Mr. Bijan B. Paul

Mr Bijan B Paul served 40 years in Weavers Service Centre in various places and last held the position of Director - Weavers Service center (South Zone) . He has developed few hand looms infrastructure and colored shade card in natural dyes and Azo-free synthetic dyes. Hence, providing ease and innovations to the Artisans of India . He also held the position of Consultant with Development Commissioner for Handloom office . From last two years, Mr Paul provides his consultancy to Taneira  (Unit of Titan Company Limited). Mr Paul has written many  articles on Handlooms published in Indian textile journal.He was also presented a National Award in 1991 for his stupendous work in the field of Handloom.

Dr. Bosco Henriques

Dr. Bosco Henriques, with a doctorate in plant molecular biology, is the founder of BioDye India Pvt. Ltd., one of India’s foremost 100% natural dyeing units. BioDye’s vivid to pastel natural dyed yarns are colour fast and the hues span the entire spectrum. They are the result of Bosco’s continuous research and development spanning over a two decades. Besides offering sustainable and non-polluting dyeing, BioDye’s natural dyed fabric has other special properties such as UV-absorption, body odour suppression and mosquito-bite prevention.

Hema Shroff Patel

Hema Shroff Patel is a self-taught handicraft artist.  Her passion for textiles led her to launch Amba in 1999. Amba creates a theme based collection of textiles and lounge wear each year.  The Amba team is committed to understanding and preserving techniques of traditional Indian weaves, while pushing the boundaries to find a contemporary expression in handloom today.  Their work is brought to life by a wonderful team of weavers and block printers in Central India.  Amba has been a social enterprise for over ten years, committed to funding projects which sensitively refine and contemporize traditional weaving skills. Hema has been working in Maheshwar for over 30 years.  She served on the WomenWeave Charitable advisory board for 17 years and worked with Rehwa Society to revive their classic Maheshwari saree designs. She continues to work on social welfare projects and recently organised an eye camp for the Maheshwar weaving community.  

Prof. Jyotindra Jain

Prof. Jyotindra Jain is an Indian art and cultural historian and curator. A scholar on folk and ritual arts of India, he was the Director of the National Crafts Museum, New Delhi, Member Secretary and Professor (Cultural Archives), at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi, and also Professor at the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. His teaching and research encompass the entire breadth of folk and tribal art, Indian popular visual culture, ritual dynamics and cultural institutions of the 19th and 20th centuries. He has published a number of books on Indian folk art, including, Ganga Devi: Tradition and Expression in Mithila Painting, Other Masters: Five Contemporary Folk and Tribal Artists of India and Kalighat Painting: Images from a Changing World, and Indian Popular Culture: ‘The Conquest of the World as Picture’. He has been an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow; a Homi Bhabha Fellow; a Visiting Professor at the Centre for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University; Rudolf Arnheim-Visiting Professor at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, and was awarded the Prince Claus Award for Culture in 1998.

S.N. Damodaren

An icon of South India, Nalli has become synonymous with silk and kanchipuram sarees. Nalli was established in the year 1928 and has been a leader in the textile and retail business for over 85 years. Nalli’s success story has a fairy tale ring to it. Started as a small retail store for silk sarees in Chennai by Nalli Chinnasami Chetti, the family-run shop did steady business for thirty years after which the grandson, Nalli Kuppuswami Chetty took over. Today, Nalli’s business focus has broadened, becoming not only a leading saree-retailer, but also one of the foremost manufacturers and exporters of fabrics, apparel and home furnishings. Nalli has also forayed into Jewellery and women’s ethnic wear sector. 2015 saw the brand launch of Etnische, targeted at the discerning 18-24-year-old women. With 90 years of considerable brand equity, international presence and sari-stores across India, Nalli is poised to scale even greater heights. An iconic heritage brand steeped in tradition, Nalli upholds the core values of Trust and Quality, converting generations of new sari-owners into loyal Nalli patrons.

Pankaj Shah

With a background in commerce, Pankaj Shah has been passionately involved in the development and revitalisation of traditional crafts for over twenty years. He has worked towards making traditional crafts viable in contemporary markets while conserving cultural uniqueness and ensuring artisans recognize and take control of their craft heritage. He is the co-founder of Qasab – an initiative for revival, rebirth and reinterpretation of embroidery. Former co-founder at Khamir – an initiative set up to rebuild artisanal livelihoods and enkindle and re-position traditional crafts of Kutch. He also helped establish Shaam-e- Sarhad, a community based endogenous tourism project in Hodka, Kutch along with others.

Parwez Alam

A textile design graduate from NIFT, New Delhi, Parwez has nine years of experience working in various handloom and print clusters of India learning about different fabrics, embroideries and prints. He has worked with both mill-made and handloom fabrics that characterize his work as diverse in nature and application. Having worked for both home businesses and leading Indian fashion brands, Parwez has developed the skills & expertise to cater to different design languages and work environments. His goal is to work with sustainable textiles & production practices which lead to a balanced lifestyle.

Mallika Shah

Mallika Shah is a fashion graduate with a specialization in Textiles and an active and conscientious involvement in the development sector. She strongly believes in the indispensable mission of building India as a developed nation. One where the socio-economic standard of life is upgraded equitably.  She has traveled as part of social entrepreneurship and leadership programs to many rural areas of the country.  Before being a part of Tata Trusts, she worked in private retail sector. 

Abhishek Anand

Hailing from Silk City Bhagalpur, Bihar, with years of his creativity in designing and arts, and he is pass out from NIFT-Kolkata. He is a founder of D-HEIGHTS, which is a fashion Brand and deals with home furnishing fabric. One of the founding Member of COEXCL SERVICES PVT LTD. It’s a unique learning portal which provides online study materials and Real time tutor services. Participated in Bangalore Fashion Week, Bangkok Edition as a Designer. Served as Textile Designer with Ministry of Textile for Bhagalpur Mega Handloom cluster. He is a team organiser and is very co-operative in terms of team work and is always result oriented.

Dr. Devdas Mohanty

Devdas is a post-graduate in Economics and a PhD in Arts (tribal economy) from Sambalpur University. He has been working in the development sector since more than two decades. His area of interest includes researches in tribal studies and was involved in intensive field work among the particularly vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in Odisha. His subjects of research have varied ranging from Tribal art, religion to ethno-medicine, involving meticulous planning, collection and analysis of tribal cultural practices. Prior to joining team Antaran, he was involved in development practice devising and implementing mitigation measures to address poverty. He has long years of experience in leading resettlement and rehabilitation efforts to address vulnerabilities of tribals displaced due to industrial projects in Odisha 

Roopkatha Ghosh

A Textile Design graduate from National Institute of Fashion technology, Kolkata. Roopkatha has experience in both working and living among artisans in clusters, for a better understanding of their methods and processes. She has worked towards the development and documentation of indigenous crafts of various places like  Santiniketan,West Bengal and Tarapur,  Madhya Pradesh. Having worked in different organisations from small craft sectors to multi national export houses, she has gained a deep appreciation of artisanry and wishes to apply the knowledge she has gained from it for the betterment and upliftment of the Indian craft sector.