Shalini Ganendra

Shalini Ganendra, fine arts consultant and gallerist, credits a childhood and  upbringing filled with an active and natural appreciation of visual arts and collecting, for entry into and commitment to the aesthetic field. She established the eponymous art space, Shalini Ganendra Fine Art (SGFA, formerly The Private Gallery), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,  in 1998.

In addition to organising exhibitions locally and internationally, the Organisation has focussed on developing innovative, cross cultural exchanges and  public programs (including residencies for artists and researchers,  and lecture programs). The organisational objectives and philosophy aim to support regional artists in the propagation and recognition of contemporary, "vernacular"  artistic languages and practises, and  promote   cross-cultural dialogue and  education.

SGFA is located in a purpose built, unique green space, Gallery Residence (also the "Ganendra Art House"),  designed by architectural luminary, Ken Yeang. The space was awarded an Architectural PAM Excellence Award in 2011 soon after completion. The project also made history as the second project to receive a final certification under the RNC category and the sixth project overall, from the Malaysian Green Building Index. The Wall Street Journal described Gallery Residence as an "experimental tropical structure". This innovative residence hosts all gallery programs including the Vision Culture Lectures and VC Art Residency, Exploring East Residency and various CSR Programs.

The Vision Culture Series, Ganendra's brainchild,  which is  supported by UNESCO Observatory Multi-Disciplinary Research in the Arts, Goethe Institute (Malaysia) and others,  was  launched in 2010 to bring international experts to Malaysia to share expertise and to gain knowledge of the region. The VC Lecture program has hosted award winning curators and artists working in different media including photography, painting and textile  - Debra Diamond/Smithsonian;  Christopher Phillips/ICP; Carol Cassidy/Textile;   Antoine D'Agata/Magnum;  Sir Roy Calne; Dr. Susan Cochrane,  to name a few.

In 2011, SGFA launched the Exploring East Residency which promotes cultural exchange for university students.

Under the Gallery's ART FOR YOU program,   SGFA has  collaborated with  premiere public spaces, including Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre,   to present art and artists to larger audiences in a variety of settings,  extending the concept of 'living with art'. SGFA created and presents at Gallery Residence, ART HUG, an innovative art program for underprivileged children.

Education
Shalini Ganendra attended National Cathedral School, Washington D.C. and then Phillips Exeter Academy boarding, from where she graduated in 1982 with High Honours and as a National Cum Laude Scholar. She was awarded a Harkness Fellowship by the Academy in 2007.

Ganendra studied briefly at Stanford University before reading law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, (1984–1987) where she was awarded a Dr. Cooper's Law Fellowship. She completed postgraduate legal study at Columbia Law School in 1989.

She is a qualified New York attorney (1989) and Barrister at Law (Lincoln's Inn, 1988).

Life and work
Shalini Ganendra was born in Sri Lanka and has lived there, in the United States, United Kingdom and Malaysia.

She practised with the Wall Street firm, Shearman & Sterling, in its New York and London offices,  for a number of years, specialising  in international corporate finance,  before exclusively pursuing a vocation in  fine arts.

Datin Shalini is married to fellow Cantabrigian and Trinity Hall graduate, Dato' Dr. Dennis Ganendra. Her husband received a Datukship in 2003, from the Sultan, which carries the honorifics 'Dato' and 'Datin'.

She founded Shalini Ganendra Fine Art in 1998 with the opening of The Private Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 2007, she established an advisory presence in London. Her focus is contemporary art and design from emerging regions in Asia, such as Malaysia and Sri Lanka and she has published a number of articles on these specialisations and art movements.

Ganendra has curated exhibitions, internationally and regionally,   which have regularly gained news coverage. She is also dedicated to establishing credible and innovative public programs in the arts that encourage cross-cultural exchanges, dialogues and scholarship and   The Vision Culture Series, (supported by UNESCO Observatory Multi-Disciplinary Research in the Arts), is one such effort.

In 2005, she co-curated Colours of Karma at the Nehru Centre, Mayfair, London, which featured top South Asian artists, including Stanley Kirinde from Sri Lanka. The Gallery was the first to showcase contemporary art by Sri Lankan artists during New York's Asia Week in 2006, 2007, 2008, in a series of exhibitions titled Serendipity ;  and the first to exhibit contemporary art by Malaysian talents during Asia Week (New York) in 2008 and 2009. Her gallery showed contemporary art and documentary photography, Glimpses of the East, during Contemporary Art Week, New York 2010. SGFA works with outstanding talents such as award winners Sir Roy Calne,  Zac Lee, ERic Peris, Shehan Madawela, Leela Peries, who embrace multidisciplinary art practises, engaging in challenging constructs that address social and  political themes.

She has served on the judging and review panels for international art awards including the Commonwealth International Artists Residencies,  and  the inaugural Caochangdi PhotoSpring Festival, a collaboration with Les Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival, in Beijing, China. She is a nominator for the Smithsonian Institute's SARF program (Smithsonian Artist Residency Fellowship).

She is a past President of the Oxford & Cambridge Society,Malaysia, continuing on its Advisory Board,  and a founding Board Member of the English Speaking Union, Malaysia.