Mahwish Chishty

Mahwish Chishty is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in contemporary art that merges traditional South Asian folk techniques with critiques of modern warfare and global politics. She holds a BFA from the National College of Arts, Lahore, and an MFA from the University of Maryland.

Her research focuses on reimagining war machinery through folk art, exploring themes like drone warfare’s impact on Pakistan, cultural hybridity, and political resistance. Major exhibitions include solo shows at the Imperial War Museum (London), Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Sindhu Project series examining Indus Valley heritage.

Awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship (2017) and multiple residencies (Yaddo, Vermont Studio Center), Chishty’s work is in collections like the Imperial War Museum and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. She teaches at UMass Amherst and has held prior roles at Kent State University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.