Anna is the founder and Chair of the Foundation and has devoted her life to the study of Indian Art. In 1996 Anna together with her now late husband Dr Duncan Shaw set up the Luigi and Laura Dallapiccola Foundation in memory of and as a tribute to her parents who had through their lifetime provide immeasurable support and encouragement to Anna in her study of Indian Art. From the Dallapiccola Foundation’s modest beginnings it has grown with the addition of Trustees with world renowned expertise in the field. In April 2020, Anna was interviewed for Softpower Magazine. The full interview can be read here.

Rev. Munro was invited to become a member of the Foundation by Dr Anna Dallapiccola having been a close friend and colleague of Dr Duncan Shaw, her late husband. He has wide ranging experience of trust-related business and is currently the chair of an Edinburgh based trust of which he has been an active member since 1989. Raised and educated in Glasgow he studied at Glasgow University initially, then the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and latterly Edinburgh University. His background is in drama and the performing arts and he worked for several years as a freelance broadcaster with BBC (Scotland). After graduating from Edinburgh University in Theology he went on to become a minister of religion. While working in the Church of Scotland he served two terms on the Art and Architecture committee of the General Assembly which maintains church buildings throughout Scotland and advises on appropriate decorative schemes of restoration.

Richard Blurton first visited India in 1970, teaching in a Tibetan refugee camp; this experience changed the direction of the rest of his life.  At university he studied archaeology and later worked on excavations including in Afghanistan and southern India before joining the British Museum in 1986 as a curator for South and Southeast Asia.  In the next thirty-two years he presented some sixteen exhibitions at the Museum, dealing with a wide range of South Asia subjects, the most recent being on Assam in 2016.  He has written various books, including Hindu Art (1992), Burma and the art of lacquer (with Ralph Isaacs; 2000), Bengali Myths (2006) and Krishna in the Garden of Assam (2016).  He retired from the Museum in 2018, but continues to write about, and visit India.  He is particularly keen on the Foundation’s ability to support scholars in India and in Britain, studying subjects in South Asian culture where little other support is available.

Daniela joined the board of trustees in 2019 and has contributed her expertise as an internationally recognised expert and scholar in Indian archaeology. Daniela studied South Asian languages and cultures at “L’Orientale”, University of Naples, where she obtained a PhD in South Asian archaeology. Daniela curated the British Museum’s permanent exhibition of South Asian archaeological materials. Before joining the British Museum, she was Assistant Programme Specialist for UNESCO New Delhi where she worked on the conservation of Indian heritage and, for several years, Field Supervisor for the Italian Archaeological Mission to Nepal for the Italian Institute for Africa and the Orient. Daniela’s research focuses on the archaeology of Buddhism and that of Indian forests. She speaks Hindi and reads Sanskrit. 

Mehreen joined the board of trustees in 2020. Mehreen is an Art Historian specializing in the art and architecture of Mughal South Asia. She is the Deputy Curator of the Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art and the In-House Editor for their publication series, is an Assistant Editor for the International Journal of Islamic Architecture, and regularly teaches courses and lectures on Islamic and Indo-Islamic art at universities and museums in London and Oxford. She has published extensively on aspects of Mughal art, architecture and urbanism, and has further shared her academic expertise with wider audiences through her participation and consultation for documentaries on the Taj Mahal; programming on BBC World Service Radio, BBC2 and BBC4; participation in the Lahore and Jaipur Literary Festivals; and as an expert lecturer on cultural tours.

Nick Barnard joined the board of trustees in 2020. Nick is a curator of South Asian sculpture, jewellery, Jain art (painting, manuscripts and sculpture), architecture, architectural models, ancient and medieval gardens. Nick has specialized in Indian jewellery since 2000 and has carried out extensive research on this subject in India.  In 2008, Nick published his book ‘Indian Jewellery’ which collated together over 100 pieces from the Victoria & Albert Museum’s collection, many never published before.