Han Mengyun (b. 1989 in Wuhan, raised in Shenzhen, China) is an interdisciplinary and multimedia artist, comparatist, filmmaker, poet and mother currently based in London. She received BA in Studio Art from Bard College and has pursued the study of Sanskrit at various institutions such as Kyoto University before she completed her MFA at the University of Oxford with a research focus on Classical Indology and Indian aesthetic theories.

Han Mengyun’s practice unfolds in two modes she calls “Day” and “Night.”

In the Day, she works primarily in painting, departing from Eurocentric art histories to explore Eurasia’s intertwined cultural pasts. Initially trained in Western oil painting, she now draws on Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic intellectual and poetic history, as well as the visual traditions of Indian and Islamicate miniature painting. Inspired by ancient Chinese innovations in paper and print, she conceives paintings as book pages—spaces where cultures meet while retaining distinct voices. Her work engages religion, philosophy, vernacular craftsmanship such as textile and bookmaking, foregrounding intercultural exchange and the hybrid nature of world history.

The Night turns inward, shaped by Han’s experiences as a woman and mother. Writing poetry during postpartum depression sparked her écriture féminine and a feminist practice informed by Gayatri Spivak’s critique of colonialism and subalternity. Through writing, film, painting, and textile installation, she examines intersectionality, imperial legacies, and alternative solidarities, situating women’s voices within transgenerational, transcultural, and inter-religious contexts.

In 2023 Han Mengyun received Robb Report “BOB Best of the Best” 2024 Young Artist Award and the K11 Artist Prize 2024 nomination, and was selected for the Influential 2023: Forbes China Contemporary Young Artists. Her work has been presented at Bukhara Biennial, Uzbekistan (2025); Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile, Hong Kong (2025); AlUla Arts Festival, Saudi Arabia (2025); Busan Biennale, South Korea (2024); Delfina Foundation, London (2024); Zhi Art Museum, China (2024); ShanghART Shanghai (2023); SONGEUN, Seoul (2023); UCCA Edge, Shanghai (2023); Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2023); Power Station of Art, Shanghai (2021); Diriyah Biennale, Saudi Arabia (2021); ESEA Contemporary, Manchester (2021); Today Art Museum, Beijing (2013) among others.