Alumni Outcomes: Ashvin Malhotra

Please introduce yourself, including when you took our programme, where you are from and where you are based now.

My name is Ashvin Malhotra. I completed the SOAS-Alphawood Postgraduate Diploma in Asian art history in December 2024 (started October 2022). Though I was born in New Delhi, London is my home.

What were you doing before joining the SOAS-Alphawood Asian Art Programme?

Although Asian art has always been a passion of mine, my working life prior to the programme was completely unrelated to the art world! I worked in consumer research for FMCG companies but pursued my interests through reading, travel and viewing exhibitions. 

What are you doing now, and how would you describe your current role or focus?

I am currently volunteering at the British museum, working for the S. P. Shaw Curator for Southeast Asia, helping to improve the digital record and assisting as needed on other projects. I have also done some cataloguing for a private art gallery in London.

Do you have one key achievement or point of pride from  your current role that you would like to share?

I am thrilled to be working at the British museum, surrounded by amazing objects from around the world. It’s great to get hands on experience and learning of how objects were collected and recorded, especially across time, and the various challenges of storage and record keeping, as well as how exhibitions are organised. 

What did the step immediately after completing the SOAS-Alphawood Asian Art Programme look like for you?

I approached people that I had met for opportunities in the art world.

Looking back, what parts of the SOAS-Alphawood Asian Art Programme most directly prepared you for what you’re doing now?

I would say the object based nature of the course was the most pertinent for me, both in terms of looking closely at the object, interrogating every aspect of it, noticing the details that would have eluded me before, as well as the critical thinking instilled via object analysis which helps to look at the whole context of the object, why it was created, where, when, what and how.

Was there a moment — academic or professional — where you realised the SOAS-Alphawood Asian Art Programme had changed how you approached your work or area of specialism?

I think it opened my eyes to thinking critically about art, especially situating it in the period it was produced in. Why was it created, who commissioned it, what was the context that it was born in, how was it used.

What would you say to someone considering the SOAS-Alphawood Asian Art Programme who’s unsure how it translates into real-world outcomes?

The short answer is that the program changed my life! Both in terms of opportunities it opened up for me in the art world, and the friendship groups I developed from it with people who share the same interests and passions as me. I also have access to wider networks of people who work in museums, galleries and auction houses.

How would you summarise your experience on the SOAS-Alphawood Asian Art Programme and how it prepared you for your current work in one or two sentences?

The lectures and object handling sessions from the programme gave a great grounding in how to think about art objects, and how to tell their story.