Ita (Sunandita) Mehrotra is a visual artist, arts researcher and educator. Ita creates graphic narratives, non-fiction comics, illustrated text and animation, stemming most often from engagements within socio-political shifts around her, and in unravelling their particular histories. Her work has been published and exhibited by thewire.in , popula.org, Zubaan Books, Goethe Institute, Yoda Press, AdAstra Comix, among others.
She is currently Head of Community Arts for Artreach India , a leading non profit working towards transforming the lives of children, young people and women from marginalised communities across India, through art. She lives and works in New Delhi, often travelling to remote villages and offbeat towns, for research and Artreach’s programmes.
Ita studied at Mirambika Free Progress school, a pioneering experimental learning space that greatly encouraged holistic development, learning through the arts and self learning. She has a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy (Hons.) from St.Stephens’ College, Delhi University (2010), from where she was awarded an exchange year at SciencesPo Paris (2011). At SciencesPo, Ita earned a Diploma in French Art History and Culture Studies. She returned to India to pursue a Masters at the School of Culture, Ambedkar University Delhi (2014). Ita’s MPhil from Arts and Aesthetics School, Jawaharlal Nehru University (2017) focuses on feminist graphic narratives in contemporary India.
Fellowships and Grant Awards
- Arts for Good Fellowship (Singapore International Foundation, Singapore, 2021-22) bringing together creative social change practitioners from across Asia Pacific
- Fumetto Arts Festival– Pro Helvetia (Swiss Arts Council) International Apprenticeship Grant 2018, Switzerland
- Gender-Bender Fellowship & Exhibition– (Goethe Institute Bangalore + Sandbox Collective), 2018
- Young Connectors of the Future Fellowship – Swedish Institute, Stockholm (Creative Social change leadership programme), 2015-16, Sweden
- Drawing Attention: Residency for Women Comic Artists – Zubaan Books + Goethe Institute Delhi, Sanskriti Kendra, 2014
- Negotiating Routes IV: Ecologies of the Byways – Artist grant fromKHOJ International Artists Association to record histories of Chipko movement, Garhwal , 2013
Select Publications
- Shaheen Bagh: A graphic Recollection, Yoda Press (Forthcoming, Summer 2021)
- Drawing Home, self published (grant support: Gender Bender, Goethe Institute Bangalore)
- Artful Challenging: An Interview with Orijit Sen, criticalcollective.com, 2019 (interview article)
- Eyes That Follow (and others), popula.com, 2018-19 (short comics)
- Metromorphosis, First Hand 1: Graphic Non-fiction from India, Yoda Press, 2016 (as part of the anthology of comics)
- The Poet, Irom, Drawing the Line: Indian Women Fighting Back, Anthology of graphic stories , Zubaan and Goethe Institute Delhi, 2015
- A School with A view, Womens Feature Service, 2015 (article on create village school in Garhwal)
- Forest Song: Sudesha, A Chipko Story, Booklet, Khoj International Artists Association + Norwegian Embassy Delhi, 2014
- Behind the Exotica: Maha Kumbh 2013, Economic And Political Weekly, March, 2013 (an indepth study of the underbelly of the Maha Kumbh)
Select Exhibitions
- Woman Is As Woman Does, Jehangir Nicholson Art Gallery, 2021
- All Canaries Bear Watching, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2022
- Evidence Room, KHOJ International Artists Association, 2017 (Group Eexhibition, Art & Ecology)
- Avaaz Do, SEHMAT Memorial Day Festival (Constitution Club, Delhi), 2018
- Fummeto Comix Festival 2019, Luzern (prints of Drawing Home)