Sustainability NOW: Arts for Wildlife Conservation

Ravi Agarwal has an inter-disciplinary practice as an artist, environmental campaigner, writer and curator. His work has been shown widely, including at dOCUMENTA XI, the Biennials of Havana (2019) Yinchuan (2018), Kochi (2016), Sharjah (2013) etc. He has curated large public art projects such as the Yamuna-Elbe, twin city project (2011), and Embrace our Rivers, an Indo- European project (2018), and was the photography curator for the Serendipity Arts Festival 2018 and 2019. He is the curator for the forthcoming exhibition New Natures to be held in Mumbai by the Goethe Institute, in January 2022. Ravi is also the founder director of the environmental NGO Toxics Link, and recipient of the UN-IFCS Award for Chemical Safety and the Ashoka Fellowship. Toxics Link has played a pioneering role in issues relating to environment and health at various levels, including helping formulate polices and regulations across waste streams, chemical safety and to establish best practice models on the ground.

Arunkumar H. G completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Fine Arts (Sculpture) at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. In 2014 he set up the Centre for Knowledge and Environment (www.saracentre.org) in the Western Ghats region of Karnataka, India. Arunkumar's solo shows include: Con-struction at Gallery Espace New Delhi, In-site, Aicon Gallery New York, 2018; Seed of Reckoning Mumbai Art Room, Mumbai 2012; Tract, Nature Morte, New Delhi, 2010; Feed, Nature Morte, New Delhi, Sakshi Gallery Mumbai 2006. He has also participated in numerous group exhibitions in India and abroad, most importantly: Kochi Muzris Biennale, 2018; BAT at Bhubaneswar, 2018; 'Embrace Our Rivers' Goethe-Institute / Max Mueller Bhavan Chennai, 2018; The artist has additionally participated in several national and international artists’ residencies.

Priya Thuvasser an independent documentary filmmaker and television producer based in New Delhi, Priya’s body of work has focused on women and gender, her stories windows into myriad experiences of the body, the environment, the community, mapped from a gender and feminist perspective. Priya has been directing, producing and editing documentary films & television programmes for New Delhi Television, Fox Traveller, CNA, National Human Rights Commission of India, Films Division of India, Public Service Broadcasting Trust & Khabar Lahariya for over a decade now. She has been Co-Director of the IAWRT Asian Women's Film Festival, New Delhi, from 2019-2020 and is currently a board member for IAWRT India chapter 2020-2022. She is also recognized as a Canon Cinema EOS Platinum Associate. Currently, she is working as an executive Producer at Chambal Media, India's First Rural Media Network. Priya has a Master’s in Mass Communication from the Anwar Jamal Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre, at Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi.

Malaika Vaz is a National Geographic Explorer, TV presenter and wildlife filmmaker. Since founding Untamed Planet in 2017, Malaika has presented, directed and produced films on endangered species, illegal wildlife trafficking and the human-wildlife interface for global media networks like National Geographic, Al Jazeera, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. She is passionate about creating policy impact in the field of wildlife conservation, and works along with organisations like WildAid and the Wildlife Trust of India on investigating and combating wildlife trafficking. Malaika’s recent projects as a Producer, Director and Presenter involve Al Jazeera’s Wild Recovery, Living with Predators on National Geographic Wild across 100 countries and the BBC’s acclaimed series Planet Defenders. Malaika is an advocate for The Earthshot Prize - the world’s biggest environmental prize founded by The Royal Foundation and aimed at incentivising conservation action.

Anahita Uberoi is an actor, director and creative consultant who has worked extensively in New York, Mumbai and Germany over the last 33 years. She has worked as an assistant director in New York on fifteen productions, both On Broadway as well as Off Broadway in Mumbai, her performance in Agnes Of God was nominated for the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Award. Some of her other plays include the Dining Room, Kabaret, Seascape with Sharks and Dancer, Bombay Black, Going Solo 1 and Going Solo 2, Chaos Theory , Bombay Talkies and the long running Class of 84. She has directed Gaa Re Maa. Bombay Black, Mothers Have 9 Lives, Going Solo 1 , Going Solo 2 among others. Also acted in films such as Kapoor and Sons, Everybody Says I’m Fine, Lets Talk, White Noise, Jism, Paap and Holiday. Her short film, Afterglow, which she acted in has won the national award as well as several international awards. She has conducted theatre workshops in Mumbai and other cities across India. She directs all of Sanctuary Nature Foundation's events and has been a creative consultant for Book My Show. During the pandemic, she has curated online performances and workshops and has been part of several panels as well as given solo talks on the performing arts, the environment and creativity.