ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Established in 2009, TAKE on Art is the leading English-language periodical covering contemporary art and culture from and about South Asia. Published twice a year, TAKE on Art magazine commissions essays, features, extended criticism, reviews, and photo essays by critics and key voices both in the region and internationally.

Alongside the printed periodical, TAKE on Art produces a wide array of complementary activities. This includes sector-based advocacy, selective publishing of specific artist monographs, digital publishing and reportage, partnerships with global institutes, writing-based mentorships and education workshops, symposia and public programming, and the prestigious TAKE on Art Magazine x Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia Art Writers’ Award.

MISSION

TAKE on Art’s mission is to be the premier English-language periodical in South Asia, reporting on key developments in art and culture in the region, and further abroad. Looking forward we seek to further acknowledge and amplify South Asian practices, including diaspora and their work internationally.

AIM

TAKE on Art aims are outlined below:

1–To amplify global connections through fostering and advocating for engagement with South Asia based practitioners
2–To contribute meaningfully towards public discourse on and about contemporary art and culture in South Asia and to celebrate excellence and risk taking in the field
3–To foster connection and engagement with TAKE on Art through strategic partnerships, events, and education
4–To offer competitive discourse-driven opportunities for professional development through mentoring and award based platforms
5–To further assert South Asian practitioners in a wider global dialogue and to increase knowledge and visual literacy of South Asia based practitioners

EDITORIAL APPROACH

TAKE on Art’s editorial approach is underpinned by a commitment to critical writing which extends to nurturing and publishing emerging art writers and critics, alongside contributions by leading writers and critics. This curated, rigorous, and dynamic approach underpins editorial frameworks, research, and decisions by the team. TAKE on Art magazine is published biannually within the editorial nexus of a themed issue.

TAKE on Art is a publication that generates discourses on concerns imminent to contemporary artistic production, curatorial practices, and art history writing. However, TAKE on Art does not position art practice as an isolated pursuit, but instead, encourages larger interdisciplinary and multifaceted conversations which will in turn increase the capacity for engaging, relevant, and relatable content.

Through this, the magazine aims to continue without becoming superfluous or losing relevance—to both the specialised community and the larger readership. Part of doing that includes reviving the concept of a periodical publication on art by generating an interest in such content, nurturing a younger generation of critics, and contributing to the scant efforts that have been made in building art histories in the region.

Our published thematics, inclusive of guest editor appointments, include:

2009 – Issue 1                        Black (Guest Editor: Shaheen Merali)
2010 – Issue 2                        Gallery
2010 – Issue 3                        Modern
2011 – Issue 4                         Oeuvre (Guest Editor: Sophie Ernst)
2011 – Issue 5                         Curation (Guest Editors: Vidya Shivadas & Natasha Ginwala)
2011 – Issue 6                         Market
2012 – Issue 7                         Design
2012 – Issue 8                         Biennale (Guest Editor: Ranjit Hoskote)
2012 – Issue 9                         Collector-I
2013 – Issue 10                       Sculpture (Guest Editor: Diana Campbell)
2013 – Issue 11                        Residency
2013 – Issue 12                       Photography-I (Guest Editor: Dr Alka Pande)
2014 – Issue 13                       Sacred (Guest Editor: Nancy Adajania)
2014 – Issue 14                       Collector-II
2014 – Issue 15                       Critic
2015 – Issue 16                       Business
2015 – Issue 17                       Studio
2016 – Issue 18                       Photography-II (Guest Editor: Dr Alka Pande)
2016 – Issue 19                       Writing
2017 – Issue 20                       Ecology
2017 – Issue 21                        Fiction
2018 – Issue 22                       Architecture
2019 – Issue 23–24                Fashion (Guest Editor: Mayank Mansingh Kaul)
2019 – Issue 25                       Bengal-I (Guest Editor: Ina Puri)
2021 – Issue 26                      Quarantine
2022 – Issue 27                      Books (Guest Editor: Pramod Kumar K.G.)
2022 – Issue 28                     Memory
2023 – Issue 29                     Sustainability
2024 – Issue 30                     South Asia

PARTNERS AND ENGAGEMENT

TAKE on Art is dedicated to the arts in the region and frequently travels to art fairs, biennales, and festivals internationally. This is done to further build upon and continue to foster interest and to increase the reach of art practices from India and South Asia further abroad. Locally, as part of our efforts to ensure nationwide presence, we have partnered with major art events including those in Mumbai, Chandigarh, Goa, Kochi, Jaipur, Chennai, Baroda, Bangalore, and Kolkata.

Internationally, we have partnered with events such as Art Dubai, Art Istanbul, Dhaka Art Summit, Videobrasil, Art Basel, Art Basel HK, Art Basel Miami, Asia Manchester Triennale, Art Stage Singapore, and India Art Fair, among others. Furthermore, TAKE on Art magazine was the first magazine to be invited to Art Basel and has been present at the fair in both solo and group booth capacities since then. In addition to this TAKE has also been invited to global art forums in Oslo, Venice, Hong Kong, New York, Berlin, Dhaka, and Colombo amongst others representing the arts from the region.

CONSTITUTION

Continuing the spirit of risk-taking and experimental modes of production Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Bhavna Kakar says:

“Contemporary art writing is the result of a long-standing tradition of literature and notions of aesthetic criteria and criticism of it. Even though the conscious use of the terminology ‘art writing’ is an intentional removal from the didactic linguistic style traditionally associated with criticism, occurrences of writing on art predate the practice of art criticism.”