Manisha Gera Baswani
Well-Wisher
Manisha is a painter, photographer and an occasional writer
She received her master’s in fine arts from Jamia Milia Islamia University, 1991. She completed bachelors in French language from the Alliance Francaise simultaneously and was then sent on a French Govt Scholarship to Paris to study art. She has shown her works extensively. Her last major solo exhibition of paintings was at Sanat Gallery, Karachi in 2015.
Apart from her practise as a painter, Manisha has also been working on an ongoing photography project 'Artist through the lens for the last 17 years. The project focuses on photographing the Indian and Pakistani Artists in their studios and creative spaces. This rather exhaustive archive has been shown by the Devi Foundation in 2012 as their solo project at the India Art Fair and at the Kochi Biennale by the Kiran Nader Museum and supported by Saffron Art Foundation in 2014.
An extension of the 'Artist through the lens' is another project on the partition of India, 'Postcards from Home'. Both her parents came to India from Pakistan in 1947 when India was partitioned. Till date ,they recall with love, their 'Home' lost . This emotion was the seed that grew into the partition project. This project traverses the borders and brings' home’ the artist photographed. The project comprises of 47 artists from both Pakistan and India having a shared connect with pre -partitioned India .All photographed by Manisha in their creative spaces, they write at what tugs at their heart when they reminisce the 'Home' lost. 'Postcards from Home' has recently been shown at the inaugural Lahore Biennale in March 201 7 and recent Kochi Biennale in 2018 as an invited collateral. The Kiran Nader Museum sponsored her showing at both venues.
Manisha's TEDx talk on 'Postcards From Home' captures the genesis, the spirit and evolution of the project:
TEDx talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5KFKWL9U5U
Based on her extensive photography project, she writes a regular photo essay column - ' Fly on the Wall' in the leading Indian art quarterly 'Take on Art'. Manisha also writes occasionally on her practice, on art and artists for various magazines and journals as well.
She has recently also curated a show of her Guru A Ramachandran titled , 'The Changing Mood of the Lotus Pond and Insignificant Incarnations' for Vadehra Gallery in October 2018.She lives in Gurgaon with her two sons and her husband
