KRUPA AMIN

A NATIVE TO THE CULTURAL HUB OF VADODARA, SHE’S METAMORPHOSED AN OLD DISTILLERY INTO A THRIVING CREATIVE CENTRE THAT NURTURES EMERGING TALENT. WE SPEAK WITH KRUPA AMIN ABOUT HER PATRONAGE OF THE ARTS, SUPPORT FOR UPCOMING ARTISTS & THE CHANGES THE INDUSTRY HAS UNDERGONE OVER THE YEARS

- SHRADDHA CHOWDHURY

Once engulfed in the overwhelming fumes of chemicals, the centuries-old distillery in Vadodara’s Alembic City now brews something entirely new — art and the artists behind them. The discerning eye behind this transformation is Vadodara native Krupa Amin, art collector, patron and founding director of Space Studio.

A graduate from Nottingham University and the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Amin carries forward the legacy of patronage of the arts that Vadodara has enjoyed for over 200 years, with the support of the city’s royal families. She uses her experience from Osian’s Auction House and Bodhi Art Gallery in Mumbai to support the creative practice of emerging artists through her not-forprofit organisation, providing grants, backing exhibits at high-profile events like the India Art Fair and also offering the online Space Studio-Bicar Writing Fellowship for 10 artists. Most recently, the studio backed New York-based Debmalya Roy Choudhuri’s shortlist for the Louis Roederer Discovery Award, for which his photographs will be showcased at Rencontres d’ Arles this summer.

The old distillery building today is a thriving centre for all forms of creative expression. In fact, there’s “so much character” to the location and its surrounding elements that artists “admit it’s a stimulus for the works they make”. In conversation with HELLO!, this connoisseur of the fine arts lets us in on industry secrets, the transitions she’s noticed, her favourites in the field and much more.

Take us back to when you were introduced to the art landscape of India.