INVENTOR CHALLENGE

The Inventor Challenge, a Colors Infinity Original, was one-of-a-kind competitive reality show which gave Indian Inventors the opportunity to see their ideas come to life. The show documented the conversion of the idea to a prototype — from an idea on paper to a full-blown product prototype. As one of the lead mentor, guided 10 inventors who made it to the finals.

EVENTS

MAKER FAIRES:

Maker Faire Bengaluru 2017

Maker Faire is a gathering of fascinating, curious people who enjoy learning and who love sharing what they can do. From engineers to artists to scientists to crafters, Maker Faire is a venue for these “makers” to show hobbies, experiments, projects. We call it the Greatest Show (& Tell) on Earth – a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness.

As Co-Founder/ Director of the first public laboratory/ makerspace/ FabLab in southern India- Workbench Projects, I have immensely contributed as the principal curator of two-mini and two international maker faires in India in collaboration with state departments of Karnataka and Telangana independently for the two international editions.

CONFERENCES

arts education conference 2009

During my time as Programme Executive- Arts Education at India Foundation for the Arts, I had the opportunity to present Kali-Kalisu project and its development through the six years (2009-2015) in regional, national and international conferences. The very first conference in 2009 was against the backdrop of a momentous decade in humanity’s understanding of the arts, education, and arts education. The landmark, in terms of time, location and context, was the passage through Indian parliament of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill in August, 2009. The Bill marked a watershed in the history of governance in India. In passing the Bill, the Indian government had expressed a commitment to guaranteeing education for all. It was wide in its sweep as the guarantee of rural employment, which had been in effect since 2005. However, while the Right to Education guaranteed a right to schooling, there remained the larger issue of the right to a quality education. The first conference articulated the meaning and role of the arts in an understanding of a broad-based quality education. In the context of this rights-based legislation, such an articulation engaged with the objective of the widest possible reach for arts education across all sections of society and thereby the sessions were compartmentalised into Context, Concepts, and Practices.

ARTS EDUCATION CONFERENCE-2010

2010 GI-MMB/IFA Conference enabled the voices from Kali-Kalisu, and beyond, to debate the important links among the fields of arts and culture, development and education — debates that Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan (GI/MMB), Bangalore, and India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) initiatives had set in motion. Ideas of development can differ widely in a globalizing world. In examining these links, the Conference allowed for the articulation of multiple visions of Arts Education. It also brought to light Arts Education interventions on the ground, especially those that had creatively forged and harnessed partnerships among stakeholders.

The 2010 GI-MMB/IFA Conference recognised and celebrated synergies with worldwide thinking about Arts Education priorities. It remained faithful to the momentum of Kali-Kalisu, which derived from Arts Education initiatives at grassroots levels in school contexts. It catalysed conversations with broader Indian and international Arts Education activist communities that engaged in the continual dialogue of global and local realities, ideas, theories and practices.

2010 GI-MMB/IFA Conference aimed at:
1. Articulating multiple understandings of Arts Education and arts in education
2. Consolidating Arts Education as a priority within development discourse
3. Encouraging cooperation and partnerships that widen the sphere of Arts Education advocacy

ARTS EDUCATION CONFERENCE 2011

Third International Conference, “The Artist and Education: Diversity and Justice,” drew out the possibilities and
challenges emerging from the Third Developmental Goal and NCERT’s directive by initiating a conversation between the
parallel worlds of researchers, practitioners and teachers. It called upon the artist to consider “the varied role [they] can and do play in society, including that of social critic, researcher, inventor, poet, provocateur, philosopher, visionary and activist.” Framed by the Right to Education Act’s (2009) stated mandate, “[T]o ensure that the child belonging to weaker section and the child belonging to disadvantaged group are not discriminated against,” the conference investigated a whole range of artistic practices and pedagogical strategies in both formal and non-formal educational institutions that addressed the following key areas:

1. EnGendering equality in the classroom- From retention of female students to reclamation of gender identity
2. from cultural relativism to shared values
3. Voices from the margins
4. The art of disability in the classroom

ARTS EDUCATION regional CONFERENCES

In 2011 it was a felt need to conduct regional conferences under two umbrellas – expansion of the knowledge and resource base; and outreach to the target constituencies. These two rubrics existed in a symbiotic relationship, and programme activities assumed more relevance as the research learnings and the activities fed into each other. Providing autonomy to regional artists, educators and teachers I was able to facilitate three regional conferences; in Mysore, Bidar and Dharwad.