Panelists

Charles Moore began his career in 2007 at Bonhams auctioneers, specialising in Indian and Islamic art, as well as modern and contemporary art from the Middle East and South Asia. After a period as an independent dealer, Charles joined London’s Grosvenor Gallery in 2012, becoming a partner in 2016.
Since joining, the gallery has deepened its focus on 20th-century South Asian artists, particularly those whose artistic careers were shaped by time in Europe—figures such as Francis Newton Souza, Sayed Haider Raza, Syed Sadequain, and Ivan Peries.
In addition to this historical focus, Grosvenor Gallery runs a contemporary programme exhibiting the work of artists from South Asia and its diaspora, including senior artists such as Rasheed Araeen and Senaka Senanayake, alongside emerging voices, fostering a dialogue between generations of creative practice. In 2024, Charles launched Atra South Asia, an innovative and accessible platform designed to connect audiences with exhibitions and events related to South Asian art across the UK. More than just a listings tool, Atra South Asia serves as a valuable resource for learning and discovery, making South Asian art more visible and accessible to both seasoned collectors and new audiences.

Hema Shironi (b.1991, Sri Lanka) is a multidisciplinary artist who lives in Colombo. She completed her BFA from the Ramanathan Fine Arts Academy, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka and MFA at Beaconhouse National University, Lahore. Shironi completed an Artist Residency at House of Kal, Sri Lanka (2021); Her work has been featured at the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art hosted by the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (2024), Critical Zones conceived by ZKM, Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe (2022), Colomboscope (2019, 2022), Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Sri Lanka (2023), Matara Art Festival (2023) and 13th Taipei Biennial: Small World, hosted by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.

Iaroslav Volovod is a Curator at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. In 2023 he was a contributing curator at the Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh. Between 2017–22 Volovod was a Curator at the Garage Museum of Contemporary art where he directed Space 1520 (2020–21), a postcolonial artistic research laboratory. He has co-organized numerous exhibitions including As Though We Hid the Sun in a Sea of Stories (2023); Assuming Distance: Speculations, Fakes, and Predictions in the Age of the Coronacene (2021); Rasheed Araeen. A Retrospective (2019); and The Fabric of Felicity (2018) among others. Volovod holds a BA in Asian and African Studies from St. Petersburg State University, an MA in Curatorial Studies from Bard College, and trained at the Central Institute of Hindi, New Delhi and Heidelberg University. Previously a member of the TRANScuratorial Academy in Berlin and Mumbai, his writings appear in the Gwangju Biennale’s online journal, Strelka Mag, and Perambulation, among others.

Meagan Kelly Horsman joined Christie’s in May 2022 and oversees a team of 12 based out of the Dubai office. Meagan’s career has been dedicated solely to the art market, leading her to move to Dubai in 2010 from London to follow her passion for Modern and Contemporary Art and the vibrant, growing art market in the region. Meagan has curated numerous exhibitions and auctions of contemporary art in the past 16 years, and works closely with private clients, advisors, curators and artists across the region. Meagan and the Christie’s team in Dubai are actively involved in the wider art and luxury eco system – Meagan is a frequent speaker, lecturer and moderator at panel talks, art fairs and conferences, sharing her expertise; from collection management, art market analysis and curating contemporary art. Christie’s Middle East hold bi-annual sales out of Dubai, including watches, modern & contemporary art; as well as hosting private selling exhibitions of jewellery, art and exceptional property.

Meneesha Kellay is a curator working across art, architecture, design, and performance. Currently the Senior Curator, Contemporary at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), she supports emerging creative practice through commissioning displays, installations, performances, as well as the monthly Friday Late programme. She is also working on a major exhibition focussing on South Asia for V&A East opening in 2027. Meneesha has experience leading major events on London’s cultural calendar, such as the London Design Festival and London Festival of Architecture (LFA) at the V&A, and Open House London, reaching over a quarter of a million people. Meneesha is also co-curator of the British Pavilion at the International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2023 which received a Special Mention Award. Previously she also held roles at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and the Architectural Association School of Architecture. Meneesha is a Clore Leadership Fellow 2024.

Munem Wasif’s image-based works explore the notion and forms of trace. His complex installations often mix photographs with moving images, archive documents or collected paraphernalia to reveal notions of impermanence and insecurity. His working methodology based on long-term immersion, close contact with his subjects and systematic repetition to convey layered, sensitive and sometimes contradictory observations on complex issues such as food sovereignty, labour exploitation or borders and migration. His work exhibited at Center Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo, Victoria & Albert Museum, Musee De elysee, Dhaka Art Summit and Sharjah, Singapore, Taipei, Gwangju, Lyon biennale. Munem Wasif received Robert Gardener fellowship in 2023 to work on the critical history of indigo in Bengal.

Raki Nikahetiya, b 1983, Austrian Sri Lankan Interdisciplinary Artist. Growing up between two cultural poles — Sri Lanka and Austria — Raki developed a deep interest in identity, memory, and belonging. After fifteen years in the field of international trade development and environmental conservation, he shifted his focus to the arts, after completing a foundation course at the Slade School of Fine Art. Now traversing between New Delhi, London, Vienna, and Colombo, his interdisciplinary work combines visual art, traditional handcrafts, land art and scientific processes to question our understanding of identity, culture, memory and perception of reality. His work is held in collections across Europe, Australia, India, and the United States. Raki is the co-founder of sā, the highest land art Biennale in Asia.

Rosa Tyhurst is a curator from South Wales and based in South London. She currently works as curator at Gasworks, London, where she collaboratively devises and delivers a programme of new artist commissions, residencies, public programme and participation projects. Prior to Gasworks, she worked at Nottingham Contemporary and at Spike Island, Bristol. Rosa has curated exhibitions and programmes internationally, at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino (IT); the Wattis Institute, San Francisco (US); Cloaca, San Francisco (US); Royal Nonesuch Gallery, Oakland (US) and DREI, Köln (DE). Her writing has been published in Art Monthly, Elephant, Hyperallergic, Contemporary Art Reviews Los Angeles, ArtPractical. She is a graduate of California College of the Arts’ MA in Curatorial Practice.