Manju Kak

Manju Kak is an Indian writer, critic, and an art and cultural historian. She is particularly known for her work on the cultural history of Kumaon and the western Himalayas.

Education and career Kak has a PhD in Art History from the National Museum, New Delhi, and has been a teacher and visiting professor of art history, literature and cultural studies, in Delhi, the UK, and Hong Kong (Centre for Nehru Studies & Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia; National Museum Institute, New Delhi; St. Stephen's College & Open Learning University, Hong Kong; St. Columba's School, New Delhi). She has been a recipient of the Hawthornden and Charles Wallace & Ministry of Culture fellowships.

She has worked as a consultant with the Ministry of Culture (50th Anniversary Celebrations) (1997–98); and INTACH, COHANDS ( Handicraft Board). Currently she is Member in Charge in the all India Women's Conference (AIWC) established in 1927, and Trustee of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Trust. She has served on various NGO committees.

Documentary She also directed a documentary film They who walked Mountains (2001), about the erstwhile salt routes from present-day Uttarakhand (India) to western Tibet.

Paintings As a painter, Kak had a show titled Ranikhet State of Mind (2016). Some of her art works are in private and public collections in India and Hong Kong. Whose Media — a Woman’s Space Just One Life and Other Stories In the Shadow of the Devi, Kumaon: of a Land, a People, a Craft (2018)