Arora, Radhika is an English graduate from Delhi University. She is a freelance writer and journalist.

Aid To Artisans (ATA), a USA based non-profit organization offers practical assistance to artisan groups worldwide, working in partnerships to foster economic development, improved livelihoods, cultural vitality and community well-being. Through collaboration in product development, business skills training and linkages to new markets, ATA provides sustainable economic and social benefits for craftspeople in an environmentally sensitive and culturally respectful manner. ATA's uniqueness lies in its multi-faceted and holistic approach to artisan enterprise development, which is designed to provide sustainable economic and social benefits to artisans and their communities. ATA works with artisans across the globe and currently has 20 projects across four continents. ATA benefits 20-25,000 artisans per year through projects and grants (with 2/3 being women), and in FY07 leveraged more than $15 million in new sales for artisan businesses.

Balasubramaniam, A. is a Product Designer based in Delhi. He works with both the industrial and the crafts sector providing design intervention for products for better appeal and marketability. A graduate of NID, Ahmedabad, he has worked with artisans in design development projects in UP, Punjab, Assam, Tamilnadu, and Nagaland. He was also the product designer for the India-Pakistan design workshop: Dostkari. He is visiting faculty at major design institutes in Delhi. He writes regularly on the subject of Design in Economic Times, Times of India and other design publications.

Balasubramanian, Shanthi, a postgraduate from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand. She has worked with a number of development organizations including Craft Revival Trust where she was Coordinator - Research and Documentation. She traveled and studied the crafts of Sri Lanka, her writings can be viewed in the South Asia section.

Ballyn, John studied Industrial Design at the Central School of Art and Design in London. In the 1960s and early 1970s he worked as an industrial designer for major consumer electronic brands and public transport vehicles in the UK. Since 1973 he has worked providing product design, production technology, packaging and management processes to crafts producers and SMEs in more than 40 countries around the world. He has contributed to training manuals about product design and market development for cultural enterprises. His clients include agencies EU, UN (UNIDO, ILO, ITC), UK and Swiss governments.

Bapna, Shilpa has completed a Bachelors degree in Commerce and a Masters degree in Management from the Mumbai University. Currently she heads the Buying and Merchandising for a Category at a leading home textile company. Previously, she has worked with various artisans throughout India and looks forward to working with artisans in other countries. She has been researching art and craft for the last six years and has recently started writing on these areas of interest.

Basu, Dr. Kaushik is a Professor of Economics, the C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Director of the Program on Comparative Economic Development at Cornell University. He is a development economist whose current research focuses on political economy, knowledge and rationality and labor markets in developing countries.

Dr. Basu is a member of the advisory committee on child labor statistics for the International Labour Organization (ILO). He also served as a member of the Expert Group on Development Issues for the Government of Sweden, Ministry of Foreign Affairs during 1997-2003. Prior to this, Dr. Basu was the Founder (1992) and Executive Director (1992-1996) of the Centre for Development Economics at the Delhi School of Economics in Delhi.

He is the editor of Social Choice and Welfare and has been an associate editor for the Journal of Economic Perspectives and the Journal of Development Economics, along with editorial positions with a number of other journals and publications. From 1994-2003, he served as an associate editor of the World Bank Economic Review. Dr. Basu' most recent publications are India's Emerging Economy: Performance and Prospects in the 1990s and Beyond and Collected Theoretical Papers in Economics, 2 Vols. He currently writes a monthly column for BBC News Online.

Bhargava, Gayatri have completed her course with the Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, Jaipur. She specialized in 2-D materials.

Bharti, Rashmi has been working with issues related to rural development for the past 15 years. Avani the voluntary organisation she co-founded works with the creation of livelihood opportunities through appropriate technology, traditional craft and farm-based activities. Avani has worked with local capacity building for management of all these enterprises. In the past ten years of their work they have set up, among others, a community managed rural solar electrification program; rural electronic and mechanical workshop that manufactures solar water heaters as well as solar driers; a profitable business with handmade, high quality textiles in wool and silk dyed with natural dyes; cultivation of wild silks like eri and muga; collection and cultivation of natural dyes.

Bhasin, Jyoti is presently Senior Faculty in the Centre for Retail, Footwear Design and Development Institute, Noida, An M.Sc. (Home Science), with specialization in Textiles and Clothing, from Lady Irwin College, Delhi University with UGC NET qualification she has had teaching experience with JIMS, as a Faculty and Course- in- charge. Her interests lie in studying Indian traditional textiles, and it’s blending with modern trends. She has published articles and presented paper at conferences.

Bhasin, Anuradha is an independent consultant working on the areas of trade and development issues.

Bhasin, Sonali is a student of Barnard University, New York She has assisted with craft demonstrations organized by CRT. Her long term goal is to teach.

Bhatt, Ashwini is a Bharatanatyam dancer currently working with Padmini Chettur in Chennai. She also works with children and is interested in music and literature. If we think of craft as skill and dance also as perfection of skill and both steeped in traditional knowledge systems Ashwini is rather concerned with the resistance amongst many practitioners and also consumers of dance to any form of change or experimentation and also the rather disturbing form of commercialisation being adopted for the knowledge to survive. Craft too suffers from this. Ashwini has written a personal piece for our July issue exploring these murky depths.

Bhatt, Jatin, Founder Director of Edusign Consulting Pvt. Ltd.is a 1977 graduate of National Institute of Design (NID) with a specialization in Industrial Design.

His new initiative Edusign Consulting (www.edusign.in) is focused on education, training, design & product development from macro strategies to finer details; from process to products. Offering a six months program ‘Curating the Commerce of Crafts’, in collaboration with Dastkar, designed to develop compassionate and informed business leadership based on inclusive practices of partnering with artisan communities. The core of the program is to appreciate and build on unique identities of crafts as a differentiating business strategy.

Prof. Bhatt conceived the Accessory Design Department at NIFT as its first indigenous program. The program was pioneering in its industry-academic interface and expanded to five unique specializations in different NIFT centers. He was the Dept. Chair from 1991 to early 2008.

With diverse professional design experience in consumer goods, packaging, machine tools, ITES, handicrafts, automobiles, education, training, cluster development and exhibitions he has been involved with various institutions and organizations including IICD Jaipur, Japan Design Foundation, World Gold council, CDI Kashmir, CRC Khamir, Kutch, ICG Jaipur, Pearl Academy of Fashion, New Delhi, UNDP and more in the capacities of founding chair, visiting faculty, external examiner, expert, consultant, advisor, mentor and on the governing bodies.

Prof. Bhatt has been a Judge on many national & international competitions and has presented papers as keynote speaker, design expert & design educationist at many forums in India and abroad.

Chandra, Aarti has done her graduation in English from Delhi University followed by a diploma in Public Relations and Advertising. She has worked as a Manager (Promotions) for a well-known cosmetic group. Presently she freelances as a copy editor of educational books for a reputed publishing house.

Chatterjee, Ashoke former Executive Director of the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad from 1975-85 retired as a Distinguished Fellow in 2001. Ashoke Chatterjee is on the board of directors of Aid to Artisans, USA among several other organizations. His vast interests include water management and environmental issues. He has spearheaded the movement to find a solution to the crisis faced by the weavers of Varanasi.

Duttagupta, Ishani is a journalist with The Economic Times where she specialises in immigration and the Indian diaspora.

Dhar, Parul Pandya is Assistant Professor, Department of History of Art, National Museum Institute (NMI). She did her PHD from the NMI in Toranas in Indian Architecture: with comparative reference to Southeast Asia. She has been awarded grants and scholarships from Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at Victoria and Albert Museum, London, for research on torana fragments in the V & A Museum, 2004 and Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) by University Grants Commission. She has also taught, lectured and presented papers widely. Parul is a trained Bharatnatyam exponent and a polyglot.

Edwards, Eiluned is Victoria and Albert Museum/London College of Fashion Joint Senior Research Fellow in Textiles and Dress. She has been researching the traditions of textiles and dress in India since 1991 and has worked extensively with the farming and herding communities of the Kachchh district, in Gujarat, documenting styles of dress and embroidery. She has also worked with artisans in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh and is presently working on a book on the traditions of textiles and dress in Gujarat.

Farooqui, Chinar works as a researcher in the areas of craft-based textiles, with interests that cover ethnographic studies, textile construction and development. She is a Post-graduate of textiles from NID and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from MSU Baroda. She has previously worked with and for handloom weavers in Chanderi, for a design cum development project sponsored by UNIDO. She presently works in Delhi and undertakes entrepreneurial design and research projects.

Flury, Tracy is a Peruvian photographer, now living in Spain. She studied photography in Lima- Perú and then went on to do a specialization at Speos Photography School in Paris. Interested in many aspects of photography, she has worked in photojournalism, portraiture and brand photography.

Frater, Judy, Ashoka Fellow, conceived and founded the Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya, the first design school for traditional artisans of crafts and textiles.

Since1993 when she set up the Kala Raksha Trust in Bhuj, Kutch she has coordinated comprehensive development projects, including the establishment of the local museum.

Judy Frater has designed and curated numerous exhibitions, and traveling shows at venues including The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Glasgow School of Art, among others. She has collected and documented textiles and other artifacts for the museum collections in the USA and India.

She is a prolific and highly regarded researcher, writer and photographer and has to her credit numerous publications.

She has been the recipient of awards and fellowships including the Ashoka Foundation Fellowship, The Costume Society of America's Millia Davenport award, the Ford Foundation Fellowship and the Fulbright Fellowship

George, Ligi, BSc. from Nagpur University has been working with Craft Revival Trust since April 2004.

Ghosh, Arghya is a product designer trained at IICD, Jaipur. He has worked with artisans and NGOs in Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Raghurajpur etc. He Participated in “IFAT Design competition” on behalf of Sasha. He currently works in New Delhi.

Gordhandas, Kishor N. is an enthusiast and avid collector of Playing Cards. He has written on the subject and has been a first prize recipient in the Visual Arts department for his two part article on the story of Ganjifa; he has delivered illustrated talks at museums and craft centers; displayed his collection; demonstrated the method of playing the Moghul Ganjifa game; and participated in several workshops. He has been a member of the International Playing Cards Society, London. since1981. He also collects Hand Fans and Puzzles.

Gupta, Manisha is an M.Sc- Maths , PGD-Computers with a long standing passion for the arts & crafts has done extensive research on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues related to traditional arts & crafts- creative and cultural industries. She conducted a study and created a strategy for protection of Traditional Knowledge & IPRs of artisans for an international development organization. She has written for reputed development magazines & leading national dailies and presented papers at national & international conferences.

Gupta, Parul is a product designer qualified from the Indian Institute of Crafts & Design, Jaipur. Her area of specialization is dealing with hard materials like wood, metal, stone, bamboo, cane, glass and ceramics. In the past she has done assignments in Jaipur, Delhi, Orissa and North Eastern India. She is presently working in New Delhi.

Gupta, Dr. Charu Smita is presently Deputy Director, Museum Collection, National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum, New Delhi. She has been associated with their Research and Documentation Scheme since 1976.

Holding a doctorate degree in Museology from Calcutta University and a Master’s degree in Social Anthropology from Delhi University Dr Gupta has been documenting and writing regularly on different aspects of Indian arts and crafts. She also works in the area of development of prototype handicraft designs suitable to contemporary market trends. As an academic visitor to Victoria and Albert Museum, London, she studied textile collections at the Museum with specific reference to embroidery.

Hitkari, S.S. (d:2008) was a well-known figure on the Indian Craft scene. A retired commissioner of Income Tax he had one of the largest and most extensive collection of Phulkaris and Sanjhi paper cuts in India. He not only contributed towards preserving this heritage but lectured and wrote extensively on the subject. His efforts, for the revival of Phulkari embroidery and Sanjhi, have seen a resurgence in these craft and opened livelihood opportunities for a large numbers. An expert on the crafts of Punjab his interest and erudition extended to other fields also.

Innovarte is a consultancy specialising in Design and Marketing of handicrafts. By collaborating with NGOs, small handicraft companies and associations, it provides artisans with technical assistance and training alongwith finding them viable markets within which to sell their art. Based in Madrid, Spain, Innovarte undertakes projects in South and Central America, the Caribbean, North of Africa and, now, it is beginning in India.

Jain, Meghna is a student at the Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, Jaipur.

Jaitly, Jaya has worked for over four decades with craftspeople. Her interests are wide ranging and she has been the Assistant General Secretary of the Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat, a major trade union. She joined active politics and the Janata Party in 1984. She has been the Secretary of the Janata Dal, General Secretary (1994) and President (2001) of the Samata Party. She moved away from party-bound politics in 2003.

She is the founder and Chairperson of Dastkari Haat Samiti, an organization for crafts people and among her many activities she conceptualized the concept of Dilli Haat, a unique craft space in New Delhi. She regularly organizes workshops to upgrade craft skills and products; is a prolific writer and has several publications including five books on handicrafts to her credit.

Johar, Navtej is a Bharatanatyam exponent and a choreographer, whose work freely traverses between the traditional and the avant-garde. Johar has performed at prestigious venues all over the world and has worked extensively with prominent international companies and choreographers. He has collaborated with composers, as well as installation artists and has also acted in films directed by Deepa Mehta and Sabiha Sumar.

A recipient of the Times of India Fellowship, 1995, and the Charles Wallace Fellowship, 1999, Johar was the performance director of the Commonwealth Parade, for the Queen's Golden Jubilee Celebrations, at London, in June 2002.

A long time student and practitioner of yoga, he has been a yoga teacher since 1985 and runs his own studio, Studio Abhyas, at New Delhi.

Navtej's long time interest in urban design has led him, in the last few years, to work actively with students, schools and young adults to relook at our city and to be involved with its improvement.

Johnson, Patty is a Toronto, Canada based designer who has been cited for synthesising craft and mass production in her design. Her work has been included in ID Magazine’s Annual Design Review Awards, the International Design Yearbook and Newsweek’s ‘Design Dozen 2006’. Her most recent project, “North South Project” was awarded an ICFF Editors Award at New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair in May 2006. Johnson is an Assistant Professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Canada. She holds an M.A. in Design from Central St. Martins College of Art and Design, London, UK.

Jongeward, Carolyn is an independent researcher and consultant on artisan issues and trade support.

Kak, Dr. Krishen K has a master's degree (1987) and a doctorate (1990) in cultural anthropology. He joined the IAS in 1968, retired voluntarily in 1999, and now - through the NGO GAYATRI - reads, writes, edits, and teaches in the broad field of crafts, education, ethics and culture.

Kalia, Anjali is a design graduate from NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), New Delhi. Her graduate collection in 1995 was awarded the CMAI (Clothing Manufacturers Association of India) Award for the Most Creative Collection; she is also a recipient of the Smirnoff Fashion Awards, 1994.

Subsequently Anjali worked for Walter Johnson India Pvt. Ltd, followed by a stint of 5 yrs with Rohit Bal. She was also the founder designer for Maya, a label catering to the contemporary Indian women - her fashion shows for this label received critical acclaim.

Currently Anjali is working for her own design label ‘Divine Design’ Besides being a consultant to various NGO’s she has conducted a series of Design Development Workshops for traditional artisans to make their products suitable for contemporary markets.

Anjali is actively involved with the Tuesday Collective to give voice to the weavers. She is also a trustee of the Pranam Foundation.

Kanitkar, Dr. Ajit is Program Officer, Development Finance and Economic Security, Ford Foundation, New Delhi. He has a Ph. D from Pune University (Entrepreneurial response to Liberalization Policies: A case of Dairy Industry in India). He has worked with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and as a Development Consultant in Pune and Delhi. Ajit has published three books on Women Entrepreneurs, Grassroots entrepreneurship and management of cooperatives in India. Ajit is interested in Ensuring access to financial services, promoting appropriate institutional and enterprise models that result in maximum returns to primary producers and change processes in large public systems.

Kasturi, Poonam Bir, an industrial designer by training, is founder faculty of the Srishti School of Art Design and Technology, Banglore. She founded Industree Crafts Pvt Ltd along with two other partners. She is also the founder-director of PlaynSpeak, a company that designs and manufactures new paradigm products. Poonam has a number of papers on design and craft issues to her credit. During her career she has designed and conducted numerous interactive workshops on issues of design, creativity and craftsmanship.

Kaul, Ekta Khokhar a graduate of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, is currently engaged pursuing her Masters in Textile Design at the School of Textile and Design, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland. She was awarded the Scottish International Scholarship, 2005/06 as well as Charles Wallace Wallace Trust India Scholarship, 2005/06. For her Masters project she is engaged in developing synergies between technology with textile traditions. Prior to embarking upon the Masters programme, Ekta had a successful stint at the industry, working with some of India’s most revered designers.

Kaul, Mayank Mansingh studied textile design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. His interest in Khadi and the future of hand-technologies led him to be a consultant to the Planning Commission on the taskforce on Cultural and Creative Industries. He recently co-curated Monsoon Fashion, a celebration of the Indian rain through fashion at the British Council, and is involved at the moment in the launch of his signature line of clothing and home-furnishings in handlooms. His interests range from theatre, the creative and cultural economy, appropriate technologies to new paradigms of business and art. He is 23, and lives in New Delhi.

Khanna, Dinesh worked variously as a calculator salesman, Garments quality checker and a busboy in an upper Eastside Bar in New York in his early years. This rather confused career path was due to his early teenage belief that if he followed in his photographer father's footsteps he would be yet another victim of the Indian caste system. This rebellion further led him to a 12 year long career as in advertising where he finally achieved 'burn-out' at the ripe old age of 33 and left him with a burning desire to become a professional photographer. In 1990 he finally succumbed to what can probably be blamed on genetic- coding - the desire to make images - both as means of making a living and as a form of creative expression. The last 15 years have seen him involved in creating images for Advertising, Editorial and Corporate clients and a large body of personal work, which has been exhibited in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Banglore, London, Edinburgh, San Francisco and New York - And 2 pictorial books - 'Bazar' and 'Living Faith' were a result of an over a decade of traveling through the traditional markets and spiritual centres of India.

Lodaya, Arvind product designer, thinker, communicator, educationist, has worked in areas that include corporate product design, social communication, brand building and environment education. He is currently teaching at Srishti School Art and Design, Bangalore.

Majumdar, Minhazz, writer and curator has been working with folk art forms in India for the last six years, promoting up-coming talents and enabling exciting new works to be created. She is also co-founder The Bamboo Store, Delhi's first store dedicated to bamboo products.

Malhotra, Pradeep is an Executive Trustee with ‘Dharini’ a Kumaon based NGO interested in promoting hill arts and developing creative initiative that are small in scale yet provide practical alternatives in the face of current environmental and economic challenges. Also member of the environmental NGO Kalpavriksh and Editor with SOS Children’s Village of India.

McComb, Jessie F., a Fulbright Scholar, was in New Delhi for a year studying the lost wax casting process of the Bastar region in Chhattisgarh and the surrounding areas. Back in America, she is going to contribute to our website in a new series Letter from America. Ms. McComb received a BA in both Art History and Physics in 2003 from Hamilton College, in Clinton, New York. In addition to her interests in Indian folk and tribal crafts, she has worked extensively with Contemporary Indian Art.

Mehra, Priya Ravish is a freelance textile artist. Apart from teaching and design intervention she is actively involved in research and currently documenting the darning tradition in India.

Mohan, Ranjana has done her Masters in Economics and since then delved in many fields including banking, IT, education, reflexology and the crafts.

Mohan, Reena is a freelance documentary filmmaker and film editor. She has recently completed a film on "Sujni" for PSBT, which was telecast on Doordarshan. Reena has won the Presidents National Award for her documentary film on Kamla Bai.

Mohsini, Mira is a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. She is conducting research on crafts communities in India, with particular focus on the impact of globalisation on the livelihoods of crafts-people and their knowledge systems. She is currently based in Delhi.

Mukherjee, Atish, Director, Eco-N-Viron Enterprise, a Natural Dye producing unit based in West Bengal. He has developed an innovative system to extract natural dyes and subsequently preserve them in a dense liquid form; to obtain shade variations by the use of dyeing and mordanting baths without creating pollution; and developed a method to achieve a light and wash fastness.

Mukherjee, Arup, Research and Development Officer, Visva Bharati University, Sriniketan, Bholpur.

Murray, Kevin is an independent writer and curator whose exhibitions and texts can be found at www.kitezh.com and on www.craftunbound.net He was the former Director of Craft Victoria, a Melbourne based organization.

Muthukumaar, G. K. is a Senior Associate and head of the Chennai Office of Anand and Anand Advocates.

His areas of practice includes, IP litigation before the Madras High Court and The Intellectual Property Appellate Board pertaining to Trademarks, Patents, Designs, Copyright and Geographical Indications. Trademark prosecution before the Trademark Offices including handling of oppositions and arguing cases during hearings. Copyright prosecution for registration of Copyright before the Copyright Registry.

He has extensively handled a wide variety of Geographical Indication registrations pertaining to agricultural and industrial goods, handicrafts and foodstuffs of which many are prominent GIs of the country. He has also undertaken criminal enforcement actions for IP infringement.

Nagpaul, Satya Rai has graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India. He has specialized in cinematography.

Nanda, Gulshan has dedicated her life to the service of crafts and craft persons. She has had a long and successful career, which has involved working with Central Cottage Industries from its formative years to the setting up of the Tribes shop in New Delhi. She is at present an executive committee member of the Delhi Crafts Council and consults on crafts and artisans with various organizations.

Narayan, Sarika has been associated with the crafts sector for the past ten years. She currently works for a retail consultancy.

Nath, Deeksha is an Art Curator based in Delhi.

Padmaja, K, has studied at NIFT, New Delhi and her work now ranges from research, documentation and design development to fashion and textiles. Her last assignment included showcasing a range of clothes for women created out of MUGA and Eri silks of Assam at a special Assam textiles evening held at and organized by Taj Mahal Mumbai. She ahs participated in many international symposia such as " International Symposium on Natural Dyes" under the aegis of UNESCO and the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) and "Sui Dhaga: Crossing Borders through Needle and Thread" in collaboration with the India International Centre and Crafts Council of India. Currently, she resides in Kolkata, where she has her own studio and works closely with crafts people.

Meyer, Kurt W. and Meyer, Pamela D., writers and researchers on the art and culture of the Tharu people of Nepal.

Paris, Betty de learnt the use of natural dyes in Japan where she specialised in blue dyeing under the great Japanese Master SHINDO Hiroyuki, recognized as Master Artist and Dyer. In 2002 she crated a major exhibition on natural dye at the National Museum of Natural History, Paris. The Betty de Paris natural indigo vat is listed as a “Rare and Endangered Art to be Preserved” by the Ministry of Culture in France. She was commissioned by Cité des Matières, Lillebonne, France to set up a garden of dye yielding and fibre plants. She has been elected to the Union of French Artists Betty de Paris has held numerous workshops and exhibitions all over the world.

Paswan, Raju, Community Coordinator, Sarprakshak Project. He has been working closely with the snake charmers.

Pathak, Anamika, Curator, Decorative Arts and Textiles, National Museum, New Delhi

Prajapati, Uma is the Founder of Upasana Design Studio in Auroville. Her interests lie in designing for social development and she was the initiator for the Tsunamika project that brought into sharp focus the plight of the victims of the Tsunami. A graduate in Economics with a Diploma in Fashion Design from NIFT. New Delhi she has worked on a wide range of projects including Small steps, a project for the development of the Varanasi Weavers and design work for many NGO. She is Visiting Faculty at several Design Institutes.

Prakash, Aditi is an industrial designer who works with traditional craftspeople in India. Aditi's product design skills, acquired at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, combined with her undergraduate training in the fine arts bring a unique aesthetic to the crafts sector. She regularly provides design input and market awareness to various artisan communities in India through product diversification and design workshops. She has also worked with craftspeople from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Prasad, Ritika, a British Chevening (Radhakrishnan) scholar from Oxford University has extended her interest in history to encompass reading and writing on crafts and artisans. She is currently perusing a doctorate degree on Historiography.

Radhakrishna, Sabita, a free lance writer contributes regularly to national newspapers and journals. An Executive Committee member of the Crafts Council of India, having previously held positions as Vice Chairperson and Joint Secretary she also serves in two Educational Trusts for children. She has been guest faculty at NIFT, Chennai and was the first to introduce the boutique concept there; at present she is a senior consultant at The Craft and Research Centre, Kalakshetra. Sabita has authored three cookbooks; 'Aharam' on traditional Tamil cuisine won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award. Her book on Indian textiles will be published shortly.

Associated with National Television her script for Doordarshan 'Beyond the Storm' won the Transtel West German Award for the best documentary in 1986. She has been on the Central Board of Film Censors. Her play on the travails of the weaver 'Song of the Loom' has premiered in Chennai.

Rao, Geetha is Honorary Secretary of the Crafts Council of Karnataka and the head of Arts Umbrella an organization that provides professional management and consulting services in the arts and cultural sectors. . She writes regularly on craft related subjects for the Deccan Herald and other publications and has done the research and text for the Crafts Map of Karnataka, part of the Dastakari Haat Samiti series. Geetha Rao works on the revival and promotion of the crafts of Karnataka - Mysore Chada Ganjifa, Bhuta Masks, Kinhal Woodcraft and others. She conceived and curated the exhibition "Pakshi - Birds in Crafts of South India" in collaboration with India's leading jeweler, Ganjam and organized "Kamala - Festival of Indian Crafts" organized by the Crafts Council of India.

Ratnakar, Pooja is an economics graduate who then went on to study design at NIFT, N. Delhi. She and her sister Payal Nath have been active in the craft clusters of Orissa and West Bengal, through their NGO Kadam and their marketing platform Art Bunker. Their efforts have been to connect traditional village and tribal crafts to everyday use in urban homes and offices. Their brand ‘Potli’ creates products that educate children on Indian art and craft traditions.

Pooja writes for various magazines about her travel and experiences with people, places and art/craft.

Sadr, Ayeshe is a design student at Srishti, Bangalore. She plans on becoming a Textile Designer and is on a year long sabbatical during which she has worked with Craft Council of India and Craft Revival Trust.

Sanyal, Amba studied at the College of Art (New Delhi) and the Beaux Arts (France). She coordinated the documentation project 'Saris of India' under the Development Commission (Handlooms) and co-authored 'Saris of India - Madhya Pradesh'. Since the 60s Amba has worked with rural communities in craft development and design intervention as well as art education with village school children. At present she works as a costume designer for film and theatre and teaches costume design. She works extensively with school and college students running theatre and art appreciation workshops.

Sethi, Pankaja, holds a postgraduate diploma in Textile Design and Development from National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) New Delhi.. Having worked with the export market she started work with crafts in 2005 with Sujuni embroiderers from Bihar, Pattachitra artists and Ikat weavers from Orissa on capacity building, marketing consultancy and social design development. In Orissa she conducts design development programmes and documents the crafts and weaves - including that of the Dongria Kondhs and Rayagada, Pattachitra artists, appliqué crafts, Kotpad weavers, hand reeled tussar and Bomkai weaves. Her design studio is located in Bhubaneswar.

Sethi, Ritu, Chairperson, Craft Revival Trust

Sethi, Yasmin is currently in the third year of her BA in Product Design at Central Saint Martins. She was a science and maths student who chose to study design because of her strong commitment towards creating aesthetic products that functioned efficiently.

She has designed a number of objects including lighting, furniture, a range of lamps, vases, watches, Vending machines, and solar lights.

She has conducted various craft workshops organised by CRT, including jewellery making, natural dying and paper making.

Shah, Ruhee, Assistant Professor, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kolkatta, has hands on experience in industry as a designer. Keenly interested in surface techniques on textiles she started learning embroidery at the age of eight. Her interests have deepened and she has now mastered over 100 stitches ranging from Indian to international ones.

As one of the final contestants for the Lakme Fashion House, she studied Fashion at NIFT. She is currently researching traditional needle crafts and working on a book on Kantha.

Shah, Ambereen Ali is pursuing her PhD. from JNU focusing on the Israel Palestine conflict and the role of NGO's in the peace building process.

Singh, Govind is doing his PhD "Urban Ecology of Delhi" at the School of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi

Singh, Priyanka studied Applied Arts from Chandigarh College of Art and is at present pursuing Graphic design at NID, Ahmedabad. Her interests include photography, music, movies and dogs!

Smith, Clare Brett, Founder and Former President of Aid to Artisans (ATA), a USA-based international nonprofit.

Under her leadership from 1986 onwards ATA and its partners delivered critical product development, training and marketing services to 65,000 artisans in 41 countries and an additional 60,000 artisans received small grants. Seventy-two percent of these artisans were women. During this period, ATA’s sales efforts leveraged nearly $230 million in retail commerce, a testament to her ability to help reach artisans who were completely unfamiliar with export. She also helped secure ATA’s first major project in Honduras from 1984-1986, which eventually generated $15 million in U.S. sales. Prior to the project, no artisan businesses existed in the country.

Ms Smith was a member of the First Delegation of Artists and Craftsmen to the People’s Republic of China in 1977, and represented Haiti at the World Crafts Council meeting in Kyoto in 1978. Clare has received numerous awards, including a 2005 Decorative Accessories Industry Achievement Award. She has been asked to present her work at worldwide leadership conferences including the Leadership Conference on Conservancy & Development in the Yunnan Province, China in 1999 and the Maker and Meaning: Craft and Society international seminar in Madras, India. In 2002, she was the juror for UNESCO Crafts Prize for Latin American and Caribbean artisans at the International Craft & Design Fair in Mexico City. In 2006, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Clark University. She is also a renowned photographer and teacher of photography. Her photos hang from museum walls and studio center exhibits across the country.

Smith, Nima-Poovaya is Director of Alchemy, a cultural enterprise company whose central concern is the development of ideas into creative product with a particular interest in the exploration of the confluences of different cultures and disciplines. She is Director of Connect: People, Place and Imagination - Cartwright Hall Art Gallery Collections. Nima is also Project Director of Pillars of Light, a year-long, region-wide programme of events exploring different aspects of Muslim cultures and heritage.

Nima was Head of Special Projects at the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, Bradford until April 2004. Previously, as Director of Arts at Yorkshire Arts (now Arts Council, Yorkshire) she project directed the extremely successful Year of the Artist campaign for Yorkshire and the Humber region in 2000 - 01. As Senior Keeper, International Arts at Bradford Art Galleries and Museums from 1986 -1997 she curated a number of nationally acclaimed historical and contemporary exhibitions relating to themes as varied as Women Artists of Pakistan and 101 Saris from India. She also set up the Transcultural Gallery, which houses the permanent international collections of Cartwright Hall. She has written and lectured extensively on the arts.

Sobel, Anna is originally from New York City. She received her BA in English from Wesleyan University where she first became involved in puppetry after witnessing an inspiring performance by Vermont's activist troupe Bread and Puppet Theatre. From 2001-2003 she worked for an educational children's theatre based in Washington, D.C. called Blue Sky Puppet Theatre. She came to India in September 2003 on a nine-month Fulbright grant to study Indian puppetry and its use as a tool for effecting social change.

Sood, Anubha, a graduate in Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics (2002) in currently working as a Manager-Market Access Initiatives with AIACA-All India Artisans and Crafts Workers Association. In the past she has worked with Action Aid, OXFAM, Dastkar and URMUL Trust. She specializes in various aspects of craft related income generation programme-identification of crafts, craft communities, production planning, quality control, linking with the appropriate markets and self sustenance of the programme. She has conducted extensive training programs with women and artisans in various aspects of income generation. She has also helped set up a crafts shop in Lucknow called SANATKADA.

Southwell, Dr. Mirjam works and writes on design education in the United Kingdom.

Sunny and Meeta are a couple working towards providing rural communities with the means of a sustained livelihood. Sunny has worked with NGO's and projects involved in afforestation, drought relief, craft development and community participation in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He worked for a year in Haryana coordinating a rural centre for organic farming, informal learning, raising women awareness while editing and writing booklets and magazines which tried to evolve practical programmes stemming from ecological indigenous visions.

Before striking out with her partner Sunny, Meeta worked with Dastkar for 4 years organising crafts groups and establishing Crafts Bazaars in different cities. For the past 12 years Sunny and Meeta have been developing ranges of natural dyes and block prints on tussar, cotton, silk, jute with an artisan family in Rajasthan. Simultaneously they have been working with artisan families making artificial jewelry out of threads and with lacquer workers. They consult for craft agencies and groups and develop craft merchandising avenues.

All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association, (AIACA) set up as a membership-based apex body for the handloom and handicraft sector seeks to represent a range of organizations to engage in policy advocacy activities. In addition AIACA is also implementing a certification program for Indian Handicrafts under the Craftmark Initiative.

The ANT a registered charitable trust set up with a mandate to work towards development in the North Eastern region of India. Based in the refinery town of Bongaigaon in lower Assam, its work is concentrated in direct intervention with village communities, a resource organisation involved in capacity building and training of other development organizations and socially committed youth.

Tiwari, Sachin Kumar is a designer educated from the Indian Institute of Crafts & Design, Jaipur. His area of specialization is three dimensional design, i.e., dealing with hard goods. In the past he has done assignments in various craft clusters around India. He is presently working in Jaipur.

Tyabji, Laila, is a designer, writer and founder member and Chairperson of DASTKAR, a Society for Crafts & Craftspeople. She has worked in the craft and development sector for over 3 decades. In 2003 she was awarded the AID TO ARTISANS Preservation of Craft Award in New York – the 2nd-ever recipient.

Laila's work with artisans includes the Chikan workers of SEWA Lucknow, Kasuti embroiderers in Karnataka, Mahubani painters and sujni quilters in Bihar, regurs in Rajasthan, and Banjara and Rabari mirror work craftswomen in Kutch and Maharashtra. One of her most rewarding projects has been the creation of new employment avenues through craft for pastoral communities displaced by the Tiger Reserve in Ranthambhore. A recent intervention has been in Kashmir, working with women victims of terrorist insurgency, using embroidery as a catalyst for social and emotional recovery.

Previous to DASTKAR, Laila Tyabji studied art in India and Japan and worked as a free-lance designer in textiles, graphics and theatre. She writes and speaks regularly on craft, design and social issues.

Uzramma, a practicing goldsmith, has been instrumental in promoting Andhra crafts, particularly Kondapally painted wooden figures, Nirmal painted wood, Etikoppakka lacquered wood and Kalahasti Kalamkari (hand-painted temple cloths). She is one of the founding trustees of the Dastkar Andhra Trust, dedicated to the support of the cotton handloom industry of India, and of the Decentralized Cotton Yarn Trust, which promotes small-scale cotton yarn production for handweaving and is currently involved in a research project to develop small-scale pre-spinning processes.

Verma, Benedicte Martin is a photographer and camerawoman. After graduating in philosophy, she studied film making for two years in Paris. She has directed four documentaries in France and India. She has lived in India since 1998. Loves Indian crafts and craftspeople.

Walikhanna, Charu is a Supreme Court Lawyer and Member of the Executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association. She is a Member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on protection of Holders of Indigenous Knowledge, Dept. of Education, Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India. Charu is a trained graphic designer from Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai and a Doctoral Scholar (Law) in intellectual property. Founder and President of Social Action Forum for Manav Adhikar (SAFMA), an NGO working in the field of promotion of human rights and protection of the rights of vulnerable and marginalized sections of society. She has authored and edited several publications.

Yadav, Aarti is a student at the Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, Jaipur.

Yagna is currently a student of M.A in Social Work, at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. She finished her schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya and completed her graduation in History from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. She has explored and built an understanding on various issues, such as women in Panchayati Raj, rural livelihoods, role of urban youth, alternative education and so on. She has previously worked with organizations such as Pravah, Kutumb, Mahila Rajsatta Aandolan, SIDH and Foundation for Ecological Security. She is currently doing a research project on the livelihood of Patua artists in Naya village. In the future she would like to explore the use of creative media and its role in social change.

Yang, Minja is the Director and Representative, UNESCO, Delhi