Eve Lemesle

Founder and Director

Eve Lemesle has been working in the arts sector for 18 years in India, Europe and Canada. She is a graduate of La Sorbonne in arts management and holds a diploma in South-Asia studies from INALCO (Paris). After several visits to India starting in 2003, she settled in Mumbai in 2009 and started What About Art? (WAA), a first-of-its-kind arts management agency in India. WAA produces ambitious art projects within the growing South-Asian art scene. Among recent projects are production of the India-Pakistan pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, Dhaka Art Summit in Bangladesh, William Kentridge’s solo exhibition in Mumbai, multiple projects at the Kochi Biennale. Lemesle is a Consultant for Qatar Museum Authority, and she is a researcher at the Institute of Public Art, University of Shanghai.

In 2013, Eve Lemesle expanded the activities of the agency by starting a not-for-profit artists’ residency. Since 2017, she is also the director of Mumbai Art Room, a not-for-profit curatorial lab in Mumbai art district.

Shambhavi Bhat

Head of Development and Programmes

Shambhavi Bhat is the Head of Development and Programmes at What About Art?. Having lived and studied in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangalore, she enjoys immersing herself in different cultures, particularly their aesthetic expressions. Shambhavi moved to Mumbai in 2015 after completing her Bachelor’s in Fine Art and Art History at Goldsmiths, University of London. At Goldsmiths she developed a keen interest in women's leadership and community based arts projects through her training as a performance artist and dancer.

Shilpi Goswami

Senior Project Manager

Shilpi Goswami is a Senior Project Manager with seventeen years of experience in the art and literary sectors. A combination of two distinct post-graduate specialisations in Publishing and Museology, she began her career as an Assistant Editor with the Leftward Books. Shilpi soon after worked as an art manager for art galleries in Delhi before pursuing her PhD in Cultural Studies. During her doctoral research she worked for the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts as their Archivist. Apart from archival work, research and writing, her job extended to taking care of the academic publications as well as co-curating exhibitions held at National Museum, Delhi; National Gallery of Modern Art (Delhi, Mumbai & Bengaluru), Rubin Museum, New York; Royal Ontario Museum, Canada; Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Belgium; Cultural Banco do Brasil, Brazil, National Gallery of Singapore. Shilpi joined the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art as their consultant for the Curatorial and Publications departments. She has also been a consultant to the Mehrangarh Museum Trust and the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation. She is currently doing research for the National University of Singapore on the art loans given by the Govt. of India for their University Museum.

Raashi Divecha

Arts Manager

Raashi Divecha has done her Bachelor's in Design from Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune. She has a background in Fashion communication and graphic design. In Pune, she developed a keen interest in film, design and art. She pursued her interests and studied film. She then went on to finish her Masters in Media Studies from the New School of Public Engagement, New York. She is now working at WAA and also pursuing her interest in being a mixed media artist.

Nipun Kudalkar

Conservator-Restorer

Nipun Kudalkar completed a Post-Graduation in Museology & Conservation studies at the CSMVS Museum (formerly known as Prince of Wales), Mumbai, after graduating in Psychology from the University of Mumbai. His interest in restoration techniques and a need to understand the diversity of material lead him to pursue an internship at the Museum Art Conservation Centre, developing a keen interest in the study of material technology and technical analysis. Following which he was involved in setting up the exhibition ‘India and The World’ a travelling exhibition in collaboration with The British Museum, CSMVS and National Museum Delhi.