THE RESIDENCY
For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.
~ Jacques-Yves Cousteau ~
Artist residencies are one of the most powerful avenues of knowledge exchange, creating an artistic think-tank, showcasing diverse cultures, and attempting evidenced-based policy changes through arts.
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India has a lack of multidisciplinary artist residencies, and most of the existing residencies are dedicated to singular form of art like dance, writing, visual arts, or other singular art forms. India is yet to have an ecological artist residency, and it provides a unique opportunity to bring artists to the climate change and ecological change discourse.
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The magnificent socio-cultural scape of Chattrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) provides for an abundance of natural, historical, ecological, social, artistic, historic, and gastronomical inspiration. It is a city that has as many 144 heritage sites, most of them being UNESCO heritage sites, need attention, protection, and preservation. An ecological artist residency can bring the much-needed attention of sustainable development and preservation of UNESCO heritage sites to the city of Aurangabad.
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Aurangabad brings together one of the most unique potpourris of art forms and cultures in India. The region is believed to have been witness to the ancient indigenous rule of the ‘Satavahanas’ making it a historic hub of socio-cultural activities since the first century AD. It is also documented that the silken sarees of Paithan have been traded since then. The fabric is one of the most coveted ones in Indian history till date.
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Much later in history, the Mughals shifting their capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, and bringing in hundreds of craftsmen and artisans to create the Himroo shawls which fetch a rich and warm Persian flavour to the region. Kaghzipura is one of the places where the first Indian handmade paper was produced for a long time. Aurangabad is home to the ancient human, architectural magnificence of the Ajanta and Ellora caves which are crucially protected UNESCO world heritage sites. The first Buddhist cave monuments at Ajanta date from the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. These 34 monasteries and temples, extending over more than 2 km, were dug side by side in the wall of a high basalt cliff, not far from Aurangabad, in Maharashtra.
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Ellora, with its uninterrupted sequence of 34 monasteries and temples dates from A.D. 600 to 1000, bringing the civilization of ancient India to life. Not only is the Ellora complex a unique artistic creation and a technological exploit but, with its sanctuaries devoted to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, it illustrates the spirit of diversity that is one of the most beautiful characteristics of India.
CURATORIAL TEAM
Bringing together likeminded people from diverse walks of life but with the common vision of enriching the art-scape of Ch. Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad).
Poet
Madhu Raghavendra
Madhu Raghavendra is an Indian poet, curator, and social development practitioner. He has authored four books of poetry, Make Me Some Love to Eat, Stick No Bills, Being Non-essential, and Going Home. He is the founder of Poetry Couture, a movement that has created free spaces for poetry in many cities of India, including the North East India region. He uses performance poetry as a tool to advocate human and environmental rights. He collaborates with global artists to create cross disciplinary poetry experiences. His poems have been set to classical music and contemporary dance in India, the United States, Finland, and Australia. He regularly conducted performance poetry workshops for young adults, and has read at many educational institutions and literary festivals globally.
His works have been featured in many literary journals and translated into many languages. He has participated in the 2022 PEN Emergency World Voices Congress of Writers at the United Nations Headquarters, New York. Madhu was a resident poet at the 2022 Spring International Writing Program, The University of Iowa. He curates the DLF Gurugram Poetry Festival and the literary sessions for the Arunachal Arts and Literary Festival. He resides in North East India, and divides his time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Social Entrepreneur
Ashwin Deshmukh
Ashwin is a public policy professional with 16 years of experience in leading largescale projects in the telecom, banking and development sectors. As the Senior Vice President, Advisory vertical in Piramal Swasthya, he has led several strategic partnerships with various central government ministries, NITI Aayog, and multilateral and international organisations. He led the health initiatives of the Aspirational District Programme in close partnership with NITI Aayog. His multi-sectoral experience and entrepreneurial abilities played a crucial role in the co-creation of Anamaya: The Tribal Health Collaborative. Ashwin is an engineer by training and is currently pursuing an MSc in Global Health Policy from the prestigious London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Ashwin is an avid reader, pursues organic farming and loves long drives.
Actor
Kundan Roy
Kundan Roy has done his Masters in Computer Management. Before quitting the corporate job he has worked with Software & Pharma Company as Marketing executive. Now he is following his passion & working as Actor. Last 10 years he has done Hindi plays, Film, webseries & advertisements. To name few of them Film like Talvar, Raees, Roohi, Anuraag(Marathi) Web-series like Code M, Karmyudh, 24 season 2, Jatara season 2, Verdict, High, Sunflower, Advertisements like Samsung, Phonepe, Axis Bank, Mahindra Tractor, Krak Jack biscuit, Nurture retail app, Tata AIA insurance, MRF tyres etc. He is associated with UDAAN as a core team member since 2005 and is now a working trustee at Udaan, an NGO working towards empowering children with Type 1 diabetes.
Communication Designer
Vrishali Kekre Deshmukh
Founder and Director at Therefore Design Pvt. Ltd., International award winning, multi-disciplinary design house based out of Pune that works in the areas of Communication Design, Industrial Design and Design Research. Operational since the last 14 years and now with a team of 35 designers, Therefore Design has worked with a range of companies across diverse industries and added value through design. Vrishali heads the Marketing function at Therefore Design, along with mentoring teams on projects.
Born in a defence family, Vrishali had the privilege of living in different cities, across 5 states in India. This has helped her build a contextual view of various cultures and reflect that understanding in her design.
Vrishali’s hand-on experience of managing diverse clients such as Godrej, Future Group, Baskin Robbins, Aadaarshila, WIPRO, has seen her deliver on the varied design requirements of large conglomerates as well as small and mid-sized businesses. Her forte lies in branding, packaging, exhibition design and publication.
A regular jury panellist at NID and MIT Institute of Design, Vrishali was also a part of the committee for developing the new curriculum for Bhartiya Vidyapeeth in the capacity of an industry expert. Vrishali has also been chosen to be on the Jury of Ukrainian Design: The Very Best of 2019.
Doctor
Dr. Archana Sarda
Dr. Archana Sarda is a Diabetologist at Sarda Centre for Diabetes and Self Care, Aurangabad and has been practicing for over 25 years. She founded an NGO named Udaan with a vision to bring love and hope to every child with diabetes. Udaan started in early 2000 by adopting a single child who couldn't afford the insulin she needed to stay alive. The family has grown since then and over the last 20+ years, we found that a diagnosis of Type 1 could also mean being pulled out of school, and an end of all hope. She went from village to village, finding children from low resource settings with Type 1 diabetes and became a family of over 1300 families.
Designer Entreprenuer
Mehr Seth
Mehr works with textiles and crafts, with a particular focus on handlooms and sustainable textile practices. She has a strong interest in documenting narratives, techniques, current practices, and lifestyles associated with craft and their practitioners.
She cofounded Earthwhile - a brand aiming to promote everyday wear made with handwoven natural fibers, mainly indigenous cotton varieties from Kutch (Guj) , Akola and Wardha (MH)