Independent Projects

Manisha AR

A storyteller interested in writing about education, identity, art and culture.

Learn more

About Me

Photo by Karan Ajith Kumar

Writes about diaspora identity and its influence on art making.

She is currently an art critic for Design Pataki, storyteller and creative consultant at the Neu Lithium, teaching Spanish to elementary school children in Bangalore while researching tropes and stereotypes in contemporary travel writing through Carry On.



Independent Projects

The Food Web Series with food writer Shivani Unakar 

Invisible Visible: Poetry Collection with photographer, activist and art therapist Farah Salem 

Remnants/Remanence with new media artist and professor Ziv Ze'ev Cohen 

Alternating Currents, a collaborative essay with digital artist Anneli Goeller 

Get in Touch

  1. If you are a diaspora artists and/or work in new media or performance art, you can email me press releases related to openings and upcoming work on mrita[at]saic[dot]edu.
  2. Currently not taking any writing/editing clients. Check back for updates! 
  3. Social media handles on the top right.
  4. If you use any of the images of me from this website, please credit the photographer Karan Ajith Kumar.

Talk to you soon! 

My Writing

Design Pataki •

NFTs and Cryptocurrencies In The Art World - A New Transactional Reality?

When this story was first commissioned two weeks ago, it was about whether NFTs or non-fungible tokens as an art investment were here to stay. Looking back, that is no longer the question because since then (in addition to Beeple and Grimes), Damien Hirst jumped on the bandwagon, music artists like Deadmau5, Kings of Leon and even food companies like Pringles minted their own NFTs. To add to that growing list, last Friday morning, cultural icon M.I.A announced, on her Instagram story, the mintin
Film Cred •

It's Time to Retire the Quirky Best Friend Trope

In season four, episode 12 of Schitt’s Creek, Moira Rose (Catherine O’Hara) is seen pacing the room as she waits for Roland Schitt to show up at the hospital for his wife Jocelyn (Jenn Robertson) who is going into labor. In a scene that is meant to be about Jocelyn, Moira swoops in and confides in her the fear of her daughter’s failure. Instead of dismissing her for turning a crucial moment in someone else’s life about herself, Jocelyn offers Moira advice. As is typical for protagonists to do, M
Sixty Inches From Center •

Learning from Chicago Artists Coalition’s Equity Listening Sessions

**Disclaimer: The inclusion of race is not intended to be derogatory. Including the racial demographics in this story is a part of understanding who is involved and impacted by these discussions around racial equity. **

“It’s a challenge to get people to actually talk about racial equity. I don’t know if it’s because people in the room don’t know each other, there isn’t that level of trust, of knowing people and feeling comfortable that they will really speak openly what they feel or think,” Ch
Design Pataki •

Take A Journey With Artists Mohini Chandra And Serena Chopra

If your eyes have become exhausted from shifting between emails, video calls and streaming platforms, we have a treat for you. Browse through some serene landscapes, compelling portraiture and versatile textures to fulfil the fernweh you’ve been collecting from staying indoors. These photographs serve as a segue into larger issues that each of the makers is developing into larger bodies of work around identity and landscapes.New Delhi-based travel photographer , has done extensive work documenti
Design Pataki •

Making Space For Cultural Identity: A Conversation With Sound Artist Lakshmi Ramgopal

As a way of maintaining ties to her Indian cultural heritage, Lakshmi Ramgopal started learning Carnatic music and the classical dance form Bharatanatyam when she was in elementary school. This wasn’t easy considering her home was one of many in suburban Boston which was predominantly white and so she often found herself at cultural crossroads. In addition to being a sound artist under the moniker of Lykanthea, Ramgopal is also a historian of the Roman Empire and currently teaches as Assistant P
Design Pataki •

French Artist Edith Meusnier On How She Creates Sustainable Textile Art

Experiencing the work of French artist Edith Meusnier is like walking through an enchanted environment. There is beauty all around us but how often do we stop to take it all. Meusnier’s work urges viewers to pause and examine the expansiveness of the world around us. This lockdown in particular has made us all acutely aware of the need to take breaks and pay close attention to people and places close in location to us. With her textile interventions, Meusnier is able to foreground nature while c
Design Pataki •

Chila Kumari Singh Takes Over Tate Britain With ‘Remembering A Brave New World’

Last year we saw the festival of lights take center stage in various museum and gallery programming events, including at the Tate Britain that inaugurated its Winter Commission that was given to Chila Kumari Singh Burman in 2020. The show opened on Diwali weekend in November which according to her was a complete coincidence. Design Pataki spoke with iconic British artist about the opportunity to remake the facade of Tate Britain, South Asian identity and what it takes to have an art career that
Design Pataki •

Renowned Gallerist Sundaram Tagore On Buying Art In A Virtual Art World

Sundaram Tagore describes his work as the facilitation of arts between cultures. Born in Calcutta, brought up in various parts of North India, educated at Oxford (plus the United States) and having lived in Singapore, it should come as no surprise that he has opened galleries in four different time zones. Sundaram Tagore galleries are located in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and as of this year in London as well. There is a strong inclination towards cultural exchange with an international pers
Design Pataki •

Anonymity, Art, And Socio-Political Commentary - Talks To Street Artist Tyler, Dubbed ‘Mumbai’s Banksy’

Street artist Tyler’s solo exhibition opened at Method Gallery earlier this month as part of Mumbai Gallery Weekend. While the Gallery Weekend may be over, the show is still on view across two venues in Bandra and Kala Ghoda. An unexpected plus is that Tyler has painted over the shutter of Method Contemporary Art and Treats, Bandra so viewers can get a taste of his exhibition even when it is closed. The event received a lot of coverage over social media, a tool that has been pivotal in his incre
Design Pataki •

What Jacob Vilató Did Next: A Conversation with Picasso’s Great Nephew

A hybrid between an artist’s studio and a design firm–Vilató i Vilató– that works across mediums, releases independent design collections, and collaborates with brands, Jacob Vilató’s new project, is an ambitious art monster. Born into a family of artists and doctors and trained to be an architect, a few years ago Vilató pivoted to be in design and fine art. “So there is one part of me that still functions and thinks like an architect and another that is developing a taste for painting and desig