Team

Founder Director

Kamya Ramachandran is an architect by education and public space designer by practice, Kamya’s work has had a keen focus on community engaged design through workshops and events. She is a design educator as well as a program and curriculum designer. www.kamyaramachandran.com

Founder & Advisor

Archana Prasad is an artist from Bangalore, India. She works at the intersection of art, technology and urban community. Her process is steeped in design and research methodologies. As a creative entrepreneur, Archana is the Founder of Jaaga.in & Dara.network. www.archanaprasad.com

Community Engagement Lead

Karthika is a media artist and storyteller working at the intersection of art and technology. She has an MA in Digital Direction from the Royal College of Art, London. By interweaving the tactile with the virtual to tell stories, she seeks to blur the boundaries between the real and the imagined. Exploring the act of storytelling in an embodied manner is at present, the core of her investigation.

Portfolio

Curatorial Lead

Jones is an independent writer and curator. His research interests revolve around transcendentalism in the visual arts, cross-cultural identities and their relationship to contemporary culture. He has written for STIRworld.

Visual Communications Lead

Rujuta is a product designer with a passion for working with natural materials. During her time at Srishti Institute, she was able to explore mediums like Photography, film making and exhibition curation, in addition to topics like product design and business design. This multidisciplinary approach helps her be creative and innovative in problem solving.

Portfolio

Flyover Country: Project Lead

Swathi is an Architect and designer. She’s also a Macrame Artist and trained Playback theatre artist. She believes in inclusion and diversity, and art and design as a means to make spaces inclusive for diverse communities. She strongly advocates for gender equality within and beyond the design realm.

Founder Director

Kamya Ramachandran is an architect by education and public space designer by practice, Kamya’s work has had a keen focus on community engaged design through workshops and events. She is a design educator as well as a program and curriculum designer. www.kamyaramachandran.com

Creative Tech Lead & Primer Mentor

Hasan expresses himself through technology, using it as a brush to paint his ideas. He teaches for the joy of sharing knowledge. Hasan facilitates learning in an interactive way for curious, creative minds. www.curiouswala.com

Community Engagement Lead

Karthika is a media artist and storyteller working at the intersection of art and technology. By interweaving the tactile with the virtual to tell stories, she seeks to blur the boundaries between the real and the imagined. Exploring the act of storytelling in an embodied manner is at present, the core of her investigation. www.karthikasakthivel.com

Flyover Country: Project Lead

Swathi is an Architect and designer. She’s also a Macrame Artist and trained Playback theatre artist. She believes in inclusion and diversity, and art and design as a means to make spaces inclusive for diverse communities. She strongly advocates for gender equality within and beyond the design realm.

Supporting Members

Founder & Advisor

Archana Prasad is an artist from Bangalore, India. She works at the intersection of art, technology and urban community. Her process is steeped in design and research methodologies. As a creative entrepreneur, Archana is the Founder of Jaaga.in & Dara.network. www.archanaprasad.com

Digital & Project Lead

Manan offers experience in collaboration, participatory planning and love to experiment with different ideas. He is always enthusiastic to learn and look for opportunities to participate in collaborative platforms. www.goyalmanan.com

Program Support

Navya Sah works in the realms of filmmaking, performance, sound and writing. Her work studies emotional responses by creating conflicting art. She enjoys simplicity, slowness and detailed observation-making. www.navyasah.com

Program Support

Jones is an independent writer and curator. His research interests revolve around transcendentalism in the visual arts, cross-cultural identities and their relationship to contemporary culture. He has written for STIRworld.

Founder

Archana Prasad is an artist from Bangalore, India. She works at the intersection of art, technology and urban community. Her process is steeped in design and research methodologies. As a creative entrepreneur, Archana is the Founder of Jaaga.in & Dara.network. www.archanaprasad.com

Technical Facilitator

Hasan expresses himself through technology, using it as a brush to paint his ideas. He teaches for the joy of sharing knowledge. Hasan facilitates learning in an interactive way for curious, creative minds. www.curiouswala.com

Supporting Members

Program Coordinator

Navya Sah works in the realms of filmmaking, performance, sound and writing. Her work studies emotional responses by creating conflicting art. She enjoys simplicity, slowness and detailed observation-making. www.navyasah.com

Founder

Kamya Ramachandran is an architect by education and public space designer by practice, Kamya’s work has had a keen focus on community engaged design through workshops and events. She is a design educator as well as a program and curriculum designer. www.kamyaramachandran.com

Program Coordinator

Manan offers experience in collaboration, participatory planning and love to experiment with different ideas. He is always enthusiastic to learn and look for opportunities to participate, in collaborative platforms. www.goyalmanan.com

Intercultural Facilitator

Stephanie Turner is a social practitioner based in the UK. She brings people together and experience community. She facilitates groups to learn, reflect, create and collaborate together.
www.sonorityturner.co.uk

Archana Prasad

Founder

Archana is the Founder Director of Jaaga.in, a Chevening Fellow of the UK’s Clore Leadership Program and an Art Think South Asia Fellow. The Times of India selected her as a future cultural leader of Bangalore and Time Out featured her as a prime contributor to the city’s cultural landscape. www.archanaprasad.com >>

Bhavana Rao

Artistic Production Lead

Bhavana Rao is the founder of Umber Architecture, a Bangalore based firm that focuses on sustainability and context-driven design. She previously co-founded Slice of Life, an architectural and design firm, and worked on Good Earth Malhar Footprints, which won the Futurac Green Leadership award in 2015. She focuses on bringing a sense of community, warmth and intimacy to all her projects.She is passionate about art and travel, and a recent trip to the Venice Biennale was a driving force behind her involvement in this unique festival.

Meena Vari

ACADEMIC ADVISOR

Meena is Shriti’s Dean of the School of Media, Arts and Sciences (SMAS), Dean of Contemporary Arts and Curatorial Practice and Coordinator for the Center for Experimental Media Arts (CEMA). As a curator, her practice is predominantly rooted in Visual and Performance Art.  She is a Chevening-Clore Fellow for the Clore – Creative Leadership in the Arts and a Fulbright Scholar for Arts Management. Meena is currently engaged in collaborative projects where she combines elements of artistic practice, academic training for graduate students of art and design, with a strong focus on new artistic practices that combine experimentation, imagination and development in technology and media.

Kamya Ramachandran

Founder

Kamya is the Director of Jaaga DNA and her expertise lies in engaging with people to make thriving public spaces. She has a background in research, architecture and urban design with varied international experience in working intensely with communities to develop meaningful space-making strategies. Kamya holds a Masters in Urban Planning from Berkeley.
www.kamyaramachandran.com

Sean Blagsvedt

Tech Advisor

Sean Blagsvedt is the Founder of Babajob, India’s largest digital job marketplace for the aspiring labor, with over 8.5 million users and acquired by Quikr in 2017.  Previously, Sean was the 3rd founding member of Microsoft Research India and worked as a White House intern with President Clinton’s Internet Policy Czar, Ira Magaziner. Sean is a  TED Fellow, GES 2016 Entrepreneur, Unreasonable Goals Entrepreneur  and recipient of the Namma Bengaluru award for Best Foreign Resident.  He holds degrees in Computer Science and Public Policy from Brown University.

Swathi Krishna Sharan

PR & Documentation Lead

Swati Krishna Sharan is a media professional with 18 years of experience in television production and filmmaking. She has helmed projects for international companies like National Geographic, BBC UK, BBC worldwide, Channel 4, France 2, TV Tokyo and NDTV. Now based in Bangalore, she works as a Filmaker/Photographer and is currently engaged in telling stories that explore the connection between people, spaces and memories through her photography project, ‘Sacred Spaces’.