(b.1977)
Sonia Mehra Chawla is a two-time recipient and awardee of the British Council and Charles Wallace India Trust (CWIT) scholarship in 2014 and 2022. She is an awardee of the International Art+ Science programme instituted by Khoj, Delhi, and Wellcome Trust UK/DBT India Alliance. She is a fellow of the New Alphabet School for practice-based research at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin.
Furthermore, Chawla is a fellow of the art, science and business program at Akademie Schloss Solitude, Germany. She is currently a fellow and tutor of the prestigious ‘Plants on Paper’ initiative by Getty Museum (USA) and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for 2024-2025.
Sonia Mehra Chawla has participated in several curated projects at International Museums and Institutions including 'Silent Archive', curated by Emma Nicolson, Inverleith House Museum, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, supported by Outset in partnership with Serpentine Galleries London (2024), 'Ghosts in Machines', curated by Damian Christinger, Special Project, Serendipity Arts Festival 2024, Alien Worlds, Wardlaw Museum, University of St Andrews Scotland (2024), Critical Zones, a travelling exhibition in South Asia, co-produced by ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, and Goethe-Institut, South Asia. (2022-24), ‘The Beauty of Early Life’, curated by Norbert Lenz and Peter Weibel, ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe (2022).
‘New Natures: A Terrible Beauty is Born’, curated by Ravi Agarwal & curator of Literature Ranjit Hoskote, CSMVS Museum Mumbai, in collaboration with Goethe-Institut Mumbai (2022), ‘Evolutionary Potential’, solo exhibition, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart in collaboration with the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (2022), ‘The Rooted Sea’, solo exhibition at Summerhall, Edinburgh, curated by ASCUS Art & Science, in collaboration with Edinburgh Science Festival 2022, ‘Entanglements of Time & Tide’, solo exhibition, Castle Mills, Edinburgh Printmakers (2021), (UN)Containable Life, a comprehensive solo exhibition in the UAE, spanning a decade of artistic practice, 1x1 Art Gallery, Dubai. (2021), ‘Driving the Human’, Radialsystem, Berlin (2021), and ‘Essl Collection’ at the Albertina Modern, Vienna. (2021).