Rajiv Menon Contemporary
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • Press
  • Fairs
  • About Us
Menu

The Past is a Country: Indo-nostalgia in Contemporary Art

Past exhibition
15 March - 4 June 2024
  • Works
  • Installation Views
  • News
  • Press release
Misha Japanwala, Hands of a Revolution: Sophia-Layla Asfar, 2023

Misha Japanwala

Hands of a Revolution: Sophia-Layla Asfar, 2023
Resin and Patinated Gold Metal Coating
4 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 11 1/4 in
11.4 x 11.4 x 28.4 cm
MJ831
Misha Japanwala is a Pakistani artist and fashion designer, whose work is rooted in the rejection and deconstruction of shame attached to one’s body, and discussion of themes such...
Read more
Misha Japanwala is a Pakistani artist and fashion designer, whose work is rooted in the rejection and deconstruction of shame attached to one’s body, and discussion of themes such as bodily autonomy, gender based violence, moral policing, sexuality and censorship.

As a Pakistani woman familiar with the historical objectification, commodification and control exerted on marginalized bodies by societies and systems enveloped in patriarchy, Misha’s work aims to create a new historical record and documentation of people — one that is on our own terms, and rooted in honesty, resistance and hope.


Through molding the body to create casts that are worn as sculptural garments, Misha’s artistic practice blurs the lines between fashion and fine art, clothing and nudity, and asks viewers to see the body exactly as it is. Her practice is an insistence for bodies to occupy physical space, emphasizing the notion that our bodies shouldn’t need to prove anything other than being allowed to simply exist.


Misha’s calligraphic work takes the form of silhouettes of the body intertwined with Urdu script — often in an effort to reclaim words and ideas that are used as weapons against oneself and the body they inhabit.


Misha has exhibited work in Pakistan and the US. Her work has been photographed for and written about in various international publications including The New York Times, Vogue, The Guardian, Vice and Document Journal. Misha’s pieces have been worn by people such as Cardi B, Lupita Nyong’o, Lil Nas X and Joy Crookes. She was an honoree on the Forbes Under 30 list in 2021.


Her work continues to be an explorative, radical and shameless celebration of people and their bodies.
Close full details

Exhibitions

The Past is a Country
Previous
|
Next
22 
of  54

Related artists

  • Mussarat Arif

    Mussarat Arif

  • Soumya Sankar Bose

    Soumya Sankar Bose

  • Bhasha Chakrabarti

    Bhasha Chakrabarti

  • Mohd. Intiyaz

  • Misha Japanwala

  • Sivasubramaniam Kajendran

    Sivasubramaniam Kajendran

  • Russna Kaur

  • Shradha Kochhar

    Shradha Kochhar

  • Anoushka Mirchandani

    Anoushka Mirchandani

  • Manjari Sharma

  • Swapnaa Tamhane

Back to exhibitions
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2026 Rajiv Menon Contemporary
Site by Artlogic
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Reject non essential
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Join our mailing list

Signup

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.