The JK Paper Award for the Arts: Propositions in Paper was founded in 2023 and is presented annually by Anant Foundation for the Arts in partnership with JK Paper Ltd.
The award is created with the intention of appreciating paper, not as background or support, but as an enduring technology and medium of expression in its own right. It invites artists to engage seriously and rigorously with its material, conceptual and historical possibilities. Through residencies, monetary support and exhibition of new work, the award builds a growing community of practitioners whose work expands what paper can do and mean.
Edition Overview
The third edition of the award is currently ongoing. Ritwika Ganguly has been selected as the winner, with Jyotismriti Bordoloi, Om Kumar and Sejal Solanki receiving Certificates of Recognition. All of the awardees have completed their residencies at Jaipur Centre for Art and Arthshila, Siwan respectively, and the exhibition of their new work will be announced soon.
The Winner
Ritwika Ganguly holds a BFA in Painting from Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan (2018–22) and an MVA in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University of Baroda (2022–24). She is interested in drawing everyday gestures and incidents out of their quotidian contexts and investigating the ambiguity of these details. She works across multiple mediums including drawing, watercolour wash, frame-by-frame animation, stop-motion, video and, more recently, projection mapping.
Solo Residency — Jaipur Centre for Art
Ritwika spent a month-long solo residency at JCA in July 2026. Her practice has long attended to subtle shifts in her environment, working in delicate watercolour washes and frame-by-frame animation. At Jaipur, she turned toward a different mode of experimentation — a series of sequential paintings in gouache on paper, worked at times with natural pigments, drawing on documentation of the palace at night. The city's vibrancy and the culture of the palace gave her rich material to explore how the perception of a space, and of its architecture, shifts over time.
Honourable Mentions
Three artists received a Certificate of Recognition from Anant Foundation for the Arts for outstanding practice. They attended a group residency at Arthshila’s Art Studios at Parivartan, Siwan, and will present new work in a group exhibition at Anant Art Gallery.
Group Residency — Arthshila, Siwan
Our honourable mention awardees- Jyotismriti Bordoloi, Om Kumar and Sejal Solanki attended a residency with Arthshila hosted at Parivartan, Siwan from March-April, 2026. Learn more about their experiences and explorations:
JYOTISMRITI BORDOLOI:
At Parivartan, Jyotismriti’s inquiry into the body as a site of memory found new ground. Drawings developed from the elements around her, eco-prints brought forward the memory of plants, and an unexpected collaboration with the women of Arthshila’s stitching department opened her practice in ways she had not anticipated — extending her exploration of the duality of protection and care.
OM KUMAR:
Visits to nearby villages and conversations with people in Siwan pushed Om’s practice into new territories, deepening his engagement with narratives of survival, labour and the quiet weight of holding a dream together within contemporary Indian society.
SEJAL SOLANKI:
Working in gouache and tea wash, Sejal’s practice is deeply attuned to her surroundings and the emotional charge they carry. At Parivartan, that attunement found new possibilities, expanding her practice in directions she continues to explore.
Award Jury
Partners
JK Paper Ltd
Partner
Jaipur Centre for Art
Residency Partner
Arthshila
Residency Partner
Anant Art
Exhibition Partner
Edition Overview
The third edition of the award is currently ongoing. Ritwika Ganguly has been selected as the winner, with Jyotismriti Bordoloi, Om Kumar and Sejal Solanki receiving Certificates of Recognition. All of the awardees have completed their residencies at Jaipur Centre for Art and Arthshila, Siwan respectively, and the exhibition of their new work will be announced soon.
The Winner
Ritwika Ganguly holds a BFA in Painting from Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan (2018–22) and an MVA in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University of Baroda (2022–24). She is interested in drawing everyday gestures and incidents out of their quotidian contexts and investigating the ambiguity of these details. She works across multiple mediums including drawing, watercolour wash, frame-by-frame animation, stop-motion, video and, more recently, projection mapping.
Solo Residency — Jaipur Centre for Art
Ritwika spent a month-long solo residency at JCA in July 2026. Her practice has long attended to subtle shifts in her environment, working in delicate watercolour washes and frame-by-frame animation. At Jaipur, she turned toward a different mode of experimentation — a series of sequential paintings in gouache on paper, worked at times with natural pigments, drawing on documentation of the palace at night. The city's vibrancy and the culture of the palace gave her rich material to explore how the perception of a space, and of its architecture, shifts over time.
Honourable Mentions
Three artists received a Certificate of Recognition from Anant Foundation for the Arts for outstanding practice. They attended a group residency at Arthshila’s Art Studios at Parivartan, Siwan, and will present new work in a group exhibition at Anant Art Gallery.
Group Residency — Arthshila, Siwan
Our honourable mention awardees- Jyotismriti Bordoloi, Om Kumar and Sejal Solanki attended a residency with Arthshila hosted at Parivartan, Siwan from March-April, 2026. Learn more about their experiences and explorations:
JYOTISMRITI BORDOLOI:
At Parivartan, Jyotismriti’s inquiry into the body as a site of memory found new ground. Drawings developed from the elements around her, eco-prints brought forward the memory of plants, and an unexpected collaboration with the women of Arthshila’s stitching department opened her practice in ways she had not anticipated — extending her exploration of the duality of protection and care.
OM KUMAR:
Visits to nearby villages and conversations with people in Siwan pushed Om’s practice into new territories, deepening his engagement with narratives of survival, labour and the quiet weight of holding a dream together within contemporary Indian society.
SEJAL SOLANKI:
Working in gouache and tea wash, Sejal’s practice is deeply attuned to her surroundings and the emotional charge they carry. At Parivartan, that attunement found new possibilities, expanding her practice in directions she continues to explore.
Award Jury
Partners
JK Paper Ltd
Partner
Jaipur Centre for Art
Residency Partner
Arthshila
Residency Partner
Anant Art
Exhibition Partner
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A non-profit founded in 2023 to support Modern and Contemporary South Asian art practices
A non-profit founded in 2023 to support Modern and Contemporary South Asian art practices
A non-profit founded in 2023 to support Modern and Contemporary South Asian art practices