Archivist-Collector and the Founder-Director of Gallery Rasa, Rakesh Sahni has been promoting Indian modern and contemporary art and has been passionately involved in curatorial and archival ventures. Rakesh and his wife, Radhika Sahni, founded the gallery in 1993 and have since worked tirelessly to build the exhaustive Gallery Rasa Archives through collection, systematic archiving and digitisation. The archives range from rare artworks of Indian modern and contemporary art, crafts, to invaluable books and film memorabilia. The husband-wife duo is also deeply involved in philanthropic ventures.
With years of experience in curating and designing niche travel experiences for diverse groups of international travellers, Radhika’s strength in communication and her ability to understand the needs of each individual client were honed. It led her to discovering a passion for working with and amongst people. A Welham Girls’ alumni, she remains invested in community-based initiatives. She also mentors young adults, enabling them to manage and pursue their higher education goals effectively and create their own success stories. Radhika is central to establishing and maintaining Gallery Rasa’s relationship with artists.
Besides running the gallery, Rakesh is also the Founder-Trustee and Vice-Chairman of NGO Trinayani (www.trinayani.org), involved in creating awareness, inculcating diversity and inclusion, and demystifying disability. At Trinayani, he works towards creating the larger vision of the organisation and works closely towards its implementation. Rakesh Sahni has been an active member of Round Table India both in the area and nationally as Convener: Human Resource and Development. Since 2012, Sahni has been an active member of Rotary Club of Calcutta Midtown spearheading Global Grants under Project Dignity, building more than 600 toilets in the Sundarban area of West Bengal. He has also served as President, Rotary Club of Calcutta Midtown (2018-19) and the club received several notable awards under his tenure.
