OUR STORY
FOUNDED IN 2025 BY PINKY & KABBIER DAGA IN MUMBAI, INDIA, SIKAO GALLERY WAS BORN FROM A MOOD. A MULTIDISCIPLINARY & MULTI-MEDIUM ART CURATION, CHAMPIONING & STEWARDSHIP PROJECT THAT OBSERVES THE HUMAN EMOTIONAL CONDITION & THE FORCES THAT DRIVE IT TO CREATE. EXISTS AT THE INTERSECTION OF ARTIST, OBJECT & COLLECTOR. FORM BECOMES FEELING, TEXTURE SPEAKS IN TONGUE. EVERY WORK IS AN EMOTIONAL REFLECTION OF NOT ONLY THE ARTIST, BUT ALSO OF THOSE DRAWN TO COLLECT, CONNECT & CONFRONT.
DERIVED FROM THE CHINESE WORD FOR “TO CONTEMPLATE”, SIKAO IS AN EXPLORATION OF RAW THOUGHT, MEMORY & EXPRESSION, AN ODE TO IMPERFECTION & PROCESS. NOT MERELY DESIGN, BUT HUMAN DESIGN: THE IMPRINTS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCES, THE SILENT WEIGHT OF TRAUMA OR THE SHAPESHIFTING TENSION BETWEEN CONCEALMENT & SELF REVELATION. IT IS ABOUT BECOMING.
VULNERABILITY IS POWER. EDGES — NOT SMOOTHED, BUT CELEBRATED. SIKAO DOES NOT OFFER POLISHED CONCLUSIONS, BUT ASKS A QUESTION, ALLOWING THE OBSERVER “TO CONTEMPLATE”. IF EMOTION COULD TAKE PHYSICAL FORM, WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE? SIKAO IS NOT A GALLERY. SIKAO IS A CULTURE — A LIVING ARCHIVE OF EMERGING VOICES OF EXPRESSION, UNITED IN THE PURSUIT OF BEAUTY THAT IS HONEST, COMPLEX & MOST IMPORTANTLY, HUMAN.
OUR AIM
TO CURATE & SUPPORT EMERGING ARTISTS, & INCUBATE THEM TO CREATE OBJECTS OF ART, NOT LIMITED BY ANY ONE MEDIUM OF EXPRESSION. FURNITURE, SCULPTURE, LUMINESCENT OBJECTS, CROCKERY, PERFORMANCE, VISUAL, AUDIBLE & EVERY OTHER FORM OF EXPRESSION THAT A HUMAN MIND CAN CONCEIVE. SIKAO AIMS TO HANDHOLD ARTISTS & CREATORS TO GENERATE SOMETHING PERSONAL & HUMAN, & LAUNCH IT ON A GLOBAL SCALE TO A DESIGN DISCERNING AUDIENCE.
OUR TEAM
THE SIKAO TEAM
CO-FOUNDER, CURATORIAL DIRECTOR
PINKY DAGA
PINKY DAGA IS A PH.D IN ENGLISH LITERATURE FROM BOSTON UNIVERSITY, WHO STARTED HER PROFESSIONAL JOURNEY IN MUMBAI, LAUNCHING A CHILDREN’S THEATRE PRODUCTION HOUSE, WRITING AND DIRECTING OVER A DOZEN PLAYS. CURRENTLY, SHE IS THE CO-FOUNDER OF ‘THRIIVE ART & SOUL’, A LEADING ALTERNATIVE WELLNESS AND MENTAL HEALTH PLATFORM IN INDIA. HER FORAY INTO WELLNESS BEGAN WITH LAUNCHING PYRAMID VALLEY INTERNATIONAL, A FAMILY RUN SPIRITUAL CENTRE IN BENGALURU. AS CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT PVI SHE CONCEPTUALISED AND CREATED THE GLOBAL FESTIVAL OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCES, ONE OF INDIA’S FIRST GLOBAL WELLNESS EVENTS.
CO-FOUNDER, CREATIVE DIRECTOR
KABBIER DAGA
KABBIER DAGA IS A STUDENT AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR BASED IN MUMBAI, INDIA. AN ARTIST HIMSELF, CREATES WORKS IN A RANGE OF DIFFERENT MEDIUMS, ENCOMPASSING GARMENT, SOUND, FILM & VIDEO. AN ABSTRACT, EXPRESSIVE AND BRUTALIST APPROACH TO EVERY PIECE HE GENERATES SETS HIM APART, GIVING HIM A UNIQUE STYLE OF EXPRESSION. HE STARTED HIS BRAND, ‘THREE + ONE’ AS A PLATFORM TO SHARE HIS ART TO WHOMEVER WISHES TO CONSUME IT. HIS ART IS MEANT TO INVITE A VIEWER TO CONTEMPLATE, MUCH LIKE THE MEANING BEHIND THE BRAND NAME ‘SIKAO’.
PROJECT MANAGER
AASHNA JHAVERI
AASHNA JHAVERI IS A MUMBAI-BASED VISUAL ARTIST AND PAPER SCULPTOR WITH A BFA IN PAINTING FROM LASALLE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, SINGAPORE (2011). SHE HAS BEEN PRACTICING AS A VISUAL ARTIST FOR OVER 12 YEARS, WITH A FOCUSED ENGAGEMENT IN PAPER SCULPTURE FOR THE PAST 8 YEARS.
IN ADDITION TO HER STUDIO PRACTICE, AASHNA HAS OVER 9 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE ARTS AND CULTURE SECTOR, WORKING ACROSS PROJECT AND PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, EXHIBITION COORDINATION, SALES, AND ADMINISTRATION.
MOST RECENTLY, IN 2024, SHE WORKED WITH THE GOETHE-INSTITUT / MAX MUELLER BHAVAN AS A PROJECT ASSISTANT FOR THE EXHIBITION EMPOWERMENT – ART AND FEMINISMS IN PUNE. FROM 2022 TO 2024, SHE COLLABORATED WITH CURATOR RANJIT HOSKOTE AS EXHIBITION COORDINATOR FOR SEVERAL SHOWS AT CYMROZA ART GALLERY. IN 2022, SHE SERVED AS PRODUCTION MANAGER FOR THE SHOW WINDOWS, AN EXHIBITION BY SQW:LAB IN MUMBAI.
FROM 2016 TO 2021, AASHNA WAS WITH TARQ, MUMBAI, WHERE SHE HELD ROLES RANGING FROM GALLERY ASSOCIATE TO SALES DIRECTOR, CONTRIBUTING EXTENSIVELY TO EXHIBITION PLANNING, SALES, AND CLIENT RELATIONS. PRIOR TO THIS, SHE WAS THE EVENT AND PROGRAM MANAGER AT STUDIO X (2013–2015), WHERE SHE ORGANIZED A WIDE RANGE OF ART AND ARCHITECTURAL EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS.