RESEARCH GROUPS

PRASADA

Core Group

Adam Hardy

Anna Dallapiccola

Anna L. Dallapiccola was formerly Professor of Indian Art History at the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University (Germany) and Visiting Professor at PRASADA, De Montfort University, Leicester. She is currently Honorary Professor at Edinburgh University. She took part in the Vijayanagara Research Project from 1984 until 2001. Her main areas of interest are south Indian iconography, sculpture and painting. At present she is working on a catalogue of the south Indian paintings in the collection of the British Museum.

Postal address: 4, Sydney Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 6SL
E-mail: Annadallapiccola@aol.com

Eiluned Edwards

Eiluned Edwards is Senior Research Fellow in Textiles and Dress working jointly with the Victoria and Albert Museum and the London College of Fashion. Based in the Research Department at the V&A (www.vam.ac.uk/Research), she is collaborating with the India Department and is currently developing on a book on the textiles and dress of Gujarat. This will be followed by a book on ajrakh and blockprints, to be co-authored with Ismail Mohammad Khatri, which is currently being researched.

E-mail: e.edwards@vam.ac.uk

Shikha Jain

Shikha Jain’s doctoral work at PRASADA (2002) on the Havelis of Rajasthan received an award from the Indian Institute of Architects in 2003 and has been published as a book entitled Havelis: A Living Tradition of Rajasthan (Gurgaon: Shubhi Publications, 2004). At present she is Director of DRONAH (Development and Research Organization for Nature, Arts and Heritage), Gurgaon (www.dronah.org) and Chief Editor for Context: Built, Living and Natural, a biannual refereed journal. She is also the State Co-Convener of INTACH Haryana Chapter and Visiting Faculty at Sushant School of Art and Architecture. Her most recent publication is Princely Terrain: Amber, Jaipur and Shekhawati (Ed.) (Gurgaon: Shubhi Publications, 2005).

Ajay Khare

Ajay Khare is currently Professor and head of the architecture department at Birla Institute of Technology in India. He studied architecture and conservation at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, and urban conservation at the University of York, UK. While restoring and finding new uses for historic buildings in Rajasthan, he developed an interest in the rediscovery of traditional Indian architecture and took up an academic career to continue research in this field. His research areas, in addition to Bengal Temple architecture (see below) include Rajputana and Awadh architecture and related conservation issues. He has published a Rajasthan tourism monograph Ghat Ki Guni - A Revitalisation Project, a book, Temple Architecture of Eastern India (Gurgaon: Shubhi Publications, 2005), and articles in international and Indian journals. Prof. Khare is vice-president the DRONAH, the heritage NGO, and is on the editorial board of its journal Context. He is currently working on a book entitled Architecture of Ayodhya- A Truly Secular Tradition.

Ismail Mohammad Khatri

Since the Gujarat earthquake of 2001, Dr Khatri has played a leading role in the economic regeneration of Kachchh district, working in collaboration with NGOs, state agencies and the Asian Development Bank. His focus now is to develop his block-printing business in the village of Ajrakhpur, Kachchh district, Gujarat. He is aiming to achieve 100% production with natural dye stuffs and is expanding the range of dye plants traditionally used in Kachchh. He is presently co-researcher with Eiluned Edwards on a project to document the use of natural dyes in India that is funded by the British Aacdemy.

E-mail: dismail2006@yahoo.co.in

Zahra Hassan

Dr Zahra Hassan is a painter, with several years of experience in Mughal, Persian & Indian miniature painting and drawing, children's book illustration, Pattern design and curriculum research & development at undergraduate and postgraduate level. She has a BA in Fine Arts from the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore Pakistan (1991), and MA in from the Royal College of Art, London (1993, passed with distinction), followed by a PhD from The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture, London (1997). After her PhD, she joined the National College of Arts, Lahore Pakistan, as a Research Fellow in Fine Arts Postgraduate Study Programme.

Since 1993 Zahra has taught at graduate and postgraduate level both in UK & Pakistan. She has also conducted regular workshops on traditional & contemporary miniature painting/drawing for children, young adults & adults, at venues such as Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the Birmingham Museum. She has given numerous illustrated talks and seminars and has been actively involved in developing the Visual Arts curriculum at NCA. She has been awarded Professor Emeritus (Harvard University, USA) Annemarrie Schimmel Scholarship, The Al-Baraka Trust Award, and The Prince of Wales's Award, for her MA (distinction) and PhD studies respectively, and was declared the best artist of the year at the Royal College of Art degree show. Zahra has exhibited internationally and her works are included in major private collections including that of HRH the Prince of Wales.