Born in 1941 in Dhuri, Punjab, Manjit Bawa received a national diploma in fine arts from the School of Art, Delhi Polytechnic in 1963 and a diploma in silk screen painting from the Warden Institute of Essex, England, in 1967. In the late sixties, Bawa worked as a serigrapher in London and even taught painting at the Institute of Adult Education, England. In 1998, he started the organization Sama’a with Ina Puri to promote art and artists.

The artist passed away in 2008.