Interior design and the act of creating space is deeply connected to the crafts that make them.

On international craft day, 15th October 2020 IIID is organizing a webinar to discuss possibilities and opportunities that the world of crafts offer, and the impact that it can have on creating a distinctly Indian design identity.

IIID will also be launching the project ‘craftinteriors’ which will lead to a publication highlighting the collaborative projects between designers and craftspersons, in collaboration with MAPIN publishers.

The day will be marked by a panel discussion on Perspectives of Crafting Interiors followed by the IDK Quiz.

We are pleased to inform you about Institute of Indian Interior Designers' new Quizzing initiative - 𝗜𝗗𝗞, in association with Ethos. IIID IDK is a specially curated Quiz which will take place in four stages. The first stage – 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗺𝘀 online prelims has concluded.

Join us on 15th October for the next Round as a Virtual Quiz where the participants will answer 25 Questions Live with Quiz master Gita Balakrishnan.


View the recordings

Panelists: Jaya Jaitly

Networks and Artisan Communities

Jaya Jaitly has worked closely with India’s craftspersons to sustain traditional craft livelihoods and preserve India’s cultural heritage, since 1967 and has travelled widely both in India and abroad for her work. After guiding Design and Marketing at Gurjari for the Gujarat Govt for 11 years she founded the Dastkari Haat Samiti, a national association of craftspeople in 1986. Jaya Jaitly created Dilli Haat, a permanent and now iconic crafts marketplace in Delhi in 1994. She works to link crafts persons to a variety of markets through innovative strategies like creating artistic crafts maps and organising over 15 international workshops with foreign artisans and Indian counterparts to further diplomacy and India’s soft power. She headed a major project with Google Arts & Culture titled Crafted in India (G.co/craftedinindia) to present the largest online exposition of craft stories online in the world. This was launched in October 2019 with Google and the Ministry of Tourism. She has served on many advisory and policy-making bodies and brings to all her public work important experiences and perceptions acquired from three decades in active politics and four decades in craft.

Sangeeta Shroff

Education for a Common Ground

Prof. Sangita Shroff heads the Department of Design at the Nirma University, Ahmedabad. She is an alumna of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (1976 batch), and has also studied design in London as an UNDP Fellow. Her primary specialisation is Visual Communication with further specialisation in Exhibition and Space Design. She has more than 35 years of experience in design education, research, training and professional design praxis. Prof. Shroff has diverse professional design work ranging across communications, branding, exhibitions, museums, furniture, interiors, architecture, fashion, accessories, textiles and the Indian craft sector. She has actively worked with industry, central and state governments, UN bodies, NGOs, and craft clusters at the grass-root level. She has been actively involved with design education in India and has been a visiting faculty member at her alma mater and other design and architecture schools. Significant contribution has been in the research and development of curricula for various disciplines. She has been actively teaching several courses and providing leadership and direction to design programs and institutions. Her portfolio has also included a faculty development programme.

Ankur Choksi

Making Crafts Happen in Spaces

As Design Principal of Studio Lotus, Ankur adds over 19 years of in-depth experience to the practice. He founded Studio Lotus in 2002 along with Ambrish Arora & Sidhartha Talwar. A Graduate in Design from the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad, Ankur trained and worked as a Graphic and Exhibition Designer, exploring multiple media at various design firms at the early stages of his career, before moving to Interior and Architectural Design. Ankur’s passion for stretching the conceptual possibilities of a project till its last detail is reflected in his diverse repertoire of Narrative-based Experiential Design that includes Retail and Hospitality Environments, Workspaces and Brand Experiences. Ankur has an active interest in Design for Brands and Experiences, Design Education and impacting change in Evolving Communities through Design. He has spoken at various national design forums like FOAID and has served as visiting faculty and juror at prestigious institutions including NID and CEPT in Ahmedabad and NIFT in Delhi.

Geetanjali Kasliwal

The Business of Craft and Design

Geetanjali Kasliwal is an architect reviving ancient craft and artisanal skills in her design business. A graduate of TVB School of Habitat Studies, New Delhi, Kasliwal is the founder of AnanTaya & Co founder of AKFD, an interdisciplinary lifestyle design store based in traditional craft practices. Geetanjali post-graduated in management from ISB Goldman Sachs BIMTECH in 2013. She was awarded 100 Successful Women Entrepreneurs in MSME 2020 by honorable minister Sh. Nitin Gadkari, 100 Wommanovators of India 2018 by COWE, Women Of Future 2016 by FICCI Flo amongst others. She co-founded ‘MaahiRoj’ world’s first festival centered around Sustainable practices for the earth. Geetanjali has been a Panelist, Speaker, Jury member, at prestigious national forums including CEPT, World craft council, National Crafts seminar, Bangalore Design Festival etc. She is also the founder of “MaahiRoj,” world's first festival centered around Sustainable Living. Geetanjali Kasliwal has brought her design sensibility, organisation skills and modern approach to the craft sector of the Indian economy. Her core belief is to ‘Be an agent of change with an eye on future while deeply rooted in a distinctive past'

Ayaz Basrai

Evolution to Move Together

Ayaz Basrai is Co-founder of The Busride Design Studio, a leading Architecture and Interior design firm in India. Ayaz graduated in Industrial Design, specialising in Product Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad in 2003. In 2006, he set up The Busride Design Studio with his architect brother Zameer, as an independent design studio specialising in the design and creation of built environments. With wide ranging interests in Illustration, Immersive media, Design and Research, Ayaz is constantly dabbling in the ever-expanding latitude of Design expression. More recently, Ayaz heads the studio's research arm, The Busride Lab based in Goa, which works on research and design projects in the domain of Heritage Conservation and Futures Research, at the intersection of Architecture, Technology, Design and Art. With a large visible portfolio spanning over 150 Hospitality and Culture spaces, and a wide range of work across almost all kinds of built environments, the Studio's projects are guided more by diversity and chaos rather than coherent output.

Moderated by

Ayush Kasliwal

Ayush Kasliwal, a National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad alumnus, is one of India’s leading design thinkers, practitioners and advocates for artisans. He, with his wife, Architect, Geetanjali Kasliwal, founded AKFD, focused on Furniture, Lighting and Accessory Product Design & AnanTaya to retail artisanal craft within the culture space. They live and work in Jaipur. Ayush has numerous awards to his credit, including Lexus Design Award India 2019 and 2020,the Highest employment generating enterprise in the small –medium scale enterprise by SIDBI, AD Top 100 Designers of India, the EDIDA Designer of the year 2013 award, the Interior Lifestyle Award 2015 by Messe Frankfurt, POOL Best Furniture Design Studio of India 2016, and best project for the Narendra Bhawan in 2018. The UNESCO Award of Excellence recognized his designs in 2018, 2017, 2006 and 2007. He has licensed products to MATER, a Danish ethical design house and Edition Nouveau Objet (ENO) and has also collaborated with many architects on projects and installations. He concluded the Charpai project for the Serendipity Arts festival, in Goa and design of the partner country pavilion at Ambiente 2019 - for Messe Frankfurt.

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