NCUE x SUP 2025

Asst. Professor, IDPT-SCET, Sarvajanik University

I am an art historian, educator, and practicing artist with a core interest in the historiography of Surat city through its art, architecture, and cultural landscape. I completed my M.V.A. in Art History & Aesthetics from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University of Baroda in 2007. My academic and artistic journey is rooted in regional narratives, material explorations, and curatorial practices.

Over the years, I have participated in solo and group exhibitions in India, Sri Lanka, and London. I was honoured with the Somalal Shah Award by the Gujarat State Lalit Kala Akademi in 2005. As a curator, I have conceptualized exhibitions like River & Life (2016), Echoes of the Unheard (2018), and Substance and Form (2021), each reflecting my inquiry into space, memory, and materiality.

I regularly contribute essays and articles to various catalogs, books, and newspapers. Currently, I serve as Assistant Professor at Sarvajanik School of Fine Arts, IDPT-SCET, Sarvajanik University, Surat.

Asst. Professor, IDPT-SCET, Sarvajanik University

I am an Artist, Printmaker and Art Educator known for my concept-driven cyanotype works and series done on the theme of AutoRickshaw that explore layered realities, perceptions, and narratives.

I  graduated in Painting and a postgraduate in Printmaking from Faculty of Visual arts, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Vadodara, My work have been widely exhibited across India and internationally.

I have been selected for prestigious platforms like the 51st, 62nd, and 63rd National Art Exhibitions by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India  and international residencies and exhibitions in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka. I received the Gujarat State Lalit Kala Academy’s Best Print Award in 2008 and the Kala Ratna Award in 2016, among several other accolades. I serve as Assistant Professor at Sarvajanik School of Fine Arts, IDPT-SCET, Sarvajanik University, Surat.

SUP India Resident Artist | SU x SUP 2025

Nicola Hills has extensive experience working as a Garden and Landscape Designer. She qualified as a Garden Designer at Merrist Wood and has worked on a number of contemporary gardens, as well as show gardens. Nicola likes to blend traditional planting schemes in a contemporary manner and believes landscape design is about making connections between personal space and the surrounding landscape. She has experience designing in the public realm as well as formal and  informal gardens for both private and commercial clients.

SUP Indian Resident Artist | SU x SUP 2025

Tarla Patel is a multidisciplinary artist from Coventry, exploring identity, memory and space through migration and storytelling, championing hidden voices. She has worked on international and UK projects with artists, organisations, and communities.

Tarla is the proud custodian of her father Maganbhai Patel (Masterji) photography archive provides a visual documented of people migrating from the Indian subcontinent and settling in the UK from 1950s to 2000. Her direction of work primarily run through the ideas of memory, space, and identity; through stories of migration and how it connects through generations, and shapes our sense of belonging in the world we live in.