Mohtasib: Moral recruit of Jehel, the invisible lord of fear and silence | Zagh-e-Zaman: The upholder of the planetary order
Final Frontier: Jabir’s ruinous march from blue to red
Shows
2021 Hostile Witness, collaborative work with Baaraan Ijlal. Moonis made structures and sculptures, Baaraan made the paintings.
TV documentaries
Made half-hour television documentaries which were aired on NDTV
Drawn to the City, half-hour documentary on art inspired from the life and loss in the mega-migrant city of New Delhi https://www.ndtv.com/video/shows/india-matters/india-matters-drawn-to-the-city-331518
Colours of India: Simply Silver, half-hour documentary on role of metal silver in Indian history from the first urbanisation in ancient India in 600 bc to movements of feminist resistance in the 21st centuryhttps://www.ndtv.com/video/shows/ndtv-special-ndtv-24×7/colours-of-india-simply-silver-358921
Temples of Pakistan: Documentary review of book on temples and minorities of Pakistan https://www.ndtv.com/video/features/news/art-matters-temples-in-pakistan-331534
Art Matters: Artists on War and Peace, documentary on artists protests in solidarity with victims of Israel-Palestine conflict https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/art-matters-artists-on-war-and-peace-650313
Artist Residency Coordinator
2000 to 2002
Coordinator, Artists & Writers residency, Sanskriti Kendra, (Ayanagar) New Delhi
Managed Bond Beyond Borders, the artists and writers residency from SAARC countries from 2000 to 2002 at Sanskriti Foundation, New Delhi, funded by Ford Foundation. Helped select artists and writers with several experts located in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan ( SAARC countries). Invited applications and set up jury of eminent artists and writers to select a writer and visual artist each from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan to visit Delhi on a three-month paid residency.
2016 till today
Senior Writer
Climate Trends, New Delhi
Not-for-profit climate organization Funded by European Climate Foundation
Launched Carbon Copy in 2017, the media portal ( carboncopy.info ) and CarbonCopy, the climate fortnightly which tracks global climate and energy news and developments with Indian perspective. Moonis wrote news reports on national and international developments in sectors of climate science, climate policy, renewable energy and air pollution.
2006 to 2016
News Editor, NDTV 24×7, English TV News Channel
Moonis prepared hourly news bulletins, wrote anchor links, headlines, title supers, checked news scripts, wrote graphics for breaking news and frequently reported for features department. Reported half-hour episodes for programme Art Matters for NDTV 24×7. Was editorial in-charge on daily prime time news shifts from 12 pm to 9 pm.
Producer, The Social Network, NDTV 24×7
Produced over 200 episodes of India’s first half-hour, daily live debate on mainstream vs social media. Decided the content of the show, curated panel of campaigners and experts for the studio debates. Organised debates on the topics of online users’ privacy, state surveillance, free speech, Sec 66A and net neutrality. Major issues debated on the show included Justice Verma’s landmark verdict on article 377, Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, Arab Spring and Social Media, Iran and Egypt anti-government protests, Central Monitoring System of internet surveillance, social media and Indian general elections 2014, juvenile justice and age of sexual consent, and sexual harassment at work place.
2005 to 2006: Teaching Experience
Taught history to BA honours, and MA, history in Zakir Hussain College, Delhi University
Taught BA course on Environmental studies based on text Use & Abuse of Nature by Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha.
Taught Indian History and History of Europe to MA in Saifia College of Arts, Bhopal from 1996 to 2000.
2002-2004: Staff Writer – The Indian Express
Copy edited stories and made national pages, op-ed pages. Wrote features for Sunday Eye.
Book Art
Painted and designed book covers of:AL Basham, Wonder That Was India, PicadorIndia in Mind, Pankaj Mishra, PicadorThese Errors Are Correct, collection of poemsn in English by Jeet Thayil, TranquebarLetter to a Democratic Mother, Novel by writer and filmmaker Saeed MirzaPundits from Pakistan, book on India-Pakistan cricket tournament by Rahul Bhattacharya, Picador The Mahabharata, A Modern Rendering, by Ramesh Menon, RupaTwilight in Delhi, a novel by Ahmed Ali, RupaLava, collection of Urdu poetry by Javed Akhtar, Star Publications
Education
1998: PhD, History, topic: Bhopal Maratha Relation 1700 to 1818, state formation in the region of Malwa1995: MA, History (University topper), Barkatullah Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal 1993: BSc, Maths and Physica, Barkatullah Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal 12th Class, Maths, Campion School, Bhopal
Press
https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/artists-baaraan-ijlal-and-moonis-ijlals-layered-works-share-untold-stories-7656983/Artists Baaraan Ijlal and Moonis Ijlal’s layered works share untold stories’The pandemic only heightened the split character of the city’
https://www.vogue.in/culture-and-living/content/through-hostile-witness-artist-baaraan-ijlal-is-resisting-erasure-before-the-seas-drown-usThrough Hostile Witness, artist Baaraan Ijlal is resisting erasure before the seas drown us
http://jaiarjun.blogspot.com/2006/11/moonis-ijlals-book-covers.html
Moonis Ijlal is a self-taught artist, a historian and a journalist. He is interested in the psychology of form and spaces and their impacts of inclusivity and alienation. His aesthetics is informed with the phenomenon of hybridity and evolution found in nature and impacts of social human evolution on biodiversity. His current works engage with the issues of vulnerability, adaptation and survival under situations of forced migration, censorship and their link with global climate crisis.