Mehnat Manzil: Museum of Work
Without Labour Nothing Prospers. But Some Can’t Prosper Despite It.
A museum dedicated to the lives, labour and experiences of informal sector workers.
Ahmedabad’s first of its kind Museum of Work
The Work We Don’t See
Who are the people behind our everyday lives?
Around 92% of India’s working people are in the informal sector. They are the vendors, domestic workers, masons, plumbers, electricians and daily wage workers who keep our cities running. Their work is everywhere, yet very little of their lives is recorded in public memory.
Discover the museum →
A Museum That Makes You Look Again
Mehnat Manzil is an initiative of Saath Charitable Trust, created in collaboration with Conflictorium: Museum of Conflict. It began with something workers themselves said: they had no space of their own and no public record of their lives. Marking SAATH’s 30th year, the two organisations set out to build one.
Every exhibit was developed in conversation with people who work informally, alongside academics, urban planners, artists and social sector practitioners. The museum sits in a renovated house in Guptanagar, Vasna, in a settlement rather than a prime part of the city, so that visitors can see for themselves how these workers live. It celebrates their resilience, and it also questions the structures that give rise to informality.
People
Lives and lived experiences
Perspectives
Questioning assumptions
Reflection
Understanding inequalities
Step Into the World of Work
Installations, photographs and objects, many of which ask you to take part rather than watch.
The Weight of Work
Every visitor wears a 2.5 kg wristband, and the exit stays closed for 25 minutes. It is a small physical sense of a weight informal workers carry far longer. The last exhibit lets you set it down.
A city cannot fully understand its own story without recognising the people whose work makes it possible.
A Space for Everyone
Workers and Families
Their lives, knowledge and contributions recognised.
Students and Educators
Learning about work and society through experience.
Researchers and Practitioners
Engaging with lived realities and social structures.
Institutions and Policymakers
Reflecting on inclusive cities and livelihoods.
Come See Work Differently
Mehnat Manzil: Museum of Work
- Bungalow No. 1, Pathan Ni Chali, Near India Row Houses, Opposite APMC Market Gate No. 3, 132 Feet Ring Road, Guptanagar, Vasna, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380007
- mail@saath.org
- Monday to Saturday
- 10.30 AM – 5.30 PM
- Walk-in or Bookings for Guided Tour
- Time to allow: At least 25 minutes