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Inaugural Contemporary Fellowship from National Gallery and Art Fund awarded to Nalini Malani

Image: Nalini Malani, Studio Bombay. Photo by Johan Pijnappel © Nalini Malani

Nalini Malani has been confirmed as the first recipient of the National Gallery Contemporary Fellowship, enabling the artist to embark on a two-year research programme that will inform new artwork.

The Fellowship, run in partnership between the National Gallery and Art Fund, facilitates peer-to-peer collaboration between the former and a non-London collecting institution. This year’s site selected to participate is Holburne Museum, Bath.

As the maiden Fellow, Nalini Malani will now embark on a two-year research, production and exhibition programme in which she will work closely with specialists from both the National Gallery and Holburne Museum. This will inform new art created for an exhibition to be held in Bath and London during 2022–23, with the potential to tour internationally in future.

Malani labels her selection as the inaugural National Gallery Contemporary Fellow “a great honour”, adding that the two-year programme would be a “unique challenge to research and create conversations with the collections and the teams of the National Gallery and the Holburne Museum”.

Nalini Malani, dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel. Photo by Payal Kapadia © Nalini Malani

The entire process and final artworks will be documented in a dedicated publication, before Holburne Museum has the opportunity to acquire a work created as part of the Fellowship.

“Working together will become more important than ever for museums and galleries and so we are delighted to be supporting this innovative Contemporary Fellowship. It offers an exciting opportunity for collaboration between the National Gallery and the Holburne Museum and will bring the work of an important international artist to audiences in Bath and London,” notes Jenny Waldman, director of Art Fund.