South Asia Art Initiative Awards

The UC Berkeley
South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize

The UC Berkeley
South Asia Artist Prize

The South Asia Art Initiative at UC Berkeley invites submissions of doctoral dissertations for the annual UC Berkeley South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize. The prize will be awarded to an outstanding doctoral dissertation on the art, architecture, or visual cultures of South Asia and its diasporas from any discipline in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. The dissertation may focus on any time period from the prehistoric to the contemporary.

The prize comes with a $1,500 award.

Ph.D. dissertations submitted for consideration must have been filed between September 2, 2024 and September 1, 2025 at an accredited university in North America or Europe. The submission package must include the following:

• A pdf abstract (< 1000 words)
• A pdf curriculum vitae (please include your contact information)
• A pdf copy of the dissertation
• A confidential letter from a member of the dissertation committee that speaks to the merits of the dissertation with respect to the current state of the field and the innovation that the work attempts

DEADLINE: The submission package including the dissertation must be in English and submitted via email to Puneeta Kala by January 10, 2026. Late submissions will not be accepted.

The result for the 2025 prize recipient will be announced on the South Asia Art Initiative website on March 14, 2026. The winner will give a talk via Zoom on Wed, April 16, 2026 at 9 am PST.

The 2025 Prize Committee: Sugata Ray (Chair, University of California, Berkeley), Susan Bean (Independent Scholar + Curator), Jinah Kim (Harvard University), and Sonal Khullar (University of Pennsylvania).

All inquiries regarding the UC Berkeley South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize should be directed to: Puneeta Kala at the Institute for South Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley

The South Asia Art Initiative at UC Berkeley invites submissions from Master of Fine Arts (MFA) students for the annual UC Berkeley South Asia Artist Prize. The prize will be awarded for an outstanding body of work by an artist of the South Asian diaspora or by those whose work addresses the politics and cultures of South Asia.

The prize comes with a $1,500 award. 

Applicants must have filed their Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree between September 2, 2023 and September 1, 2024 at an accredited school in North America or Europe. The submission package must include the following, and with each file size a maximum of 15MB:

• A pdf Artist Statement (< 1000 words)
• A pdf curriculum vitae (please include your contact information)
• 20 images in a single pdf file and/or
• Links (and password) to Vimeo for up to 15 minutes of time-based work
• A confidential letter of support from a faculty member

DEADLINE: The submission package must be in English and submitted via email to Puneeta Kala by January 10, 2026. Late submissions will not be accepted.

The result for the 2025 prize recipient will be announced on the South Asia Art Initiative website on March 14, 2026 The winner will give an artist talk via Zoom on Wed, April 16, 2026 at 9 am PST.

The 2025 Prize Committee: Asma Kazmi (Chair, University of California, Berkeley), Nidhi Gandhi (San José Museum of Art), and Padma Maitland (Asian Art Museum).

All inquiries regarding the UC Berkeley South Asia Artist Prize should be directed to: Puneeta Kala at the Institute for South Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley