Previously, Vaish was curator at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai(2013-2019), where she worked extensively with colonial-era collections. She specializes in modern and contemporary art and has curated several acclaimed exhibitions, including ‘Nasreen Mohamedi: The Vastness Again & Again’(2023), ‘Out of Place: Journeys in Indian Art’(2023), ‘Resonant Histories: Indian and the Arab World’(co-curated with Suheyla Takesh, (2025), ‘Nalini Malani: The Fragility of Time’(2024), Dayanita Singh: Photo Lies’(2024) and ‘A Glazed History’(2025).
Her curatorial practice foregrounds critical engagement with Indian post-independence art practices, involving untold stories and microhistories as tools of intervention in museum practice, art history and contemporary discourse. Vaish has edited and authored significant publications and has held teaching positions at leading art institutions in India. She was a lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts, MSU, Baroda, 2008-2009. Vaish taught at Delhi College of Art in 2009 & 2010 and Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture and Environmental Studies, Mumbai from 2010 to 2014.