As a collector of contemporary, and tribal and folk art from the subcontinent, Saloni Doshi (b. 1979) has been engaging with various domestic and international artistic practices for more than two decades — a dedication of collecting a multitude of paintings, photographs, textiles, sculptures, and other artistic ephemera that has led to the creation of the Saloni Doshi Collection.
Doshi completed her primary education at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in New Delhi and subsequently proceeded to obtain a double honors degree in Politics and Economics from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai. She pursued her postgraduate diploma in Social Communications Media at the Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai, and another MSc.degree in Media and Communication from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has also been conferred a diploma in Art Criticism and Theory and Indian Art Aesthetics from Jnanapravaha, Mumbai. Doshi has also been awarded the prestigious ArtThink South Asia Fellowship (2016) by Khoj, the British Council, and the Goethe Institute. She now is a Cultural Ambassador at the Asia Society India Centre, Patron at the Delfina Foundation and now sits on the Guggenheim Museum Middle East Committee.
In 2009, Doshi transformed a family warehouse space in South Mumbai to cater to the growing artistic community of visual practitioners in India who were in serious need of studios and residencies. Space118 Art Foundation, as a result, grew to be one of the foremost art spaces in Mumbai, and it has since supported hundreds of visual practices over 13 years till the pandemic. In 2019, we have now transitioned into a Grant-Making Organisation, still fervently motivated to provide opportunities for emerging artists. The Space118 Fine Arts Grant is a financial production grant given towards the realization of an ongoing or a newly conceived project.
Doshi’s creative vision has also enabled her to helm curatorial roles, wherein she has curated 6 shows for her Foundation’s fundraising shows from the art pool of young talent that the country is yet to discover. Doshi has moderated and addressed several discussions on art residencies and art collecting and is currently writing her book on “Mapping Residencies in India”.