IICD Craft Awards 2022
Genesis
IICD instituted the annual ‘Craft Awards’ in the year 2020, to commemorate the 25 year of its existence and in the memory of people who were the leaders to initiate craft & design development and education in India. This is to pay tribute to the stalwarts of the country who have done exemplary work in the craft sector and name the awards after them.
Craft Award Winners 2022
M.P. Ranjan Award for contribution in ‘Craft Design Education’
Prakash Naran Siju
Kutchi Carpet,
Craft – Carpet Weaving,
Kutch, Gujarat
Special Mention –
Radha Kumari
Sikki Artist, Bihar
Pupul Jayakar Award for ‘Craft Entrepreneurship’
Mr. Ramji Maheshwari
TanaBana,
Weaving Craft,
Kutch, Gujarat
Kripal Singh Shekhawat Award for ‘Innovation in Craft Design’
Aditya Kumar Shrimali
Apparel and Textile Designer,
Gandhinagar, Gujarat
Suresh Neotia Award for ‘New Generation Crafts Person’
Abdul Vahab Haiderali Khatri
Mufassal Craft – Bandhani,
Kutch, Gujarat
Jury Members
Smt. Jaya Jaitly
Jaya Jaitly has supported the development of Indian arts and crafts cottage industries. In 1986, she founded the Dastkari Haat Samiti (Arts and Crafts Market) to enable rural artisans of traditional Indian crafts to gain confidence in the marketplace through innovative strategies. Her work brought together artisans from India, Pakistan and Vietnam, and was later adopted by the Indian government as an instrument of diplomacy to connect crafts practitioners globally, encouraging skill-sharing and capacity building.
She has authored and published several books including Crafts of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, The Craft Traditions of India, Viswakarma's Children (a socio-economic study of craftspeople), and Crafting Nature. A collection of her writings on politics, social issues, women, human rights and foreign affairs was compiled into a book titled Podium on the Pavement. She has also contributed to the development of school curricula by assisting NCERT in creating a syllabus on India’s craft heritage. Additionally, she edits and publishes a monthly political journal titled The Other Side, focused on democratic socialist thought and action. Deeply involved in heritage and cultural advocacy, she has received recognition and awards from organizations such as PHD Chamber and FICCI for her contributions to arts, culture, and leadership.
Jatin Bhatt
Professor Jatin Bhatt, a 1977 graduate from NID, is an independent Design educator and practitioner with experience in design consultancy, entrepreneurship, and academic leadership. He has been founding Chair of Accessory Design Department NIFT and founding Dean of School of Design, Ambedkar University Delhi from where he superannuated in 2020 as Pro Vice Chancellor. He has designed consumer goods, machine tools, watches, packaging, engineering products and exhibitions. He has conceived and led initiatives in industry clusters of toys, jewellery, carpets, wool, footwear, leather goods and Handicrafts in capacity building, entrepreneurship, technology development, market strategies, design & product development, artisans’ rehabilitation and training.
He has been involved with CLRI Chennai, Pearl Academy, CDI Kashmir, NID, NIFT, SPA New Delhi, MIT Pune, Khyati School of Design Ahmedabad, IICD and IIGJ Jaipur, Department of Design & Innovation JMI University, Ecole Intuit Lab and IIDC IIT Delhi. He has been on the Academic Council of the JK Lakshmipat University Jaipur from 2019 to 2022. He is currently on the Board of Studies MIT Pune, Faculty Committee JMI, Boards of JS Institute of Design New Delhi, Dastkar as well as Governing Council of Sangraha VCD Foundation Lucknow.
B B Paul
Former Director, Weavers’ Service Centre, office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India. Mr. Paul was born a weaver’s family in West Bengal. He studied Handloom Technology and Project Planning & Infrastructure Management and attended professional HRD Training programmes in IIT New Delhi &NIRD.He has taught in Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, then joined in Weavers’ Service Centre as Designer and retired in 2015 as Zonal Director after serving for 40 years.Post-retirement, he has worked as Consultant in Ministry of Textiles for three years. He is presently working as a consultant in Taneira, a Titan Group of Companies.
During his tenure, he has implemented various schemes and cluster development programmes. He was instrumental to formulate India Handloom Brand and revived cultivation of coloured cotton and documented tribal textiles in Tripura.
He was deputed to Nepal as Handloom Expert and to Cambodia for establishment of Asian Textile Museum under Mekong Ganga Co-operation. He has visited USA for promotion of handlooms and has extended services to SAARC for craft documentation and related workshops in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. He is also associated with many NGOs, institutions related with promotion of handlooms. Mr. Paul is a recipient of National Award in 1991.
Shri Siva Devireddy
Siva Devireddy is the Founder and CEO of GoCoop. Prior to this, he was associated with the United Nations ESCAP as part of the Digital Economy Task Force. He has also worked with Accenture, gaining extensive experience in technology and consulting.
He holds a Master’s degree from Arizona State University and has been actively involved in leveraging digital platforms to empower traditional artisans and promote sustainable livelihoods.
Sudhir Kasliwal
Sudhir Kasliwal is an accomplished Jeweler, photographer and collector. Born in Jaipur, he belongs to the sixth generation of Royal Jewelers. His love for photography began as a hobby and soon transformed into a consuming passion. Rajasthan’s spellbinding life, landscapes and heritage have been a deep and long lasting inspiration for him. Mr.Kasliwal’s photography has received international recognition and they have appeared regularly in leading journals all over the world.
