Pankaja Sethi

My blogs

Gender	Female
Industry	Arts
Occupation	Designer & Researcher
Location	Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Introduction	Pankaja Sethi’s textile journey began in the pursuit of exploring weaves and the vivid material cultures. The language beyond the visual patterns stimulated her to experiment textile materials with weavers and Adivasi in Odisha. Connecting threads with her native state, whilst working with Dongria Kondh and Santhal Adivasi women, she experienced the deeper meaning of humans’ relation with the nature, how the visual language of material culture narrates intangible reflection of nature. Her design collection interprets contemporary weaves, sharing her personal journey and experiences. She is studied Textile Designing from NIFT, Delhi and Social Anthropology from SOAS, University of London. On basis of projects for weavers she was selected for ‘the first ‘Ewha Global Empowerment Program’ at Ewha Womans University, Seoul among the Asian feminist leaders. Her credential includes award from Nehru Trust for Indian Collections at the V&A Museum on Kotpad textiles, Tata Fellowship NFSC- on Dongria Kondh. Pankaja is the visionary and founder of Kala aur Katha Design & Research studio- a trust that supports weavers, women artisans and Adivasi people through her design interventions.
Interests	Designing, sketching, Weaving Traveling, Cultural studies, pottery, Handcrafted textiles, dance, music