“Manthan: Let the Churn Begin Within You”, a solo exhibition by U.S.–based artist and educator Anisha Sanghani, opened at the Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery, Nariman Point, Mumbai (December 1–6, 2025). The show reimagines the myth of Samudra Manthan as an urgent ecological warning, where oceanic beauty stands shoulder to shoulder with the devastation of consumer waste.

Sanghani’s mixed-media works capture this collision with striking clarity. In The New Manthan, a sea turtle threads its way through swirling mythic forms and towering heaps of plastic debris. In Wrath, an enraged goddess rises from the depths, expressing the fury of divine forces witnessing oceans defiled by human negligence.

Her rich, layered aesthetic draws viewers in before revealing the stark reality beneath. That reality informed her process: in a series of personal experiments, Sanghani submerged herself with her face sealed in plastic to experience, momentarily, the suffocation marine creatures endure. “I became their voice,” she says.

For Sanghani, art becomes a call to conscience. “Art cannot clean the oceans,” she notes, “but it can remind us of what they mean to us.” Manthan invites viewers to confront their own role in this crisis—and to begin their own internal churning toward awareness and responsibility.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Ms. Nidhi Choudhari, IAS, Director & Artist, National Gallery of Modern Art, along with Sameer Balvally and Shilpa Jain Balvally (Studio Osmosis), Ronak Sutaria (Respirer Living Sciences), Rishiraj Sethi (Aura Art), Dilip Ranade, and Prakash Bal Joshi.

Bollywood director Harshavardhan Kulkarni, Sony marketing strategist Parinda Singh, and music director Khamosh Shah were also present.

Photography by Ajay Natke and Sharon Dev Pimento.

 

“Manthan” A Solo Exhibition By U.S.–Based Artist Anisha Sanghani, Opened At Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery