Nadia Samdani MBE (née Khalil Choudhury) is a British born Bangladeshi businesswoman, art collector, and philanthropist. She is involved in developing platforms for art and culture in Bangladesh.[1] Along with her husband Rajeeb Samdani, she is the co-founder of Samdani Art Foundation and its headline event the Dhaka Art Summit, which she also leads as its director.[2][3] She serves as the Vice President of the Alliance Française de Dhaka.[4]
Nadia Samdani | |
|---|---|
নাদিয়া সামদানি | |
 Samdani in 2017 | |
| Nationality | British-Bangladeshi |
| Other names | Nadia Khalil Choudhury |
| Occupation(s) | Art collector, businessperson |
| Spouse | Rajeeb Samdani |
In 2022, Samdani was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in Queen's Birthday Honours for services to global art philanthropy and supporting the arts in South Asia and the UK.[5] In 2023, she was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of the Arts and Letters) by the French government.[6]
Background
editSamdani's family moved to Dhaka from the UK in the late 1980s.[7]
Career
editNadia is a founding committee member of Tate's South Asian Acquisition Committee and is also a member of Tate's International Council.[8] She is a founding member of the Harvard University Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute's Arts Advisory Council and a member of the Alserkal Avenue Programming Committee in Dubai and also serves on the advisory council of the art fair Art Dubai.[9][10][4] She presented the work of the foundation at museums and art fairs such as the Royal Ontario Museum, Art Basel, and Frieze Art Fair.[11][12][13][14][15][16]
Her art collection has been recognized since 2015 on the Artnews Top 200 collectors listing[17] – one of the sole South Asian collections to receive this recognition.[18][19] The Samdani collection is featured in international news publications including Hong Kong Tatler.[20]
Business
editSamdani is director of Golden Harvest Group, a conglomerate in Bangladesh active in information technology, commodities, logistics, food processing, agriculture, dairy, aviation, insurance, banking, infrastructure development and real estate. She is the chairperson of Braintrain Studio, a subsidiary of Golden Harvest which is active in architecture and interior design consultancy in Bangladesh. She is also a director of the Khalil Group.[21]
Honours, awards and recognition
edit- Knight of the Order of the Arts and Letters (2023)[22]
- Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) (2022)[23]
- “Woman of Inspiration Award” by the Bangladesh chapter of Junior Chamber International (JCI) (2020)[24]
- “Women of the Decade in Arts Leadership” by the Women Economic Forum (2018)[25]
- Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage award by Montblanc Cultural Foundation (2017)[26]
- 2015 to 2020 Top 200 collectors listing bby ARTnews (2015–2020)[17]
References
edit- ^ Sussman, Anna Louie (9 March 2020). "How These 7 Women Are Making the Art World More Diverse". Artsy.
- ^ "Our Team". Samdani Art Foundation.
- ^ "DAS Team". Dhaka Art Summit.
- ^ a b "Executive Committee & Constitution". Alliance Française de Dhaka.
- ^ "British-Bangladeshi Nadia Samdani, an art patron, receives MBE in Queen's Birthday Honours". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
- ^ "Nadia Samdani awarded with Order of Arts and Letters by French Ministry of Culture". Dhaka Tribune. 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- ^ "My Dhaka: Nadia Samdani". Art Basel. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
- ^ "Rajeeb and Nadia Samdani among top art collectors in the world". Dhaka Courier.
- ^ "Committees". Art Dubai. Archived from the original on 2019-06-20.
- ^ "Founding members form South Asian Arts Council". The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University. 9 December 2015.
- ^ "ArtAsiaPacific: Almanac2013". ArtAsiaPacific.
- ^ Samdani, Nadia (22 February 2013). "Collecting Art Is Deeply Personal". livemint.com.
- ^ "Nadia Samdani participates in Speaker's Forum, India Art Fair". The Daily Star. 11 February 2013.
- ^ "Highlights from the Second Edition of the Private Museum Conference". Larry's List.
- ^ "South Asian Art - Past, Present, Future". events.berkeley.edu.
- ^ "Nadia & Rajeeb Samdani, Diana Campbell Betancourt". ArtReview.
- ^ a b "Nadia and Rajeeb Samdani". ARTnews. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- ^ "Who Will Shape the Art World in 2020?: ARTnews Presents 'The Deciders'". ARTnews. 14 January 2020.
- ^ "Nadia & Rajeeb Samdani, Diana Campbell Betancourt". ArtReview.
- ^ Giles, Oliver. "Inside Art-Collecting Couple Nadia and Rajeeb Samdani's Impressive Home in Dhaka". Tatler Asia.
- ^ "Nadia Khalil Choudhury - Biography". marketscreener.com.
- ^ "Nadia Samdani presented the Order of Arts and Letters by French cultural ministry". The Daily Star. Dhaka. 23 July 2023.
- ^ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B28.
- ^ "JCI Bangladesh awards nine women leaders of country". The Financial Express. Dhaka. 10 March 2020.
- ^ "About WEF Awards 2018". Women Economic Forum. 10 July 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15.
- ^ Shaikh, Ayesha (17 September 2017). "Montblanc De La Culture Arts Patronage Award Presented In Dubai". Harper's Bazaar Arabia.