shanaiakapoor
About Me
shanaia.kapoor My creative practice spans essays, poetry, and visual storytelling.
With work published across literary platforms and photography exhibited in group shows and featured in print, I focus on projects that explore themes of identity and its influence on human interaction, community and language.
Professionally, I work within the art world — press, digital tools like Artlogic, and editorial writing — bringing together creative insight with a strong understanding of how the industry operates behind the scenes.
shanaia.kapoor i met josianne around a bonfire in wicklow on saturday. she was older, very french- red scarf, red lips, red nails- she had frida kahlo’s face on her dress and flowers in her hair. the pinot spilled from her glass when she laughed, sometimes onto my skirt and sometimes onto the boy she had wrapped around her little finger.
josianne turned to the group and asked, “isn’t this evening lovely? aren’t we so happy to be here?”. the light was fading over the mountains and the woman on the clarinet was swinging her feet and the song had something to do with an old town road and everyone knew the words. “isn’t it silly, how lucky we are to be here tonight?“ she kept asking over the music.
no one really said anything, i guess people smiled or nodded or looked at their hands. but the question lingered, like stubborn smoke in our hair because maybe she was right and maybe it is silly and silly and silly, how drunk, how lucky, how quickly the time can pass.
shanaia.kapoor On the fifth floor of Queen’s Mansion, two serpentine flights above the gallery, the bird doctor tends to a wounded wing. In the monsoons, the smell of flesh trails all the way down and out to the front gate, where I was standing when Shailesh Mehta asked if I knew about eagles.
From a neem tree outside the Commissioner’s office, a wailing eagle was rescued. In the thick Bombay rains, their vision blurs and branches or buildings strike them unexpectedly. Shailesh parts the feathers of her right wing- like rending a damp shroud in the winter, like the scent of ruin on my skin- to reveal peachy bone and an open wound that the doctor will dress later that evening.
She croaks as he tucks her wing back in before setting her down in his basket. With the empty box from a previous rescue, Shailesh mounts his Activa 6G ambulance and rides off into the distance- to another bird in a different tree. He tells me July is his busiest season.
shanaia.kapoor For most of 2004 especially, I refused to sleep. When it got bad, my mother would cite the great sacrifice, turn on her side and languish. My father, many trials and errors later, found the solution in the convex mirror on the coconut tree outside the parking lot of Anita Building. It would contort my face so I couldn’t recognise myself- perhaps a welcome break from the symbolic I had recently become acquainted with- in the early hours, a misrecognition- a moment of recall- pre-linguistic, coherent, safe
(“According to Lacan, from the moment the image of unity is posited in opposition to the experience of fragmentation, the subject is established as a rival to itself. A conflict is produced between the infant’s fragmented sense of self and the imaginary autonomy out of which the ego is born”.)
shanaia.kapoor A thousand mangoes were stolen from Dadi’s farm last night- in the bludgeoning, pre-monsoon rain. Raju was sent to Thane by train this morning to investigate (and return with the muddy remains)
Education
Sept 2024 - Now
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
M.Phil in Creative Writing.
Aug 2019 - May 2023
Ashoka University, Delhi
BA Hons in English and Creative Writing, Minor in Media Studies, Concentration in Curatorial Practice.
Other courses completed: Critical Thinking, Design, Journalism, Development, Film and Communication.
Sept 2022 - Dec 2022
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Nominated for a Semester Abroad at TCD for English and Writing.
2019 - 2022
The Valley School, Bangalore
Elective English, History, Sociology, Environmental Science, Art.
Work Experience
Jan 2025 - Now
The Douglas Hyde, Dublin
Curatorial Fellowship.
Nov 2024 - Now
Gerard Byrne Studio, Dublin
Gallery Associate, Website Administration, Text.
Feb - Aug 2024
Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai
Gallery Associate, Website Administration and Exhibition Writing.
Aug 2023 - Feb 2024
Bangalore International Centre, Bangalore
Programming, Curation and Social Media Management.
Jan 2024
Mumbai Gallery Association, Mumbai
Content Creation, Social Media Management and Production.
May - Aug 2022
Alok Nanda and Company, Mumbai
Intern - Advertising Copywriting and Content Creation.
Nov 2021 - Mar 2022
Magma Consultancy, Remote
Research, Content Writing, Editing and Proofreading.
Jun - Nov 2021
The Hindu, Remote
Intern - Content Writer, Editor.
May - Aug 2020
Firstpost, Remote
Intern - Content Writing, Editing and Transcribing.
Jul - Oct 2020
Ufaber Edutech, Remote
Content Writing and Editing.
Projects
Feb 2024
Jaipur Literature Festival, Jaipur
Friends of the Festival Venue Management.
Jan 2024
Mumbai Gallery Weekend, Mumbai
Social Media, Content Creation and Pre-production Operations.
Dec 2023
Bangalore Literature Festival, Bangalore
Event Management - Red Couch Venue.
Dec 2023
Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa
Production for the Theatre Department.
Dec 2023
Unboxing Bangalore HABBA, Bangalore
Programming and Production.
Jan 2023
Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai
Literature Vertical.
Social Work
Jul - Oct 2021
Teach for India
Certified Volunteer for Grades 8 and 9 in Literature and Mathematics.
Jul - Dez 2020
Girl Up (the UNO)
Content Writer, Graphic Designer and Media Analyst.
Jan - Jul 2020
Your Dost
Research Assistant at an online counseling platform.
Jan 2018 - May 2019
Right to Education
Teaching English and Mathematics at The Valley School.
2018 - 2022
Welfare for Stray Dogs
Fundraising, Feeding and First Aid.
2013 - 2019
KEEP NGO (Kaigal, AP)
Teaching English, Seasonal Harvest and Fundraising.
Accomplishments
Nomination for the international writing workshop
held by
University of East Anglia
conducted by
Amit Chaudhuri.
Scholarship-inclusive nomination for a Semester at Trinity College Dublin in the School of English.
Dean’s List at Ashoka University.
Creative Experience
Co-directed, scripted, and performed in various theatrical productions under Theatre Lab Youth.
Played Alia in Dharma Production’s film ‘Kapoor and Sons’.
An ad-film for Xiaomi India.
Performed at the Shnawwl Theatre (Germany) for ‘Play’, Mannheim’s Children’s Theatre Festival.
Collaborative exchange programmes at Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, Pondicherry, Hampi and two Himalayan treks.
Skills
Creative, Technical and Academic Writing
Event Management and Administration
Wordpress, Canva and ArtLogic
Programming Excel and Sheets
Communications
Curation, Art and Design
©All Rights Reserved
designed by Marie Spreitzer
shanaiakapoor
Writing
Publications
Photography
About
About Me
shanaia.kapoor My creative practice spans essays, poetry, and visual storytelling.
With work published across literary platforms and photography exhibited in group shows and featured in print, I focus on projects that explore themes of identity and its influence on human interaction, community and language.
Professionally, I work within the art world — press, digital tools like Artlogic, and editorial writing — bringing together creative insight with a strong understanding of how the industry operates behind the scenes.
shanaia.kapoor i met josianne around a bonfire in wicklow on saturday. she was older, very french- red scarf, red lips, red nails- she had frida kahlo’s face on her dress and flowers in her hair. the pinot spilled from her glass when she laughed, sometimes onto my skirt and sometimes onto the boy she had wrapped around her little finger.
josianne turned to the group and asked, “isn’t this evening lovely? aren’t we so happy to be here?”. the light was fading over the mountains and the woman on the clarinet was swinging her feet and the song had something to do with an old town road and everyone knew the words. “isn’t it silly, how lucky we are to be here tonight?“ she kept asking over the music.
no one really said anything, i guess people smiled or nodded or looked at their hands. but the question lingered, like stubborn smoke in our hair because maybe she was right and maybe it is silly and silly and silly, how drunk, how lucky, how quickly the time can pass.
shanaia.kapoor On the fifth floor of Queen’s Mansion, two serpentine flights above the gallery, the bird doctor tends to a wounded wing. In the monsoons, the smell of flesh trails all the way down and out to the front gate, where I was standing when Shailesh Mehta asked if I knew about eagles.
From a neem tree outside the Commissioner’s office, a wailing eagle was rescued. In the thick Bombay rains, their vision blurs and branches or buildings strike them unexpectedly. Shailesh parts the feathers of her right wing- like rending a damp shroud in the winter, like the scent of ruin on my skin- to reveal peachy bone and an open wound that the doctor will dress later that evening.
She croaks as he tucks her wing back in before setting her down in his basket. With the empty box from a previous rescue, Shailesh mounts his Activa 6G ambulance and rides off into the distance- to another bird in a different tree. He tells me July is his busiest season.
shanaia.kapoor For most of 2004 especially, I refused to sleep. When it got bad, my mother would cite the great sacrifice, turn on her side and languish. My father, many trials and errors later, found the solution in the convex mirror on the coconut tree outside the parking lot of Anita Building. It would contort my face so I couldn’t recognise myself- perhaps a welcome break from the symbolic I had recently become acquainted with- in the early hours, a misrecognition- a moment of recall- pre-linguistic, coherent, safe
(“According to Lacan, from the moment the image of unity is posited in opposition to the experience of fragmentation, the subject is established as a rival to itself. A conflict is produced between the infant’s fragmented sense of self and the imaginary autonomy out of which the ego is born”.)
shanaia.kapoor A thousand mangoes were stolen from Dadi’s farm last night- in the bludgeoning, pre-monsoon rain. Raju was sent to Thane by train this morning to investigate (and return with the muddy remains)
Education
Sept 2024 - Now
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
M.Phil in Creative Writing.
Aug 2019 - May 2023
Ashoka University, Delhi
BA Hons in English and Creative Writing, Minor in Media Studies, Concentration in Curatorial Practice.
Other courses completed: Critical Thinking, Design, Journalism, Development, Film and Communication.
Sept 2022 - Dec 2022
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Nominated for a Semester Abroad at TCD for English and Writing.
2019 - 2022
The Valley School, Bangalore
Elective English, History, Sociology, Environmental Science, Art.
Work Experience
Jan 2025 - Now
The Douglas Hyde, Dublin
Curatorial Fellowship.
Nov 2024 - Now
Gerard Byrne Studio, Dublin
Gallery Associate, Website Administration, Text.
Feb - Aug 2024
Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai
Gallery Associate, Website Administration and Exhibition Writing.
Aug 2023 - Feb 2024
Bangalore International Centre, Bangalore
Programming, Curation and Social Media Management.
Jan 2024
Mumbai Gallery Association, Mumbai
Content Creation, Social Media Management and Production.
May - Aug 2022
Alok Nanda and Company, Mumbai
Intern - Advertising Copywriting and Content Creation.
Nov 2021 - Mar 2022
Magma Consultancy, Remote
Research, Content Writing, Editing and Proofreading.
Jun - Nov 2021
The Hindu, Remote
Intern - Content Writer, Editor.
May - Aug 2020
Firstpost, Remote
Intern - Content Writing, Editing and Transcribing.
Jul - Oct 2020
Ufaber Edutech, Remote
Content Writing and Editing.
Projects
Feb 2024
Jaipur Literature Festival, Jaipur
Friends of the Festival Venue Management.
Jan 2024
Mumbai Gallery Weekend, Mumbai
Social Media, Content Creation and Pre-production Operations.
Dec 2023
Bangalore Literature Festival, Bangalore
Event Management - Red Couch Venue.
Dec 2023
Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa
Production for the Theatre Department.
Dec 2023
Unboxing Bangalore HABBA, Bangalore
Programming and Production.
Jan 2023
Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai
Literature Vertical.
Social Work
Jul - Oct 2021
Teach for India
Certified Volunteer for Grades 8 and 9 in Literature and Mathematics.
Jul - Dez 2020
Girl Up (the UNO)
Content Writer, Graphic Designer and Media Analyst.
Jan - Jul 2020
Your Dost
Research Assistant at an online counseling platform.
Jan 2018 - May 2019
Right to Education
Teaching English and Mathematics at The Valley School.
2018 - 2022
Welfare for Stray Dogs
Fundraising, Feeding and First Aid.
2013 - 2019
KEEP NGO (Kaigal, AP)
Teaching English, Seasonal Harvest and Fundraising.
Accomplishments
Nomination for the international writing workshop held by
University of East Anglia
conducted by Amit Chaudhuri.
Scholarship-inclusive nomination for a Semester at Trinity College Dublin in the School of English.
Dean’s List at Ashoka University.
Creative Experience
Co-directed, scripted, and performed in various theatrical productions under Theatre Lab Youth.
Played Alia in Dharma Production’s film ‘Kapoor and Sons’.
An ad-film for Xiaomi India.
Performed at the Shnawwl Theatre (Germany) for ‘Play’, Mannheim’s Children’s Theatre Festival.
Collaborative exchange programmes at Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, Pondicherry, Hampi and two Himalayan treks.
Skills
Creative, Technical and Academic Writing
Event Management and Administration
Wordpress, Canva and ArtLogic
Programming Excel and Sheets
Communications
Curation, Art and Design
©All Rights Reserved
designed by Marie Spreitzer
shanaiakapoor
Writing
Publications
Photography
About
About Me
shanaia.kapoor My creative practice spans essays, poetry, and visual storytelling.
With work published across literary platforms and photography exhibited in group shows and featured in print, I focus on projects that explore themes of identity and its influence on human interaction, community and language.
Professionally, I work within the art world — press, digital tools like Artlogic, and editorial writing — bringing together creative insight with a strong understanding of how the industry operates behind the scenes.
shanaia.kapoor i met josianne around a bonfire in wicklow on saturday. she was older, very french- red scarf, red lips, red nails- she had frida kahlo’s face on her dress and flowers in her hair. the pinot spilled from her glass when she laughed, sometimes onto my skirt and sometimes onto the boy she had wrapped around her little finger.
josianne turned to the group and asked, “isn’t this evening lovely? aren’t we so happy to be here?”. the light was fading over the mountains and the woman on the clarinet was swinging her feet and the song had something to do with an old town road and everyone knew the words. “isn’t it silly, how lucky we are to be here tonight?“ she kept asking over the music.
no one really said anything, i guess people smiled or nodded or looked at their hands. but the question lingered, like stubborn smoke in our hair because maybe she was right and maybe it is silly and silly and silly, how drunk, how lucky, how quickly the time can pass.
shanaia.kapoor On the fifth floor of Queen’s Mansion, two serpentine flights above the gallery, the bird doctor tends to a wounded wing. In the monsoons, the smell of flesh trails all the way down and out to the front gate, where I was standing when Shailesh Mehta asked if I knew about eagles.
From a neem tree outside the Commissioner’s office, a wailing eagle was rescued. In the thick Bombay rains, their vision blurs and branches or buildings strike them unexpectedly. Shailesh parts the feathers of her right wing- like rending a damp shroud in the winter, like the scent of ruin on my skin- to reveal peachy bone and an open wound that the doctor will dress later that evening.
She croaks as he tucks her wing back in before setting her down in his basket. With the empty box from a previous rescue, Shailesh mounts his Activa 6G ambulance and rides off into the distance- to another bird in a different tree. He tells me July is his busiest season.
shanaia.kapoor For most of 2004 especially, I refused to sleep. When it got bad, my mother would cite the great sacrifice, turn on her side and languish. My father, many trials and errors later, found the solution in the convex mirror on the coconut tree outside the parking lot of Anita Building. It would contort my face so I couldn’t recognise myself- perhaps a welcome break from the symbolic I had recently become acquainted with- in the early hours, a misrecognition- a moment of recall- pre-linguistic, coherent, safe
(“According to Lacan, from the moment the image of unity is posited in opposition to the experience of fragmentation, the subject is established as a rival to itself. A conflict is produced between the infant’s fragmented sense of self and the imaginary autonomy out of which the ego is born”.)
shanaia.kapoor A thousand mangoes were stolen from Dadi’s farm last night- in the bludgeoning, pre-monsoon rain. Raju was sent to Thane by train this morning to investigate (and return with the muddy remains)
Education
Sept 2024 - Now
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
M.Phil in Creative Writing.
Aug 2019 - May 2023
Ashoka University, Delhi
BA Hons in English and Creative Writing, Minor in Media Studies, Concentration in Curatorial Practice.
Other courses completed: Critical Thinking, Design, Journalism, Development, Film and Communication.
Sept 2022 - Dec 2022
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Nominated for a Semester Abroad at TCD for English and Writing.
2019 - 2022
The Valley School, Bangalore
Elective English, History, Sociology, Environmental Science, Art.
Work Experience
Jan 2025 - Now
The Douglas Hyde, Dublin
Curatorial Fellowship.
Nov 2024 - Now
Gerard Byrne Studio, Dublin
Gallery Associate, Website Administration, Text.
Feb - Aug 2024
Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai
Gallery Associate, Website Administration and Exhibition Writing.
Aug 2023 - Feb 2024
Bangalore International Centre, Bangalore
Programming, Curation and Social Media Management.
Jan 2024
Mumbai Gallery Association, Mumbai
Content Creation, Social Media Management and Production.
May - Aug 2022
Alok Nanda and Company, Mumbai
Intern - Advertising Copywriting and Content Creation.
Nov 2021 - Mar 2022
Magma Consultancy, Remote
Research, Content Writing, Editing and Proofreading.
Jun - Nov 2021
The Hindu, Remote
Intern - Content Writer, Editor.
May - Aug 2020
Firstpost, Remote
Intern - Content Writing, Editing and Transcribing.
Jul - Oct 2020
Ufaber Edutech, Remote
Content Writing and Editing.
Projects
Feb 2024
Jaipur Literature Festival, Jaipur
Friends of the Festival Venue Management.
Jan 2024
Mumbai Gallery Weekend, Mumbai
Social Media, Content Creation and Pre-production Operations.
Dec 2023
Bangalore Literature Festival, Bangalore
Event Management - Red Couch Venue.
Dec 2023
Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa
Production for the Theatre Department.
Dec 2023
Unboxing Bangalore HABBA, Bangalore
Programming and Production.
Jan 2023
Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai
Literature Vertical.
Social Work
Jul - Oct 2021
Teach for India
Certified Volunteer for Grades 8 and 9 in Literature and Mathematics.
Jul - Dez 2020
Girl Up (the UNO)
Content Writer, Graphic Designer and Media Analyst.
Jan - Jul 2020
Your Dost
Research Assistant at an online counseling platform.
Jan 2018 - May 2019
Right to Education
Teaching English and Mathematics at The Valley School.
2018 - 2022
Welfare for Stray Dogs
Fundraising, Feeding and First Aid.
2013 - 2019
KEEP NGO (Kaigal, AP)
Teaching English, Seasonal Harvest and Fundraising.
Accomplishments
Nomination for the international writing workshop held by
University of East Anglia
conducted by Amit Chaudhuri.
Scholarship-inclusive nomination for a Semester at Trinity College Dublin in the School of English.
Dean’s List at Ashoka University.
Creative Experience
Co-directed, scripted, and performed in various theatrical productions under Theatre Lab Youth.
Played Alia in Dharma Production’s film ‘Kapoor and Sons’.
An ad-film for Xiaomi India.
Performed at the Shnawwl Theatre (Germany) for ‘Play’, Mannheim’s Children’s Theatre Festival.
Collaborative exchange programmes at Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, Pondicherry, Hampi and two Himalayan treks.
Skills
Creative, Technical and Academic Writing
Event Management and Administration
Wordpress, Canva and ArtLogic
Programming Excel and Sheets
Communications
Curation, Art and Design
©All Rights Reserved
designed by Marie Spreitzer