Jesal Kapadia

Jesal Kapadia is a Lecturer in the Art, Culture, and Technology Program (ACT) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), part of the School of Architecture + Planning. She previously served in this role until her listing under 'Past Lecturers.' Her work focuses on non-capitalist subjectivities, leveraging art forms like photography, video, and performance to explore ethical practices of communal existence. Kapadia co-edited the art section of Rethinking Marxism (2001–2015) and has collaborated extensively with communities of care, including the Feminist Research on Violence Collective and the Healing Collective, to create autonomous spaces resisting patriarchal and capitalist dynamics. Since 2004, she has been an affiliate and teacher at the International Center for Photography (ICP) in New York, instructing in General Studies and Creative Practices.

Her education includes the Whitney Independent Study Program (2003). She teaches courses such as Circulating Circuits: Enacting Intersections and Diffusion (2019–2021) and Performance Art: Enactments of Resistance. Her research investigates 'commoning'—practices rooted in friendship and affection to dismantle oppressive systems—and engages with ancestral land narratives, particularly in Kutchh, India, blending maps, folklore, and migration themes. Kapadia’s work critiques development projects, as seen in her documentation of the 2006 hunger strike in Sikkim against hydroelectric dams in Weeping Sikkim.

Kapadia has presented her art and lectures globally, including at MIT’s Mumbai City Museum seminar (2015), the Ecoversities Film Festival (2020), and Anthology Film Archives. Her artistic projects emphasize collective healing, anti-capitalist aesthetics, and the interplay between social justice and art forms. She advises students in her department and has no explicitly mentioned grants or part-time roles.