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Svabhu Kohli (they/them) is an independent visual storyteller whose practice explores the profound interconnections between people, place, and the natural world. Rooted in magical realism and layered visual narratives, Kohli’s work lives at the intersection of art, ecology, and community—inviting collective participation, dialogue, and deepened relationships with the living world around us.
Their practice draws from Indigenous knowledge systems, political ecologies, scientific research, and oral histories—often learning from mystics, native communities, healers, naturalists, and scientists. Kohli weaves these diverse perspectives into a rich, speculative visual language shaped by memory, myth, and the shifts in our environments. By blurring the boundaries between imagination and observation, their work becomes a conduit for ecological intimacy and shared storytelling.
Spanning large-scale murals, illustration, design, sculpture, installation, photography, and film, Kohli’s artworks take many forms—each becoming a vessel for connection and action. Their illustrations have appeared in publications by Chronicle Books, Candlewick Press, Levine Querido, and HarperCollins. Notably, their book The Desert Queen received the Stonewall Honor Award in 2024. Research-based works have been exhibited and commissioned by institutions including the Jameel Arts Centre, CSMVS Museum, United Nations Climate Change Conference, Science Gallery Bangalore, Serendipity Arts Festival, Meta Open Arts, Google Arts & Culture, London Edition, Hudson Seed Library, Aziz Premji University, Sussex Contemporary Illustrators & Printmakers, St+Art India Foundation, and Echoes of Earth Festival among others. Their artworks have also been published in leading environmental journalism platforms such as Mongabay India, Current Conservation and Third Pole. Over the years they have also been working with Voice of Nature Foundation on Rewild Yourself creating learning and education tools for the natural world - their work has been nominated for a Webby Award for social campaigns focussing on education and science - Their collaboration has also been awarded a ‘GOLD’ at the Anthem Awards for “Sustainability, Environment & Climate Partnership or Collaboration’
Beyond their studio practice, Kohli also builds facilitation and education models that empower artists to engage with data, environmental narratives, and ethical storytelling. They co-worked on Atlas of Living Hope with Canopy Collective—presented at Oxford University’s Conservation Optimism summit—which spotlights community-led conservation stories across India. This initiative evolved into a teaching module at Srishti Manipal Institutue of Art, Design & Technology as the ‘Stories that grow’ They also co-led a collaborative residency - Dwelling with Indigenous communities in Shergaon, Arunachal Pradesh with Canopy Collective bringing together practitioners from diverse fields to come together and build projects rooted in our current times of ecological and social needs.
Kohli also co-leads the Art Direction and Communications core teams at Amche Mollem, a citizen movement dedicated to protecting Goa’s forests in the Western Ghats. Through this work, they actively cultivate intersections of art, science, and activism to foster ecological stewardship, community learning, and policy engagement.
For queries/collaborations, you can reach them at svabhukohli@gmail.com
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Books:
> When They See Us, Candlewick Press | Tentative Release: 2025
> Desert Queen, Levine Querido | 2024
> Tales of India, Chronicle Books 2018
Exhibits:
> Spoon Spade Shovel, Jameel Arts Centre - Dubai 2025
> Conscious Collective, Godrej Design Labs - Mumbai, 2024
> People of Mumbai - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya CSMVS MUSEUM, Mumbai 2024
> Carbon - Science Gallery - Bangalore, India 2024
> El Encuentro - La Wayaka Current, La Yareta - San Pedro De Atacama, Chile 2023
> Art of Seed exhibition - Hudson Seed Library x Philadephia Flower Show. Philadelphia, USA 2023
> BiodiverCity - Purpose Labs, Ministry of Magic x Echoes Of The Earth. Mumbai, India 2023
> The Case Of The Missing Species - Amche Mollem. Serendipity Arts Festival. Goa, India 2022
> The Beacon Show, SCIP - Sussex Contemporary Illustrators & Printmakers (SCIP).
Sussex United Kingdom 2022
> Art Resilience - Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment, COP26. Glasgow, Scotland 2021
> St+Art Goa / Serendipity Arts Festival. Goa, India 2019
> Hoppy Art Land. Tokyo, Japan 2019
> The Earth Issue x The London Edition: Earth Week Festival. London, 2019
> Graphic Content - Gallery Ark. Baroda, India 2019
> Indianama - Animal. New Delhi, 2018
> Artreach Festival - Artreach India x Bikaner House New Delhi, India 2017
> All Or Nothing - Tedx Artist Collective. Bangalore, India 2015
> Cut Out The Darkness, The Luminary Zoo - Panasonic x Tokyo Behance Japan Community 2014
Residencies & Grants
> Creature Conserve Grant, Rhode Island USA 2025
> Dwelling - Arunachal Pradesh & Assam, India 2025
> La Wayaka Current - Atacama Desert, Chile 2023
> Meta Open Arts Residency. Mumbai, India 2022
> International Design Camp, Designing Positive Behavioural Change - Kolding, Denmark 2012
Teaching & Facilitation
> Thought partner and facilitator for Dwelling Residency program with Canopy Collective & Living Labs 2025
> Co-facilitated Stories That Grow as an expansion of ‘Atlas of living hope’ with Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology and Canopy Collective 2025
> Co-organised Machan Jatra with Seema Kohli Foundation & Music in the Machan with Shruti Vishwanath & Seema Kohli.
Awards:
> Stonewall Honor Award - Desert Queen, Levine Querido | 2024
> GOLD Anthem Award with Rewild Yourself for “Sustainability, Environment & Climate Partnership or Collaboration”
> Rewild Yourself Champion - Voice Of Nature 2024
©2025 Svabhu Kohli. All rights reserved.
No part of this website may be reproduced without permission.
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DW
Google Doodle
The London Edition
The Guardian
Current Conservation
Mongabay India
Euro News
The Wall Street Journal
Brown Paper Bag
My Modern Met
Platform Magazine
Illusion - Scene 360 Magazine
Scene 360 Magazine
The Earth Issue
Cathay Pacific
Design Fabric
GQ
Tedx Artist Collective
Google Art & Culture
Kerosene Digital
Buzzfeed
Koovs
The Art of Animation
Studio Dope
Homegrown
The Better India