no reference to indigenous Asian notions or practice of design, is beginning to be noticed by the rightful practitioners today.  It is based as much on the growing economic clout of countries such as India on the world stage as it is on the growing concern among some Asian thought leaders that we need to develop a creative voice that is not simply a mindless adoption of prevailing western ideas.  Thus the impetus to understanddesign in all its manifestations – homes, offices, furniture, appliances, or marketing materials in print and on line – comes both from the global marked forces as well as from local inclinations.  

 

The question of developing a culturally relevant design ethos is not easily answered. For some, an addition of Taj Mahal-like domes or carved stone screens to a modern building would suffice to make a building look “Indian.”.  But an unquestioning nod to the past with a romantic, nostalgic notion of cultural heritage would is hardly enough when attempting to capture the spirit of the 21st century India with a foot in the past and another one firmly into its global future.

 

“Design with India” can be a useful forum in which to explore the dynamic relationship between the past and the future of Indian cultural identity and how that would affect all aspects of design for, in, and with India, both for domestic usage and for global projection.