Interview with Chennai based artist Asma Menon

IR : Asma Menon, could you first introduce yourself to our visitors ?

AM : I am an artist living and working in the south of India, the city is Chennai aka Madras. My family shifted to Madras over a hundred years ago and this has been home to generations of us.

Creativity – comes from my paternal grandmother. She came from Bombay now Mumbai. Married into a business family, that had no place for the arts of any kind. We, that are my brother sister and I, are blessed with our parents being of a creative bent of mind and hence our talents were allowed to flourish and encouraged. I started going for formal art classes from the age of 8. Had my first children’s group show at age 10. I had no doubts from a very young age about my direction.

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My home is a celebration of all festivals : Christmas, Ramzan or Ramadan Eid, Diwali. I go for church services as I go to the temple and I go to the mosque. The Islamic group I was born into are called the Ismalis (the Aga Khan is the head) we are also known as Aga Khani’s, Khoja’s.

via Asma Menon, artiste peintre : interview.