CHAITANYA MODAK
Artist · Curator · Exhibition Maker · Independent Publisher
Pune, India
Email: cmodaks@gmail.com
Web: www.wontolla.in | www.inhousedesign.co.in
BIOGRAPHY
Chaitanya Modak is a Pune-based conceptual artist, curator, exhibition maker and independent publisher working across art, design, research and visual communication. His practice explores the intersections of sound, word and image, translating ideas and research into exhibitions, installations, artist books and participatory experiences.
His engagement with sound, word and image began in the late 1990s through illustration, writing, newspaper layout and comics. He subsequently pursued filmmaking at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, expanding his practice into moving image and sound.
In 2008, he founded Inhouse Design, an independent branding and communication strategy studio. In 2012, he established Won-Tolla Co-mix, an independent publishing imprint through which he has produced fourteen literature-led co-mix works, exploring the intersections of text, image and form through artist books, zines and concrete poetry.
His curatorial and exhibition-making practice brings together research, interpretation, spatial design and audience engagement. In 2025, he curated and designed 100 Years of Ernst Jandl: Louder, Quieter, an immersive, multisensory exhibition for Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Pune, translating experimental poetry into twenty-two installations across five thematic sections.
Alongside his curatorial practice, Modak develops independent artistic projects rooted in observation, vernacular culture, urban memory and everyday life. His ongoing series As I See Him documents vernacular representations of Hanuman in Pune through on-site soft pastel portraits.
He views art as a social and collaborative practice, creating shared spaces through books, exhibitions and public interventions where people can encounter ideas, exchange perspectives and tell their own stories.
EDUCATION
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
Postgraduate Programme in Communication Design
Film & Video Communication | 2006
Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce, Pune
Bachelor of Commerce
Secretarial Practice & Company Law | 1999
CURATORIAL & EXHIBITION PRACTICE
100 Years of Ernst Jandl: Louder, Quieter
2025 | Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Pune
Curator · Exhibition Designer · Spatial Designer · Film & Motion Designer · Producer
A multisensory exhibition responding to the experimental poetry of Austrian poet Ernst Jandl. The exhibition translated selected poems into twenty-two installations across five thematic sections, exploring how language could become an object, sound, spatial experience and participatory encounter. The project involved curatorial conceptualisation, visual interpretation, exhibition design, audiovisual production and on-ground implementation. Developed over 45 days, the exhibition welcomed more than 1,800 visitors and incorporated German, English and Marathi.
As I See Him: Hanuman in Pastel
2024–ongoing | Hindu Spiritual and Service Foundation, Pune
Artist · Research-led observational drawing
An ongoing series of plein-air soft pastel portraits documenting Hanuman murtis embedded within Pune’s urban fabric. Developed through sustained on-site observation, the project explores vernacular devotional practices, local identities and the relationships between public space, collective memory and everyday faith.
Goondool: Tales from the Alleys of Ganj Peth
2017–2018 | Sudarshan Kalamanch, Pune
Culture and anthropology research project
A collaborative research project culminating in an exhibition at Sudarshan Kalamanch, Pune. Supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation, New York.
ENCRYPTED
2023 | Apre Art House, Mumbai
Participating artist · Group exhibition curated by Lina Vincent
Presented four text-based and installation works exploring language, intimacy, relationships, and communication.
SELECTED SOCIAL PRACTICE & COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Comics Epidemic : Community graphic novel project with SNEHA and the Wellcome Trust, including work in Dharavi and other community settings, 2013–2023.
Saturday Comix : Community graphic novel project with Smile Foundation and The Pomegranate Workshop, 2018.
Bhitti Chitra : Community wall mural projects exploring migration stories and collective aspirations through collaborative storytelling, 2016–2019.
Movements in Art : Community wall mural project, Rotary Club of Bombay Seacoast, Mumbai, 2016.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Inhouse Design, Mumbai / Pune
Founder and Creative Director | 2008–present
Independent branding, design and communication strategy studio.
Won-Tolla Co-mix
Founder and Independent Publisher | 2012–present
Independent publishing imprint producing artist books, zines, comics and concrete poetry.
DY Works, Mumbai
Senior Creative Group Head | 2017
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
The Insouciant Devotee (2024) · The Joy of Text (2023) · S(t)exting Dictionary (2023) · आत्म-प्रेम / Self-Love / L’Amour de soi (2023) · Sleepsutra (2022) · Disturbing (2020) · Saturday Comix Anthology (2018) · Comics Epidemic: An Anthology of Tales from Dharavi (2015)
TEACHING & MENTORSHIP
Visiting faculty and workshop facilitator at Whistling Woods Design School, The Pomegranate Workshop, École Intuit Lab, National Institute of Design, Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay, and other institutions.
SELECTED PRESS & FEATURES
The Indian Express · The Hindu · Mid-Day · Pune Mirror · The Comics Journal · Animation Xpress
Louder Quieter demonstrated that poetry need not remain confined to the printed page. By translating text into architecture, participation, sound, and moving image, the exhibition revealed how language can become a shared public experience. The project reinforced my interest in exhibition design as a medium for interpreting literature, archives, and ideas