Participants
Yusof Gajah (Malaysia)
Kama Wangdi & Chencho Dorji (Bhutan)
Ghanshyam Sharma (Nathdwara)
Radhashyam Raut (Bhubaneswar)
Subha De & Indrapramit Roy (Baroda)
Ramesh Hengadi & Rasika Hengadi(Mumbai)
Shantaram Dhadpe & Kusum Dhadpe(Mumbai)
Utpal Barua (Guwahati)
Sunder Venkatavardhan (Thekambatu)
Anushka Ravishankar (Chennai)
Ananta Mahapatra (Bhubaneswar)
Tultul Biswas (Bhopal)
Madhuri Purandhare (Pune)
Durgabai Vyam (Bhopal)
Jatin Nayak (Bhubaneswar)
Paromita Vohra (Mumbai)
Ramu Ramanathan (Mumbai)
Narayan Parasuram (Mumbai)
Soumitra Ranade (Mumbai)
Arun Kalwankar (Mumbai)
Prayag Shukla (Delhi)
Indu Harikumar (Mumbai}
Chandu Mhatre (Mumbai)
Tangella Madhavi (Mumbai)
Sananda Mukhopaphyaya (Mumbai)
Pankaj Rishi Kumar (Mumbai)
Radhika Bapat(Pune)
Jogesh Motwani (Mumbai)
Malavika.PC (Chennai)
Bidyut Roy & Alok Som (Santiniketan)
Poonam Athalye (Pune)
Aditi Babel (Udaipur)
Jitendra Thakur (Bhopal)
Lalan Mishra (Mithila)
Students who are keen to participate may write to:
rajam[AT]iitb.ac.in
Kama Wangdi and Chencho Dorji
Kama Wandgi and Chencho Dorji are artists from Bhutan. Kama Wangdi studied
traditional Bhutanese art and later studied art at the UK. He is one of the
founders of VAST (Volunteer Artists' Studio Thimpu) - a non-profit
organisation that nurtures and promotes a young generation of art entusiasts
through art. Chencho Dorji, is a member of the faculty at Zorig Chosum,
a centre for education in traditional Bhutanese art at Thimpu.
For details: www.vast-bhutan.org
Durga Bai
The most striking feature of Durga Bai's paintings is their ability to tell a
story. Her forms are mostly drawn from the pantheon of the Gond Pardhan
community. Durga Bai also enjoys painting folktales. For this she is grateful
to her grandmother who told her lots of stories. Durga Bai’s work is rooted
in her birthplace, Burbaspur, a village in the Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh.
In 2004, Durga Bai was honoured by the Handicraft Development Council. In 2008
she and two other Gond artists, Ram Singh Urveti and Bhajju Shyam, were presented
the BolognaRagazzi Award in Italy for their illustrations in the children’s book,
The Night Life of Trees, published by Tara Publishing. Durga Bai was also
awarded the IGNCA Scholarship for 2006-2007.
For details: http://www.ignca.nic.in/tribal_art_artist_gond_mp_durgabai.htm
Radhashyam Raut
Radhashyam Raut is a young painter trained in the traditional art of Patachitra
painting of Orissa, Awarded a National scholarship, he lives and works in a
village near Dhauli, the historic site of the Kalinga war after which the emperor
Ashoka embraced Buddhism.
Ghanshyam Sharma
Ghanshyam Sharma is a pichhwai painter based at Nathdwara, Rajasthan. He hails from a
generation of artists who trace their roots to the schools of miniature painting in
Rajasthan, dating back to the 17th century. Pichhwai paintings emerge from the rituals
and practices connected with the worship of the child-Krishna as Srinathji and depict
various episodes that embody a deep sense of devotion that came to be known as the
'pushti-marg' or the way of grace.
Ramesh Hengadi, Rasika Hengadi, Shantaram Dhadpe and Kusum Dhadpe
Ramesh Hengadi, Rasika Hengadi, Shantaram Dhadpe and Kusum Dhadpe belong to the Warli
community of Maharashtra in Western India. Traditionally Warli paintings were executed
with white paste made of lime and chalk on mud walls of their dwellings. They depicted
the life and activities of the Warli tribes such as hunting, sowing, harvesting, as well
as stories about the life of the community. Today Warli artists paint on canvas, paper and
cloth.
Subha De
Subha De did her BFA(graphics) from Kala Bavana, Shantiniketan and MA(Graphics) from MS University, Baroda.
Recipient of several awards- Lalit Kala Akademi Research Grant, Chennai, Vasudev Arnawaz Trust Award,
Juniour Fellowshio, Ministry of Human Resource Development, TravelGrants, MInisterie,
Van Buitenlandse Zaken, Netherlands, Artists in Residence, DeMontfort University, Leicester U.K. and
UNESCO Aschberg Fellowship, Artist-in-Residence, Gaza Palestine- she showcased her works both nationally
and internationally. Her quest for knowledge and new learning experiences saw her enroll for Film Appreciation
course, Pune, Orientation course in Women’s Studies, MSU, Baroda and Art Based Therapy certification, Pune.
Her ingenuity extends in stretching her strengths in areas of education. She has been a resource person for
workshop and resource book for education, Women’s Studies Research Centre, MSU, and a member for focus groups
for NCERT. She has taught at several institutes- DeMontfort University, Leicester, U.K., Welham Girls School,
Dehradun, Assam Valley School, Vadodara School of Design and at present is a Senior Teacher at Navrachana
International School, Vadodara.
Indrapramit Roy
Indrapramit Roy is one of India's finest upcoming contemporary artists. He teaches painting
at the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Baroda, in western India. In 1990, he received
a fellowship to study painting at the Royal College of Art, London, and won the
Burston Award and the Fleur Cawles Award for Excellence. He has exhibited widely in solo
and group shows all over India.
Utpal Barua
Utpal Barua is a professional artist, designer and academician. He graduated with a masters in
fine arts from Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, did his doctoral studies from Indian Institute of
Technology Guwahati, and presently works as a member of the faculty at the Department of
Design, IIT Guwahati. He has particpated in over twentyfive national exhibitions and ten international
exhibitions in UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Indonesia and was one of the artists invited for Olympic Fine Arts,
Beijing in 2008.
Utpal has always been fascinated by the study of nature and the people
around him. They inspire him to create and to understand life better. The relationship of human
beings, their feelings, joys and happiness, sadness and their complex behavior sometimes stimulate
him to think and to analyze certain deeper aspect of life. Elements of real life influence the
visual presentation. He took these aspects as a subject matter of his painting in the 90's.
In some of the works nature comes across as a symbol of the inner void of human life, where
flying butterflies appear as a symbol of hope and expectation.
Sunder Venkatavaradhan
Sunder Venkatavardhan graduated from IIT Bombay and has been a teacher at Rishi Valley, Sumavanam,
Blue Mountain School. Sonati and Sunder have spent several years now on their land outside Thekambattu
which is a small village near Salem in Tamil Nadu, bringing up the boys (Badri and Varun).
The boys do not go to school and neither do they “formally” teach them in any way.
So then, what do they do all day?
The two of us are busy with the house-work, the work on the land, the visitors. And the boys?
They are, of course, involved with some of our work: they help in making roshogullas and in cleaning up the
house before visitors arrive, for instance. But much of the day is theirs to do as they please.
More at: thekambattu.wordpress.com/
Anushka Ravishankar
Anushka Ravishankar, a mathematics graduate, has made a name for herself internationally as an Indian
children’s writer, with over 10 books of verse, fiction and non-fiction. Her special talent is in the
area of nonsense verse, where she brilliantly adapts this difficult genre to Indian English usage,
without a false note.
Paromita Vohra
Paromita Vohra is Just a nice girl with a big backlog.
More on: http://parotechnics.blogspot.com/
Ramu Ramanathan
Ramu Ramanathan is a playwright-director, and a prolific writer, whose plays include Kashmir Kashmir,
Cotton 56, Polyster 84, Mahadevbahi, Shanti, Shanti, it’s a War, Sakina Manzil (a documentary), Curfew, Yar,
What"s the Capital of Manipur; and The Boy Who Stopped Smiling.
Narayan Parasuram
Narayan Parasuram is the Director, Karadi Tales Company, India (www.karaditales.com),
Associate Professor(Adjunct) IDC, IIT Bombay. A graduate from IIT Bombay, he holds a
Masters from Clemson University (USA), and a Diploma in Sound Engineering (USA).
He has composed music for films that include Jajantaram Mamantaram, Khoobsurat,
and Mohandas. Narayan is the recepient of the Lata Mangeshkar award for best male
playback singer (1989), and the Screen Award for the album Saavariya (2001).
Indu Harikumar
Indu Harikumar has studied both fashion and history. She stumbled into the world of picture books
by pure chance. She has written and illustrated for various regional and English children's
publishers, both non-profit and multinational. Her first bi-lingual picture book - "How do we weigh
Appukuttan?" (English) / "Appukuttan ko toley kaise?" (Hindi) has been published by Eklavya.
She also teaches an art and craft class at an NGO-run school and enjoys craft immensely.
Chandu Mhatre
Chandu Mhatre is a photojournalist based in New Delhi and Mumbai. He has been a news photographer for
over 40 years and his works have been published by leading international and Indian organization & magazines
and newspapers including UNICEF, The Telegraph, Marg Publications, Newsweek and The New York Times.
He has covered historical news events in India including the rise of the Naxalites movement in West Bengal
in 1970 and has documented the "Jai Prakash Narayan's non cooperation movement"; documented Portuguese history
in Goa; photographed a book on the 'Warli' community for Lalit Kala Akadami.
Jatin Nayak
Jatindra K Nayak studied at Utkal and Oxford universities and teaches English
literature at Utkal University. He received the Hutch Crossword Book Award
in 2004 and the KATHA Translation award in 1997.
Madhuri Purandhare
Madhuri Purandhare studied painting and graphic arts in Paris and at the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai
and did her diploma in French from Pune University. She has written poems and stories for children
in the bimonthly magazine Vanasthali and is the author and illustrator for several books for children including
"Jadugar, Shamyachi Gammat, Super Baba (1999), and Chitravaachan (a set of coloured prints depicting scenes
from Indian life (2003). She has translated several works into Marathi, including a biography of Picasso
(awarded the Kothavale Award in 1989), Jean Cocteau's "La Voix Humane", Samuel Beckett's "Waiting For Godot",
stories by Guy De Maupassant, Moliere's "Don Juan". She has also translated into French Daya Pawar's "Baluta",
Mahesh Elkunchwar's "Vaada Chirebandi", and Balchandra Nemade's "Extracts of an 18th century treatise on the
caste system". She has also been active in cinema, theatre and music - acted in films by Govind Nihalani,
Arun Khopkar, T.S. Ranga, and is also the Chief Art Advisor of Su-Darshan Art Gallery, Maharashtra Cultural
Centre, Pune.
An interview with Madhuri: http://www.eklavya.in/pdfs/Sandarbh_64/01-03_Madhuri_Purandare.pdf
Anant Mahapatra
has been involved actively and creatively in Radio, Theatre, Films & Television for more than five decades
bringing new approach and content, pioneering Group Theatre Movement and reviving professional theatre,
realistic filmaking, innovative radio programming. He produced the first feature Film for Doordarshan in India
in 1982 by adapting the Oriya classic MAMU (uncle) of Fakir Mohan Senapati, the father of Modern Oriya literature.
His recent stage production was 'Sri Radha' poem by Padmabhushan, Ramakanta Rath, with innovative stage & light
design and music. He has been member of the Central Board of Film Censors, Jury of Indian Panorama, Int.Film Festival,
Member of Satyajit Ray Film Institute Governing Body, and Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Arun Kalwankar
Arun Kalwankar Poet,Painter, Filmmaker,Spiritualist & creative educationist. Presently working as producer for
CDEEP IIT Bombay. G.D.Art from JJ School of Art. He Started as Illustrator for children magzines, Editorial Art
& TV. worked for theatre,,Art films. After that professionaly for 15 years he worked as Creative Director with
Adfactors & Clea Advertising,Crest Communication & Focus Communications. He created AD-Films, TV Programmes,TV Spots
for AD & Media world. Conducted 45 creativity workshops for Art,Design,Media faculty & proffessionals. Exhibited 21
Solo Art exhibitions in India & abroad-LA & Sydney.Known to his dear ones as Guruji-His Soul is evolved with
SHIVA=Symphony,Harmony,Initiation,Variety ,Awakening. Pen to Pixel experimental& experiencial Art is his journey!
Givers Get is his beloved belief. Designing the mind & soul is his passion!
more about him on: www.arunkalwankar.com
Prayag Shukla
Born 1940, Kolkata, Prayag Shukla is a poet, art critic, fiction writer, essayist and translator. He has
many books to his credit, including books for children. He has been associated with Hindi publications of
Times of India group for many years; has edited quarterly journal Rang-Prasang of National School of Drama;
translated Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali from Bengali into Hindi.
He has participated in the International writing programme of Iowa University, USA was invited to
London Book Fair for readings by British Council in 2009.He has visited many counties including France Germany,
UK, Norway, Japan and China, in relation to workshops, seminars and exhibitions.
He likes to travel, and has covered all parts of India, and has several Travelogues to his credit.
He lives in Delhi and Bhopal.
Soumitra Ranade
A gold medalist from the Sir J.J. School of Arts, Soumitra Ranade is an artist, film-maker, book designer
and illustrator. He has directed feature films: Jajantaram Mamantaram (Fantasy Adventure), Friends Forever
(Romantic Comedy – Live Action with Animation); telefilms Yakeen Mano (Horror), Vakratunda Mahakaya (Social);
documentaries: Ajanta & Ellora Buddhist & Hindu Caves, The Third Voice Poetry of Akthar-ul-Iman,
The Truth of Science (IUCCA), Khoob Asti Afghanistan; television series: Mad Mad Murder Social Thriller (Fiction),
Funda Kya Hai Youth Show, Apni Sehat Women’s Health (Docu-drama), Karadi Tales 26 part animated Teleserial for the
Disney Channel short fiction: Mise-en-Scene (A short film on Vincent Van Gogh), The Apostate (Fiction),
The Third Night (Based on the poetry of Firaq Gorakhpuri), u;n (Short experimental), music Videos: Baarish,
Dream Queen, Chanke Jahan Payal Teri. He has held exhibitions of photographs of 'Relig ious Architecture of Bombay'
and 'London Walk'; designed several book covers for children's books for scholastic India.
Tangella Madhavi
Tangella Madhavi majored in Direction and Screenplay Writing from Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata.
She also holds a post graduate Diploma in Social Communications Media from Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai and
a Master Degree in English from Mumbai University. She was the recipient of the SARAI Fellowship ’2005, New Delhi,
India to research about the Video Theatres in Mumbai and their relationship with migration and impact of increasing
multiplex culture in Mumbai. She was also teaching Mass Media for three years at Mumbai. Her documentaries include,
'Anna Sound Please!' (explores the culture of slum cinema in Mumbai which screen telugu film for migrants who primarliy
work as construction labourers. 'Dhaga Mil Gaya' / I Found A Thread (presenting the world of Malti, a Gandhian living in
sewagram), awarded The Silver Conch at Mumbai International Film Festival, Mumbai, 2010, 'Listen Little Man' (on the
varied experiences of students who have been ragged and their modes of protest), 'Penchalamma' (Set against the
backdrop of an upcoming SEZ, the film unravels an old woman’s struggle of retain her plot of land), 'Zama Afaganistana'
(on the struggle of Four Afghani's putting up a play in Kolkata), and 'Almost Alone' (A personal film about a mother’s
visit to her daughter studying in a film school).
Sananda Mukhopaphyaya
Sananda Mukhopaphyaya is a graduate in Political Science from St.Xavier's college, Mumbai. She has extensively worked
as a lighting designer and operator with professional theatre groups in Mumbai over the last 6 years. She has been working
in the field of education and drama over the last threeyears. Through her work and interactions with children she has
developed a keen understanding of drama and its role in education.
Pankaj Rishi Kumar
Graduating from Pune's Film and Television Institute in 1992, and specialising in Film Editing, Pankaj was assistant
editor on Sekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen. After editing documentaries and TV serials, he made his first film KUMAR TALKIES.
Subsequently, Pankaj has become a one man crew producing, directing, shooting and editing his own films.
(Pather Chujaeri, The Vote, Gharat, 3 Men and a Bulb, Punches n Ponytails, and Seeds of Dissent). His films have been
screened at festivals all over the world. He has won grants from Hubert Bals, IFA, Jan Vrijman, Gotoberg, Banff, Majlis
and Sarai. Pankaj was awarded an Asia Society fellowship at Harvard Asia Centre (2003). He was a TA at the first Asian Film
Academy (Pusan).
more on: kumartalkies.blogspot.com
Radhika Bapat
Radhika Bapat works at the Child Guidance Centre with a team of 7 clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and
physiotherapists dealing mainly with children with problems. A large part of what we have been doing includes creating free
resources (under the creative commons licenses ) for children with disabilities as well as normal children under the hiatus
of the Sahyadri Group of Hospitals. Although my core competence is rehabilitation, specifically the frontal lobe and
executive functioning - over the years I have realized the importance of creating beautiful resources to facilitate learning.
My interest in using mediums like music,theatre, baking, environment and the general "look-feel-smell-touch" approach,
lies in what it does to enhance brain functions or motivate children to perform tasks that are repetitive and normally
wearisome.
Jogesh Motwani
Jogesh Motwani acquired the usual accoutrements that define a middle-class Indian boy - an assortment of engineering and science degrees -
before he settled into a life of aesthetic exploration with Lakshmi and their two children Mahuli and Hemant (for which a necessary
condition is keeping the children school-free). Since his unique talents remain unrecognized by society, he is forced to occasionally work
for a living, and uses writing as a release.
Bidyut Kumar Roy
Bidyut Kumar Roy was born in Dumka, 1959 and studied painting at the the Government College of Arts and Craft, Kolkata and
did his Masters in Mural Painting at Kala Bhavan, santiniketan. He has since then been living at Boner Pukur Danga near Santiniketan,
amongst the Santhals, with his wife Lipi who is a potter and their daughter Kattayani, fondly known as Muni to everybody
in the neighbourhood. Their home, built by Bidyut, has an organic naturalness about it that emerges from a love for the
land and for materials. He does not practice architecture, but builds like a painter arranging shapes to create
active walls and spaces.
Poonam Athalye
Poonam Athalye studied architecture and design. While studying Visual Communications at the IDC, IIT Bombay, she realised
that she had a calling for the Visual Arts, and focussed on drawing, painting and experimental animation films.
Her animated film on interpreting a young girl's dream began her journey towards creating for children.
Since 2005 she has worked on illustrating books for UNICEF, NCERT and other independent book design projects.
More on: www.poonamathalye.com
Malavika.PC
Malavika.PC is a 27 year old Illustrator of Children’s Books, Print Designer, Theatre Actor and a Good Cook. She is also a lyricist of exactly 4 songs;
a gypsy, ironically waiting to find her one acre of land so she can settle down to farm. She dreams to live in her farm, with her 2 goats, 1 dog, 2 cows,
4 cats and 1 monkey, quite content growing her herbs, potatoes and cattle feed. She also dreams of the charming Letterpress Station that will be concealed
several feet beneath the quaint farmlands; for by day she is a Farmer and by night, a Letterpress Printer. She studied to be an industrial ceramist and won
medals at her College; that officially qualified her to make state-of-the-art wash basins and colourful potties. She soon realised that wasn’t her calling.
The call that came from reams of paper and litres of ink was stronger. She wiggled her way into a design studio 6 years back and trained under her first
Mastah Deepa Kamath, who taught her the magic of the book and the highs of print.
Aditi Babel
Aditi Babel is a book artist and graphic designer. After studying applied arts & visual design
she found her way back to traditional forms or art & craft. She studied and
practiced printmaking, letterpress printing, linocuts, mono-prints, serigraphy, cyanotype
& Van Dyke Brown. She learnt the craft of book making in Florence, Italy. She has been
involved with various theatre projects and has organized educational workshops for
children under the name "Soch".
More on: www.aditibabel.com
Jitendra Thakur
Jitendra Thakur is a young artist working with Eklavya and loves to paint for children.
He has participated in many National and International art exhibitions and has also held a
solo show of his paintings in Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal.
More on: http://www.cu2cu.blogspot.com/
Kirti Trivedi
Professor at IIT, Bombay, involved in teaching courses in visual design, typography, and design traditions.
Currently involved in product development based on emerging technology possibilities and development needs.
Research projects include universal, language-independent learning and interactive group learning.
Born in 1948, Trivedi obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Indore (1970), and a
postgraduate diploma in Industrial Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (1972). Later he studied
at the Royal College of Art, London for his Master of Design degree in Industrial Design, where he was awarded
the Pye Design Award for the best student project.
In 1981, he worked in several design offices and design schools in Japan as a UNESCO Fellow, including the office
of Kohei Sugiura, GK Industrial Design, and Corporate Design Centre, Sharp Corporation. He has been teaching
courses in Product Design and Innovation Management, Graphic Design, Typography, Design Methods and Design History
at IDC since 1976, and has been engaged in a project documenting the design traditions of India since 1981.
In 1984, he initiated and started India's first Master's degree program in Visual Communication at IDC.
Shilpa Ranade
Shilpa Ranade has been a practicing animator for the last ten years, and also an Educator for the last six years
as well. Her primary concern during practice and teaching has been indigenous animation and through her work has
attempted to engage with images and narratives to make animation, which while being personal were also socially and
culturally relevant.
She is also involved in researching and writing on animation. Animation and Children’s book illustration are among
the type of work she undertakes. Currently Shilpa is teaching animation at postgraduate level at IIT Bombay.
Raja Mohanty
Raja Mohanty has written and illustrated ten books, many of them made by his own hand; from adaptations of
Chekhov stories to "silly tales" for children. He teaches courses in design and visual arts at IDC, IIT Bombay
and is involved in several projects on Indian art and cultural traditions.
More on: http://www.goldenbough.org/candela/candela.html