Leadership and Team

Sabyasachi Mukherjee
Director General & Secretary, Board of Trustees(CSMVS)
Core Faculty, Postgraduate (Diploma) Program in Museology & Conservation
Mr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee serves as the Director General of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai, one of India’s premier cultural institutions, which forms an important part of the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai, UNESCO World Heritage site. Mr Mukherjee is also the Director of the Postgraduate Diploma Programme in Museology and Art Conservation at CSMVS, which is affiliated with the University of Mumbai.
Since assuming leadership in 2007, Mr. Mukherjee has spearheaded extensive modernization efforts at CSMVS, including the refurbishment of the museum’s main Heritage building. His visionary initiatives earned the museum the prestigious UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2010 and again in 2022. Mr. Mukherjee has curated numerous art exhibitions and international museum shows, authored, and supervised publications, and launched conservation projects, exchange programs, and archive projects in collaboration with the best museums worldwide. His recent publication, “The Lost Stupa of Kahu-jo-daro: An Attempt at Reconstruction” (2022), has been widely acclaimed.
A frequent lecturer and active member of various professional committees, Mr. Mukherjee is particularly regarded for his involvement with the Bizot Group and the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). He is a fellow of the Nehru Trust and the Salzburg Global Seminar.
His contributions have been recognized with numerous accolades, including the Bombay Management Association’s Special Jury Mention Award (2016–17) for his outstanding work in preserving Indian culture and enhancing the museum’s prestige. The Rotary Club of Mumbai honoured him with the Citizen of Mumbai Award (2021–22) for his exemplary contributions to the cultural sector. The University of Edinburgh, UK, awarded Mr. Mukherjee an honorary Doctorate for his “transformative impact on CSMVS, making it a vibrant and engaged cultural hub in Mumbai”. His works at CSMVS have earned him a coveted election as an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2022. Additionally, Mr Mukherjee has also been honoured by the Nikhil Bharotiyo Bongo Sahitya Sammelan, Mumbai, and received the prestigious Marwar Ratna Award from the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, Jodhpur, for his “significant contributions to conservation, restoration, museology, design, and traditional art”.

Manisha Nene
Director (Galleries & General Administration)
Core Faculty, Postgraduate (Diploma) Program in Museology & Conservation
Manisha Nene has an M.A. in Ancient Indian Culture from Mumbai University and has participated in the International Training Programme conducted by the British Museum, London. She has curated several exhibitions and co-curated several galleries at the Museum. She curated the exhibition ‘From Temple to Home – Celebrating Ganesha’ at the British Museum and was part of an online collaborative exhibition ‘Bristol: The Bigger Picture’. She has contributed to several CSMVS collection catalogues and has authored articles in the CSMVS Research Journal. The encyclopaedic collection at the Museum inspires her work, especially within areas of research.

Shivaprasad Khened
Sr Advisor (Projects) to Director General
Shivaprasad Khened was the former Director Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai and worked with the Science Museums/Centres under National Council of Science Museum (NCSM), an autonomous scientific institution, under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India until his retirement in May 2021. He also served as the Director of the NGMA, (National Gallery of Modern Art) Bangalore (October 2012- Jan 2013) and Director of NGMA Mumbai (February 2013 to October 2018) for six years.
He has collaborated with many museums, Science Museums/centres and also planetariums in India and has curated several science and technology exhibitions. He has delivered lectures and presented papers at national and international conferences. He has many national and international publications under his name. He has served and is still serving as a member of various national committees of cultural and scientific institutions. He has also many new science centres in many parts of Maharashtra.
He is an Electronics and Communication Engineer from the Gulbarga University, Karnataka India. He started his professional career with multinational IT companies and subsequently joined the NCSM in June 1986.

Ajay Kochle
Assistant Director – Administration
Core Faculty, Postgraduate (Diploma) Program in Museology & Conservation
Ajay Kochle has over 23 years of experience with CSMVS and closely worked with the Director-General and the Senior members of the Board of Trustees for Strategic Museum Management and Decision Making. In addition to his general functions of Finance and General Administration, he has a vast knowledge of Project financial management, Project statutory compliance and providing administrative support to projects. He has successfully handled various Govt. Grant, CSR Grant, NGO’s Grant and Private Grant projects. He has played a vital role along with the Director-General and Senior Trustees of the Board in the successful management of the institution during the Pandemic. He is a lecturer at National Museum Institute, New Delhi for Museum Management and Administration. He has an MBA in Finance from JBIMS and a Diploma In Information and System Management. He has participated in the Leadership Training Programme organised by The British Museum, UK and the Training Programme on Museum Marketing, Kolkata.

Joyoti Roy
Assistant Director – Project and Public Relations
Faculty member, Postgraduate (Diploma) Program in Museology & Conservation
Joyoti Roy is Assistant Director – Project and Public Relations at the CSMVS. She holds a Bachelor’s in Physics and a Master’s in Conservation of Art. She has been a Charles Wallace India Trust Awardee for the year 2008 for a fellowship programme in the conservation of contemporary art at the Tate Gallery, London and was the Clore Leadership Fellow for Culture representing India to the UK in 2017–18 and worked with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London for their upcoming museum and collection research facility in East London. She has coordinated several national and international exhibitions of art.
At the CSMVS she is responsible for overall project strategy, fundraising, exhibitions, outreach initiatives and two special projects on the conservation of the Museum’s Grade I heritage building and the establishment of an Ancient World Gallery that is sponsored by the Getty Foundation, USA. Joyoti has a Visharad in Hindustani classical music and is a theatre person, an honorary Trustee of the Studio Safdar Trust, Delhi and Tram Arts Trust, Mumbai. She is interested in the social and civic role of cultural organizations and believes that arts institutions, particularly museums have the key responsibility to shape and reflect people’s futures. She has been working in the field of museums, conservation and culture for over seventeen years.
Joyoti is one of the co-curators of the international exhibition Ancient Sculptures: India Egypt Assyria Greece Rome in partnership with the British Museum, State Museums of Berlin and the J. Paul Getty Museum. In what is a first in India and perhaps the world, the exhibition was curated by 5 women curators through a process of global co-curation along with colleagues from partner museums. This has enabled a new approach towards research, interpretation and presentation where Indians have curated global collections for an Indian audience.