Threadbare - the people and politics behind our clothes by Anita Ratnam Anita’s talk will take us through the chequered history of cloth making in India. She will explore the encounter of handwoven, handspun cloth with ‘modern’ textile manufacturing and the deindustrialization that followed. The talk will speak about the past, the present and the future of hand spun, hand dyed, hand woven, vegetable dyed cloth and its links to our economics, politics, culture and ecology.  About Anita Ratnam  Anita is the founder and Executive Director of Samvada - an organisation she established in 1992 to educate and empowers disadvantaged youth with a vision of social justice. Samvada runs 6 youth Resource centres in different parts of Karnataka. In 2007 she founded Baduku College that focuses on increasing inclusion and social accountability of socially critical professions. Since 2016, she has been a partner at Anekataa – a firm that helps corporations build inclusive workspaces. She is also a Visiting Faculty at the Azim Premji University where she teaches a course on Gender and Programme design, and a course on Women & Work. Anita has taught and written on a range of issues related to youth, gender justice, social inclusion, traditional occupations and globalisation. Anita’s love for crafts and especially for handlooms is evident in her work. In 1999 she lead a team that created “Threadbare” an exhibition on the people, processes and politics behind clothes. In 2002 she organised a visioning workshop for young leaders from crafts communities. In 2009 she addressed an International Careers Conference on the theme of Traditional Occupations in a Modern World. This lead to a series of publications by Anita in International journals on Career Guidance Journals and in books on Career Guidance on the theme of crafts as careers. Her writings have challenged the narrow understanding of careers, as well as highlighted the importance of crafts in the past, present and future of human society and economy. YarnSpeak: Preeti Singhal - 6:00 to 6:15 PM Preeti Singhal started out as a banker but ended up giving Indian textiles a new lease of life with Gulmohar. She will be sharing her passion for fabric, craft and all things yarn through an interactive session!   Do send us a message on 9380126806 to block a seat and then Gpay the same number once we have confirmed it – to Book. We have limited seats and face masks will be compulsory. We would prefer if you are double vaccinated (we will not check) but hope that all who attend will be responsible.