AAYUSH CHANDRAWANSHI

About me

Aayush is a Documentary Photographer/Filmmaker and Art Director currently based between New Delhi and Chhattisgarh. He has worked on a various short and long-term projects, exploring concepts, processes and mediums. He has pursued Masters in Design in Photography from National Institute of Design.


Currently, he is working with Chhattisgarh state PR on a Participatory Filmmaking campaign that centers the voices and lived experiences of the people—recognizing them as the true authors of its culture, history, and future.

Between 2021 to 2024, he worked as a Curator and Project Anchor for Conflictorium, a museum of conflict in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. In this role, he focused on setting up a permanent museum, designing its overall experience in alignment with the region's cultural sensibilities. The museum acts as a reflective lens on identities, cultures, history, and contemporary issues through meaningful conversations, carefully curated exhibitions, workshops, and events.

He also freelances on commissioned projects for clients such as Sabyasachi, Titan Helios, Raw Mango, Indian Typecraft etc. Some of his works have also been published in Rest of World, The Caravan, Frontline, and SPRF. 


His personal practice delves into contemporary social and emotional landscapes through visual storytelling. He explores diverse communities and alternative cultural perspectives, employing the visual medium as a tool to understand, question, unlearn and relearn.

 

Exhibitions 


2024 : Memories from Homeland
              'Enchantment' : A Projection Showcase at Angkor Photo Festival 2024, Cambodia

2023 : Politics, Protest, Poetry
              Film screening program : Music, Dissent, Spaces, Harkat Studios, Mumbai

2021 : Politics, Protest, Poetry
              Online Film Screening, Indie Music Film Festival 

2021 : Memories from Homeland
               Print Installation, Art Block 2.0, Q417, Bhilai

2020 : Beyond ninety minutes
               3-Channel Video Projection, Art Block, Q417, Bhilai

2019 : Memories from Homeland
              Group Print Exhibition, Krishnakriti Art Festival, Hyderabad

2019 : Off the coast
              Group Print Exhibition, Chennai Photo Biennale, Chennai

2019: Politics,Protest,Poetry
             Film Screening, Irregulars Art Fair, New Delhi

2017 : Off the coast
             Group Print Exhibition, Living Water Museum, Ahmedabad

2017 : Unwrapping
             Collaborative Video Installation, INTAC, South Korea

 

Publications


2024 : WhatsApp vigilantes in India are converting Christians by force
               Rest of World (Digital) 

2023 : Out at sea: Behind the scenes at Veraval
               The Frontline magazine/ The Hindu (Print and Digital) 

2022 : Medium and the Message | How the first Chhattisgarhi film questioned caste
               The Caravan (Print and Digital) 

2021 : Keeping Score: Chhattisgarh Through its Footballing Culture
               Social & Political Research Foundation (Digital)

 

Guest Faculty/ Jury

2024 : In Panel of Design Project review session of M. Des Photography Design batch of 2022
           NID, Gandhinagar

2023 : Designed and conducted a 3-week common studio course called 'Reflections and Projections' under the theme Future of the past
           Communication Design, Anant National University, Ahmedabad.

 

Artist Talk


2024 : Masterclass on Art's role in Conflict Resolution 
            UID NCR , Gurugram 

2022 : Artist talk at National Institute of Design
              Artist Talk series, Gandhinagar (Online)

 

Nominations


2022 : Nominated for Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Grant for Photography
               
New Delhi, India

2022 : Shortlisted for Communities of Choice
               Chennai Photo Biennale, India

2019 : Nominated for reGeneration 4
              Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland 

 

Workshop participation


2023 : Postgraduate Course in Aesthetics, Criticism And Theory (ACT) at Jnanapravaha Mumbai
              An Uncomfortable Tour Through the Museum

2018 : All about photo-books by Peter Bialobrzeski
              Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai in collaboration with BIND

2016 : Beyond the Camera
              by Kishor Sharma, Prawin Adhikari & Shikhar Bhattarai, Photo Kathmandu 2016

Using Format