AnthropoTech: The role of Technology in Understanding Art, Anthropology and History in the Age of Man

Arshiya Lokhandwala is an art historian, curator and founder of Lakeeren Art Gallery (1995–2003) in Mumbai, India. She completed her BA and MA in Sociology in 1986 and 1991 respectively. She is the recipient of the Charles Wallace India Trust award in 2001 for an MA in Creative Curating at Goldsmiths College, London. She was a participant at the Documenta 11 Education program in Kassel in 2002, under the artistic curator Okwui Enwezor. She is also a curatorial committee member of the Arts Pension Trust. Lokhandwala curated Rites/Rights/Rewrites: Women’s Video Art, which traveled to Cornell University, Duke University, and Rutgers University from 2003–06. She is currently a PhD candidate in the History of Art department at Cornell University, under Salah Hassan, and writes on the globalization of art, feminism, performance art and new media.

Sumant Rao is a Professor, Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay. With 26 years professional and teaching experience in animation, special effects and communication design, his work spans commercials, corporate films, short films, film titles, feature films (both live action and animated), book design & illustration, demonstrations, training, workshops and teaching animation and special effects.. An Aerospace Engineer, a Communications Designer and Founder Director of Animagic Special Effects, he is currently a Professor in IDC, IIT Bombay. One of his many areas of interest is making information on India’s rich cultural heritage available to all. ‘Revisiting Ajanta’ is one such project where he explored appropriate design interventions for the Ajanta Caves. He is currently working on the creation of a Virtual Experiential Museum on Ajanta in collaboration with the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai. Notable Projects include: Short and Feature Films like Raju & I (National Award for Best Animation Film, & many other international awards), Hey Ram (National Award for Best Special Effects). Eklavya and Hey Ram were India’s entries for the Oscars.

Mini Menon is the Co-Founder and Editor of Live History India , a first of its kind digital platform focussed on creating and putting out globally benchmarked, multi-media content on Indian history and cultural legacy. Since launch, Live History India has reached over 100 million people across across India and the world. It has also brought together over 150 historians and experts on its platform. An award winning journalist and author, Mini has reported on the changing face of politics and business in India for the last 18 years Her last assignment was as Executive Editor of Bloomberg TV India. In 2013 Mini’s first book, ‘Riding the Wave’ was published by HarperCollins. Mini has been awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence, as a young achiever and in 2009 she was adjudged the Best Business News Anchor by the Indian Broadcasting Federation. A History student from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University, Mini has also been a Chevening.

Murali Ranganathan researches the nineteenth century with a special focus on Bombay/Mumbai and western India. His current areas of interest include Bombay print history and culture, photography, newspapers and periodicals, business history, and public performance. His publications include Govind Narayan's Mumbai: an urban biography from 1863 (Anthem Press, 2008), a translation of the iconic Marathi urban biography Mumbaiche Varnan, supplemented by a biography of Govind Narayan, biographical sketches of Mumbai men and organizations of the nineteenth century, and notes. He has edited and introduced two books connected with the urban history of western India: Collected works of J V Naik: reform and renaissance in nineteenth century Maharashtra (Asiatic Society of Mumbai, 2016) and J R B Jeejeebhoy’s Bombay Vignettes: explorations in the history of Bombay (Asiatic Society of Mumbai, 2018).