Manu M Das
Manu M Das, born in Kerala, is a multidisciplinary visual artist working in sculpture, spatial installation, material impressions, and lens-based digital media. He is a recipient of the PJMT Saroj Jain Sculpture Award and the Inlaks Foundation Mentorship Program, and was part of the Sameksha Art Gallery Young Artists Mentorship Lab.
His work focuses on post-nature landscapes and ecosystems altered past the point of return, especially the quarry terrains and shifting borders he grew up around. Moving between the site and the studio, he collects physical residues-like laterite dust and discarded plaster and other natural and non-natural elements alongside digital terrain scans as a lens-based archive to see how spatial memory survives when physical ground disappears. He uses direct material impressions, grids, and modular installations to explore how land is remembered, measured, and claimed once natural and institutional boundaries collide.
Das has exhibited across institutional platforms, degree shows, and residencies in India, including the SARA Centre PRO-SEED Artist Residency, M.F. Husain Art Gallery, and UNESCO International Light Festival collaborations. He lives and works between New Delhi and Kerala.
Artist Residency
2026 – PRO-SEED Artist Residency (3rd edition), Sara Centre, Dombekoppa, Karnataka, India
2026 – Sandarbh Artist Residency -Pratapur,Rajastan, India
Website
mmdas1581.github.io/
Fellowships, awards and mentorships
2026 – PJMT Saroj Jain Sculpture Award, Excellence in MFA Sculpture
2026 – Inlaks Foundation Mentorship Program, Arthshila Delhi. Mentor: AnushkaRajendran
2026 – Young Artists Mentorship Lab, Sameksha Art Gallery. Mentor: Arun Kumar H G
Selected exhibitions / projects
2026 – Laterite Story, Open Studio Day, Sara Centre PRO-SEED Artist Residency,Karnataka
2026 – Thazhe Ninnum – From Below, performance, M.F. Husain Art Gallery,Chalanam – Muziris Photo Exhibition
2026 – MFA Final Submission Exhibition, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi -presented Survey Plot 49, Dreams on Credit / Gehri Saans, and related works
2024 – International Light Art Exhibition, M.F. Husain Gallery, Jamia Millia Islamia,in collaboration with the International Light Festival, UNESCO
2024 – Roundabout 2024, Degree Show, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit,Kalady
2021–2022 – Art Street Programme, public art intervention,
Maravanthuruthu,Kottayam, Kerala
Education
2024 – 2026 – MFA Sculpture, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
2020 – 2024 – BFA Sculpture, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Kerala