A MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDERS

Our passion for South Asian Art inspired us to assemble one of the most significant collections of South Asian Art in the United States. Over a period of 50+ years the collection has grown to include works ranging from early Moghul Miniatures to Modern Masters to Contemporary artists from the region.

While we have enjoyed living with these works in our home, it has always been our mission to share the works in the collection on a much larger scale and to foster and promote South Asian Art and culture in the United States. It was in order to accomplish this mission that we decided to establish the South Asia Institute in Chicago.

Although the first immigrants from South Asia arrived in the late 18th Century and now number over 3 million, very little of their history, art and culture is represented in mainline museums. At the Institute, we will not only showcase the common heritage and identity of the South Asian Americans that makes us unique but we will also celebrate the common connections and values that we share with our neighbors and the universal community at large.

Art and cultural expression represent areas that bring together people from diverse backgrounds, to share in an experience.  These encounters help us to understand and identify with one another and become more tolerant of our differences.

We look forward to South Asia Institute becoming a unique destination in Chicago where the heritage and various art forms of South Asia are celebrated through exhibitions, live music and dance performances, film screenings and book readings, to name just a few of the types of planned cultural events.

Hope to see you soon at South Asia Institute!!

Shireen & Afzal Ahmad

From a love of collecting art to creating a cultural center for the entire community