New Delhi (India), 4th April 2023: Kiran Nadar, a philanthropist and art collector, was recently awarded the title of “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur” (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by Emmanuel Lenain, the French ambassador to India.
The highest civilian honour given by France is given to Nadar in honour of her outstanding contributions to the arts, her dedication to promoting greater access to culture on a national and international level, and her pioneering work to strengthen cultural links between France and India.
Ms Nadar has made significant contributions to strengthening Indo-French cultural ties and artistic collaboration as chair of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), a philanthropic project in the field of art, and as a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation.
Her husband Shiv Nadar is an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. Midway through the 1970s, Nadar established HCL, and over the three decades that followed, he turned the IT hardware business into an IT corporation.
Kiran Nadar expressed her gratitude towards the French government and thanked them for the award. She said, “It is an absolute privilege for me to be conferred ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur’ and I am deeply grateful to the French Government for this great honour.”
She further added, “KNMA has a longstanding relationship with France in the cultural space. Our partnership with France has been instrumental in bringing together diverse perspectives and promoting cultural exchange.”
The French Institute in India, Alkazi Foundation, and KNMA collaborated to produce “Converges” in 2022, which was the biggest original photo exhibition by French photographers to be held in India.
