While work frequently brings him back to his hometown, Mumbai, the 32-year-old curator and art historian’s current home is New York City, where he holds the position of Assistant Curator of South Asian Art at the renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art — a role that one might add, was created specifically for him in 2015. Known for its historically significant collection, the museum hopes to engage modern audiences through more contemporary works beyond the Western world, and this is where Jhaveri comes in, accepting his new responsibilities with much enthusiasm. “Being the first curator of South Asian modern and contemporary art at the Met was daunting, but what it offered me was the possibility to engage in a more embodied manner with some of the discursive concerns I had been formulating in my practice as an independent writer and art historian. The question I had to ask myself is ‘how do you begin to introduce modern and contemporary art from South Asia into the already fairly well-established chronology of the museum in which it has been a persistent blind spot?’” he says. Although the Met has over eight departments that cater to art from the region, most are antiquities dating back several centuries. “My primary responsibilities are to actively build the museums holdings of South Asian modern and contemporary art, and to contribute to its on-going exhibition programme at both the Met Breuer and the Met at Fifth Avenue. These activities have to be done with an ear to what is first and foremost happening in the region, but also keeping in mind the museums own historic collections and wider exhibition programme.”

Jhaveri is no stranger to the world he so effortlessly inhabits, hailing from a family well-engaged with the arts. His parents are noted collectors, and aunts Priya and Amrita run the Mumbai-based gallery Jhaveri Contemporary. So, though he shuttles across New York and London for work, spending time at home in Mumbai also keeps him connected to the happenings in the country. “What’s wonderful is that we’re all involved in different aspects of the art ecosystem, so that varied perspectives can be shared. We don’t always have the same opinion but it’s wonderful to have people within one’s own family who can engage with what one does. It is extremely exciting and energising, and a great rapport to have,” says the Brown University graduate. And does his home in the States reflect his love for art as well? “I live very modestly in New York, but the things on my wall right now are a print by an artist friend, Lucy Raven, and a Museum of Chance book object by Dayanita Singh, which I got in a barter. I also have a little antique object, a living frame from the 19th century and a textile work by Monika Correa. It’s an eclectic group of things.” He adds, “There is of course a long list of works I desire to have, but as a curator, I’m quite preoccupied by making sure these make it to the museum rather than having them for myself!”