
Dr. Toolika Gupta, Director, Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, is a researcher and teacher in the field of crafts and design. With a Ph.D. in History of Arts (Dress and Textiles) from Glasgow University, UK; In Textiles and Clothing from MSc Lady Irwin College, New Delhi, India; Her collaboration as a PhD fellow with the Textile Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark, and a short course in ‘Archaeological Textiles’ from the University of Oxford, UK, she has gained experience as a researcher in this field. She started her career as a designer in 1996, entering the field of education as a faculty member at NIFT, New Delhi. She spent her time at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, who understood the need for design education and its future in India. She did NIFT in 2011, While visiting faculty at NID and Pearl Academy, she resigned from NIFT for further research. Realizing the need to promote indigenous research and bring it closer to interested people, she founded TCRC, the Center for Textiles and Clothing Research, New Delhi, in 2016, along with many like-minded people. She is also currently the Secretary of TCRC. Her thoughts and articles on her blog can be read at http://www.costumetextile-sandfashion.blogspot.com. She has written and co-edited research papers and books, some of her research papers can be read at https://glasgow.academia.e-du/ ToolikaGupta. She has also written articles for newspapers, magazines on sahapedia https://www.sahapedia.org/ the-jamas-of-mughal-india. And for https://www.fibre2fashion.com/.

Shri Giriraj Singh Kushwaha, IAS (Retd.), Received his M.Phil in Archeology and MA in History from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh. During his distinguished career in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), he worked as the head of various departments and as the Collector and District Magistrate of several districts. In addition, he had a long innings of work in Rajasthan, the central government and the tourism department abroad, where he promoted folk arts and crafts. He has also contributed in the field of health, education, wildlife, and conservation of monuments, among other things. He has lectured at various institutes and universities in various disciplines such as society and administration, health, education, promotion and marketing of tourist destinations, tourism of Rajasthan, planning and development of arts and architecture, etc. Indian Institute of Management (IIM-K) Kolkata, Azim Premji University is Bengaluru, Aligarh Muslim University, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management Gwalior, etc. He has also been part of several delegations of various countries of the Government of India and the United Nations. Organizations. Mr. Kushwaha is an avid photographer and lover of wildlife. Reading and traveling are his other passions.