Nita Ambani Elected to the Board of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
First Indian Trustee in the Museum’s History
Educationist,
philanthropist, and businesswoman Nita Ambani has been named an Honorary
Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced by the Museum's Chairman
Daniel Brodsky. Ambani’s election took place at the November 12 meeting of the
Board and she is the first Indian to be honored.
Brodsky commented:
“Mrs. Ambani’s commitment to The Met and to preserving and promoting India’s
art and culture is truly exceptional. Her support has an enormous impact on the
Museum’s ability to study and display art from every corner of the world. It is
a pleasure to welcome Nita Ambani to the Board.”
Nita Ambani said, “It
has been deeply rewarding for me over the past several years to support The
Metropolitan Museum of Art in its desire to expand and enhance its program of
exhibiting the arts of India. I have been moved and impressed by The Met’s keen
interest, which enables our commitment to seeing Indian art and culture
represented on the global platform. This great distinction inspires me to
redouble my efforts on behalf of India’s heritage, from the ancient to the
contemporary.”
Nita Ambani is the
Founder and Chairperson of the Reliance Foundation, an Indian philanthropic
organization that has supported The Met since 2016, beginning with the
exhibition Nasreen Mohamedi. That presentation was the first museum
retrospective of the artist's work in the United States and was also one of The
Met Breuer's inaugural exhibitions.
In 2017, the Reliance
Foundation committed to support exhibitions that explore and celebrate the arts
of India. The first exhibition to benefit from this gift was Modernism on the
Ganges: Raghubir Singh Photographs (October 11, 2017–January 2, 2018), followed
by Phenomenal Nature: Mrinalini Mukherjee (June 4–September 29, 2019), which
marked the first comprehensive display of Mukherjee’s work in the United
States.
Other exhibitions that
will benefit from this sponsorship include the upcoming Tree and Serpent: Early
Buddhist Art in India, 200 B.C.–A.D. 400, opening November 10, 2020, at The Met
Fifth Avenue, along with exhibitions that will cover such topics as
17th-century Mughal art and contemporary Indian sculpture.
In 2017, the Museum
honored Nita Ambani at The Met Winter Party, an event celebrating the
achievements of those who foster greater diversity and inclusion in the world
of art. Generous with her time and expertise, Ambani is also a member of The
Met's International Council.
Nita Ambani is
especially committed to preserving and promoting India’s art, culture, and
heritage. Reliance Foundation has sponsored key cultural events such as The
Elephanta Festival, and Abbaji, the annual concert of master musician Ustad
Zakir Hussain, among the many efforts to recognize the cultural legends of
India and ensure their relevance to a younger generation. In its initiatives to
advance knowledge of Indian arts internationally, the Foundation has supported
not only the series of exhibitions at The Met but also presentations such as
Gates of the Lord: The Tradition of Krishna Paintings at the Art Institute of
Chicago.
In her role as Founder
and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, Mrs. Ambani has impacted the lives of
more than 34 million people across India through the organization’s initiatives
in rural transformation; health; education; sports for development;
disaster response; arts, culture and heritage; and urban renewal. The
Foundation’s education program pays special attention to gender equity to
increase much-needed opportunities for girls and young women. The Foundation’s
Dhirubhai Ambani Scholarship has so far provided financial support to 12,000
students to pursue graduation in any institution of their choice—nearly half of
these scholarships are given to girls.
In 2017, Nita Ambani
received the prestigious Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Award from the President of
India for the work of Reliance Foundation in the area of sports for
development. In 2016, Forbes listed Mrs. Ambani as one of the 50 most powerful
businesswomen in Asia. She is a member of the International Olympic Committee and
is the first Indian woman to serve in that role.