Citing financial constraints, Sameera Iyengar and Sanjna Kapoor's Junoon announces closure after eight years

Sameera Iyengar and Sanjna Kapoor’s arts and culture organisation Junoon on Tuesday announced that it would be closing down over the next few months.

In their note about the closing, the organisation explains that it had to make tough decisions toward “financially stabilising Junoon”. They say it has been a constant struggle to keep Junoon going, adding that it was “a struggle we knew we would have in a country where there is little support and infrastructure for the arts, despite the diversity and richness of the arts and artists that we enjoy.”

Junoon’s work has involved bringing the arts and culture to a wider audience with an aim to create a more humane world. Among their programmes have been Mumbai Local, which brings practitioners from across the diverse breadth of Indian art and culture to the public for talks and performances; Arts at Play with Schools, an immersive, week-long programme that engages 500 school students with India’s arts and art professionals; and Capacity Building workshops with artists, through peer-sharing and expert input, to better engage with the public and young people, and better share knowledge and skill amongst themselves.

Among their recent speakers have been writer and activist Kavita Krishnan, experimental artist Nalini Malini, astrophotographer Vinita Navalkar, Indian classical singer Arati Ankalikar, and graphic novelist Amruta Patil.

Junoon completed eight years as an organisation on 29 February, 2020.