Spring 2027
Aastha Chauhan's residency is part of a partnership with Villa Swagatam.
Aastha Chauhan is an artist and educator based in Bengaluru (Bangalore), whose practice lies at the intersection of socially engaged art, pedagogy and collaborative approaches. Her work consists of long-term projects developed in response to specific contexts and in collaboration with local communities.
Since 2008, she has been associated with Henvalvani Community Radio in the state of Uttarakhand, where her practice has been enriched through sustained field engagement and experience-based learning.
She teaches at the Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology.
Listening Across Time: Seventeen Years with Henvalvani Community Radio
This project takes the form of an in-depth essay and an artist's book exploring Aastha's seventeen years of collaboration with Henvalvani Community Radio in the Garhwal region of the Indian Himalayas.
Drawing on field notes, photographs, radio archives, oral histories, student projects and personal experiences, she explores the connections between socially engaged art, community media, ecology and pedagogy.
Her work examines how trust is built over time and reflects on alternatives to the project-based approaches that often dominate the fields of art, research and development.
Through a book combining texts, images, archival materials and documents, she brings together a plurality of voices and narratives while questioning notions of care, reciprocity, authorship and knowledge production.
The residency will provide her with dedicated time for research and writing, as well as opportunities to exchange ideas with fellow residents.
Chauhan, Aastha. Henvalvani: Voice of River Henval. Book, 2024. I was the editor and translator for this publication.
Chauhan, Aastha. “Pay As You Go: The Birth of South Delhi’s {Khirkee17}.” 4A Papers, 2017. Research paper.
Chauhan, Aastha. “Blurred Lines: Art, Activism, Popular Culture and Social Change.” Tate Research Centre, 2015. Research paper.
Chauhan, Aastha. “India’s Racism Towards Africans.” Quartz India, 2015. News article.
Chauhan, Aastha. “Somnath Bharti and the Terrible, Everyday Racism of a South Delhi Mohalla.” Grist Media, 2014. News/media article.
