Abir's Annual Show
First Take 2022

FIRST TAKE 2022 is about celebrating works of young artists. Curated from across India, the works will be exhibited . This is ABIR’s big initiative to provide a platform and showcase the art of the generation next.
If you are a young artist and believe in your work, this is meant for you. Out of scores of entries, about 100 works would be picked by the eminent jury from India. The jury will select the best out of the lot and ten awards in total are awarded.
The show will also bring art lovers together, with dialogues, discussions and demonstrations with senior artists, art historians, art critics, curators and investors.
Eminent Jury Members of First Take 2023

Akhilesh Varma
Born in August 1956 at Indore. Diploma in Painting from Indore School of Art ..

Born in August 1956 at Indore. Diploma in Painting from Indore School of Art. Had first one man show at the age of 20 with a 100 feet long drawing. Did 47 show in India and abroad. Curated many shows for young artists including 100 young artists of India on the birth centenary of noted painter S. H. Raza. Wrote 13 books on art and artists including Husain’s biography. Set up two museums, Police Band Museum at Bhopal and Malwa Museum at Indore. Towson Unversity Maryland USA invited to deliver a lecture on Indian Art and to curate a show. Went for artists in residency on invitation by Advance Institute of Studies Nantes, France and Austria, Sweden and Washington.

Dr. Nuzhat Kazmi
An Art Historian and an Art Educator who superannuated recently...

An Art Historian and an Art Educator who superannuated recently as the Head of the Department of Art History & Art Appreciation and a former Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts, Jamia Millia Islamia. An alumnus of Allahabad University, continuing her post graduate studies in Art History at M.S. University, Baroda followed by an MPhil Degree from Delhi University. From 1990 to 1993 she was at the School of Oriental Studies, University of London as Commonwealth Scholar. Her academic interests, especially in the area of Medieval, Modern and Contemporary Art History inspired travels and research and allowed her to explore original art historical materials, manuscripts and a rich body of art works, in the various collections, here in India and outside. As an art historian she has written and spoken on Modern & Contemporary Asian Art and medieval Indian art history, focusing largely on the Mughals and their contemporaries, expanding the global reach of Indian art in the cultural arena and the related socio- political influence.
Nuzhat Kazmi recent publication that may be mentioned here is a book published by Three Essays,
Awraq-e Musavvir
Mughal Art of Portraiture
The Intellectual Context and Content. New Delhi. 2021

Murali Cheeroth
Born at Thrissur district in Kerala (India), in 1966, Murali Cheeroth is...

Born at Thrissur district in Kerala (India), in 1966, Murali Cheeroth is recognized not only as a multi-faceted artist but also an activist and educationist with proven track record. After completing his Diploma in Fine Arts from College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, in 1986, he took is BFA in printmaking (1992) and MFA (1995) in graphic art from Kalabhavan, Shantiniketan, West Bengal. Later, he also had his diploma in multimedia from C-DAC, Ahmedabad.
Some of his major exhibitions include ‘Passage to India’ – the New Indian Art from the Frank Cohen collection in UK (2009); Indian Art summit in New Delhi, SH Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, Chicago Art Fair and London Art Fair in 2010, Colombo Biennale, 2012, Chalo India – A group show of Contemporary Indian Artists at Basel Art Centre, Basel, Switzerland, 2014. He participated in 2nd Pula Ketam International Art Festival at Pulaketam, Malyasia. Also, had residencies at Theertha Art Residency, Colombo, India Australia Artist Retreat, Australia India
Institute, Melbourne University, Australia, and Art Residency and show, Gallerie Christian Hosp, Triol, Austria.
The scholarships he got include: Scholarship from Calcutta Cultural Society, Kanoria Foundation Scholarship for Print making, and also Junior Fellowship for research in fibre art from Department of Culture, Govt. of India. The works of Cheeroth have found place in many prestigious collections in India, USA, Japan, France, Canada, Holland, Middle East etc, including Frank Cohen Collection.
Murali Cheeroth, who has widely traveled, has also taught art and design in School of Architecture, CEPT and Kanoria Centre Ahmedabad and NIFT, Chennai and Bangalore.
His works have found place the major collections in India and abroad, including Frank Cohen Collection.
As a painter, Murali Cheeroth mainly focuses on the urban life and its uncertainties, especially when it comes to the people at the grassroots. On the other hand, these surreal canvases rooted in realities of life, express a deep concern about violence in all its manifestation, which has become part and parcel of the urban life. His documentaries and performances are also in a sense the extension of the angst with regards to the dark realities behind the pomp and show of the urban life, which is the identity of his paintings, which are universal in nature when it comes to the treatment as well as themes.

Shampa Shah
Shampa Shah’s practice in clay is located in the dialogue between...

and overlaps with her writing and curating. In her three-decade- long journey as an artist, she has
exhibited widely in India and abroad. She established and headed the ceramics section at Indira
Gandhi National Museum of Man(IGRMS), Bhopal. Here she curated important exhibitions around
contemporary folk- tribal arts and crafts practices including the permanent exhibition – Mythology
trail. Worked as consultant Museologist and folklorist towards the conceptualization of the Madhya
Pradesh Tribal Museum, Bhopal. Recipient of the first Jyotsna Bhatt award for ceramics, All India
Fine Arts and Crafts Society award( five times) and Junior National fellowship of Ministry of Human
Resources. She is on the editorial board of prestigious Hindi literature journal- ‘Kathadesh’ for which
she has guest edited five volumes so far.She guest edited the first issue of Mrin- a journal of
contemporary Indian Ceramics. She has written widely on contemporary art, literature and
storytelling traditions of India and has many publications including The Tribal Arts and Crafts of
Madhya Pradesh, published by Mapin.

Vasudha Thozhur
Vasudha Thozhur was born in 1956 in Mysore. She studied at the College...

Vasudha Thozhur was born in 1956 in Mysore. She studied at the College of Arts and Crafts, Madras, and at the School of Art and Design in Croydon, UK. Her practice is inter-disciplinary but primarily rooted in painting.
She lived and worked in Chennai between 1981 – 1997 and in Baroda between 1997 – 2013.Besides participation in exhibitions/workshops in the country and abroad, institutional work has involved lectures/teaching/juries at, among others, MS University/Baroda, NID/Ahmedabad and IICD/Jaipur. She is a Professor in the Department of Art and Performing Arts at Shiv Nadar University, Dadri, since 2013 and currently lives in Greater Noida, NCR.
Two grants from the India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore, between 2002 – 2006 and 2009 – 2011, supported a research project, 'The Himmat Workshops'. It looked at ways of rooting art practice in ground and other realities as experienced in the country, with particular reference to conflict zones. It involved collaborating with Himmat, an activist organization based in Vatva, Ahmedabad, between 2002 – 2007. A compilation of the outcome, entitled ‘Beyond Pain: An Afterlife” was exhibited in Mumbai in 2013 (Sakshi Gallery and Project 88) and in 2015 at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Among grants received earlier are the French Government Scholarship to work at the Cite des Arts, Paris and the Charles Wallace Grant to work at Gasworks, London.
A recent compilation, entitled Diaries, Projects, Pedagogy 1998–2018, is the first of a series entitled Art Documents and was published by Tulika Books in association with the Sundaram Sher Gil Foundation.
Eminent Jury Members of First Take 2022

Manjunath Kamath
Manjunath Kamath pursued Bachelor in Fine Arts in Mysore ...


Jayaram Poduval
Jayaram Poduval is an Asst. Professor at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda

Jayaram Poduval is an Asst. Professor at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda. He has pursued intensive research in
South Asian art and architecture. He has also written on Chalukya, Vijayanagar, Ellora, Kerala, and Christian Art of Kerala and Gujarat Architecture. He teaches Indian Architecture, Renaissance Art, Islamic art, and Contemporary Western art. He is a Fellow of Advanced Studies in Humanities, University of Edinburgh.

Manisha Parekh
Manisha Parekh, born in 1964, pursued her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts

Manisha Parekh, born in 1964, pursued her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts followed by a Master’s of Fine Arts, both from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. She acquired her second Master’s degree from Royal College of Art, London, UK.
She has worked prolifically since and has had major solo and group shows across the country and abroad. Some of the notable honours received by her include The Erasmus Award - Hochschule der Kunste, Berlin, Germany, 1993 and Lalit Kala Academy Award in Printmaking 1991.
Abir welcomes you onboard. ✨

G. R. IRANNA
Born in 1970 in Sindgi of Bijapur district in Karnataka


Ramesh Vedhanbatla
V. Ramesh, born in 1958 in Andhra Pradesh, pursued his Bachelor of Fine Arts ...

Eminent Jury Members of First Take 2021

Hartmut Wurster
Hartmut Wurster was born in Germany and studied architecture at the

Hartmut Wurster was born in Germany and studied architecture at the University of Dresden in Germany and at the Aristoteles-University in Thessaloniki, Greece. He is also a trained carpenter. Upon joining Maier + Partners, an architecture office in Heidelberg, Germany, he worked on projects on housing, restoration and industrial developments as well as projects that created new concepts of shared living. In 2010, he joined Blocher Partners, a firm for architecture, interior design and visual communication based in Stuttgart, Germany. In 2011 he moved to India to establish the company’s presence in Ahmedabad; he has gone on to lead a wide spectrum of projects. He has a keen interest in sustainability. Another point of interest is contemporary art. He is the founder of ZOCA, the Zone of Contemporary Art, a platform for young and emerging Indian art.

Kristine Michael
Kristine Michael is a ceramic artist, arts educator, researcher and


Rm. Palaniappan
Rm. Palaniappan born 1957, Devakottai, Tamil Nadu, is an alumnus


K. S. Radhakrishnan
K. S. Radhakrishnan was born in Kottayam, Kerala, in 1956. He went to


Vasudevan Akkitham
Vasudevan Akkitham was born at Kumaranallur, Kerala in 1958. He

Eminent Jury Members of First Take 2019

Brinda Miller
Brinda Miller is a celebrated and well- known Fine Artist who


Jayanti Rabadia
Jayanti Rabadia- one of India’s eminent artists whose work is widely

Jayanti Rabadia- one of India’s eminent artists whose work is widely recognized for its depiction of Indian mythology and boldness in different forms of animals, birds along with human figures. Born in 1959, Dhoraji , Gujarat. Jayanti Rabadia did his diploma in painting from Vallabh Vidyanagar and Post Diploma in Graphic Arts and Mural Painting from the Faculty Of Fine Fine Arts MS University, Vadodara, as well as an exchange program to Glasgow School Of Art, Scotland. He has also received many awards and scholarships, some of them are junior fellowship, HRD ministry of culture Government of India, scholarship Urja Trust , Navdeep Award for young artists of outstanding contribution in the field of art, International Biennale of Prints Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal. Honourable mention award from National Lalit Kala Academy, Delhi. Gold Medal and Centenary Year Prize Award from Bombay Art Society and many more. He has done numerous mural projects, solo and group exhibitions some of them are at Glasgow Scotland, Baroda, Bombay and Delhi. Jayanti Rabadia is an Associate Professor at the Department of Painting , Faculty Of Fine Arts since 1989.

Subodh Kerkar
Rm. Palaniappan born 1957, Devakottai, Tamil Nadu, is an alumnus


Veer Munshi
Artist/curator born in Srinagar Kashmir, he studied fine arts (painting)


Umang Hutheesing
Umang Hutheesing is the scion of one of the India’s most historical family, he

Eminent Jury Members of First Take 2018

Amit Ambalal
Amit Ambalal (b.1943) lives and works in Ahmedabad, India. He qualified in


Muzaffar Ali
Muzaffar Ali is a filmmaker, fashion designer, poet, artist, music-lover,

Muzaffar Ali is a filmmaker, fashion designer, poet, artist, music-lover, revivalist, and social worker. He belongs to Royal House of Kotwara in India. A painter from childhood, he realized that paintings could express a more intimate form of aesthetics and he was attracted to the medium of collage and sketches. A romantic at heart, he has an acute sensibility towards culture, art and beauty. In some of his collages, he incorporates old postcards and photographs to create a nostalgic effect. He is well known for his creation of Rekha as Umrao Jaan and has directed many documentaries and short films based on Awadh, craft, culture, exploitation of women and Sufism. His interest in craft and fashion clothing motivated him to design clothes and his brand ‘Kotwara’ aptly revives the traditional crafts of Awadh. Born in Kotwara, Muzaffar Ali attended the La Martiniere College in Lucknow. Along with nine one-man shows of sketches and collages, he is also instituted the Rumi Foundation with a vision to promote Sufi music festivals – including the Jahan-e-Khusaru in Delhi. He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2005 and the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award in 2014. A thinker and a dreamer and Muzaffar Ali is Art – Personified!

Ravinder Reddy
Ravinder Reddy – one of India’s eminent artists is recognized for his


Seema Kohli
Seema Kohli is an artist thriving on imagination, ideas, philosophies,


Vijay Bagodi
Vijay Bagodi is one of the celebrated artists whose artwork reflects

Eminent Jury Members of First Take 2017

Johny ML
Johny ML is a writer, translator, art historian, art critic,


Manu Parekh
Born in 1939 in Gujarat, Manu Parekh completed a Diploma in


Madhvi Parekh
Madhvi Parekh, born in 1942 in Sanjaya, a village in Gujarat, is


Walter D’souza
Known primarily for his practice in the print medium- wood

Eminent Jury Members of First Take 2016

Vrindavan Solanki
Vrindavan Solanki is a prolific Indian master artist recognized


Mallika Sarabhai
Mallika Sarabhai is one of India’s leading choreographers and


Karl Antao
Karl Antao -from Mumbai he had studied at Sir J.J. Institute of


Pavan Bakeri
Managing Director - Bakeri Group; Technologist and Arts
