Vivan Sundaram was born in Shimla, India in 1943. He graduated with degrees in Fine Arts from the University of Baroda, a focal point of Indian Modernism. He subsequently studied at the Slade School in London. He is the founding member of SAHMAT (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust) and a member of the Design Collective for Hum Sob Ayodhya, a major national art exhibition celebrating India's secular and democratic traditions.