Mansha Chhatwal (b.1974, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India) received her Bachelor’s of Applied Arts at Sophia Polytechnic (1994).

Mansha’s practice is built around books that have been censored over time. Her work engages with issues of power, identity, memory and loss told through stories of books, writers and libraries. Undertaking the rather forceful acts of blurring, masking, cutting, removing and remoulding iconic books, she moves beyond highlighting the outrage of censorship towards a need to establish channels of meaningful dialogue. With her research based practice, she brings various perspectives to the storytelling. Interactions between subject and material interest her in the way they reveal ever new facets and layers. She likes her work to be immersive, and often employs process art to get immersed in the making herself.

The artist begins her process by delving into the stories of libraries that have been attacked. Her research translates into drawings of stories patched together from different sources, leaving space for new ones to come in. There are the larger narratives as to how the burning of a library was a catalyst for a 26 year long civil war, or how the most progressive nation on sexual research and reform was transformed by a fascist government. Equally important are the way in which things happened, and the other stories that played around it. These stories are for the artist and us to immerse in and sift through, so we may begin to know, care and understand.

Her solo exhibitions include, Language of Silence, Blueprint12 (2025); Symptomatic (mis)readings, Blueprint12 (2022). Her group shows include Art Loft (2010); Brooklyn Art Gallery (2011); Bartered collections, Mumbai Art Room by Cona Projects (2015); The Winchester Gallery, UK (2015); Reading Room, Saffron Art Gallery, New York (2016); Gallery Espace, Blueprint12 (2019); Blueprint12 (2020); Platform at Blueprint12 (2021); Blueprint12 (2022); Delhi Contemporary Art Week (2022); Art Mumbai (2023-24) and India Art Fair 2023-25. Additionally, she has been an artist-in-residence at Sarai Reader 09’; Devi Art Foundation (2013); Reading Room exhibition, Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2014); TIFA, Pune (2017).

Mansha lives and works in Mumbai, Maharashtra India.