Meet The Team

She is a literature major and works as a research assistant at Pattani Archives, documenting and cataloguing archival material using her creative skills to design various social media posts and creatives. She has also recorded oral history interviews and co-curated Antaraal with other participants.

With a remarkable 10-year career, Arya is a specialist in the restoration, preservation, and conservation of records, maps, palm leaves, and paintings. Arya's professional path features significant contributions to esteemed institutions, including the National Archives of India, IGNC, INTACH, Delhi State Archives and her impactful role at Pattani Archives in Bhavnagar, where she excelled in conserving books and maps while playing a vital role in preserving the region's historical treasures.

Presently, Arya channels her extensive expertise into preserving manuscripts, coins, wooden and metal sculptures, paintings, and a diverse array of artefacts at the Lalbhai Dalpathbhai Museum in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Her unwavering dedication ensures the safeguarding and perpetuation of our invaluable cultural heritage.

An industrial hygienist with more than eight years of work experience in health and safety at IBM India Pvt Ltd. While on a maternity sabbatical followed by travel overseas, she got involved in translation of her great, great grandfather Sir Prabhashankar Pattani's books as part of Sir Prabhashankar Pattani Open Window Charitable Trust activities.

The project piqued her interest in the family history and legacy of Sir Pattani, the erstwhile Diwan of the princely state of Bhavnagar. Along with mothering her six-year-old she is actively restoring and reviving the archival collection of Sir Prabhashankar Pattani and family, and holds the position of Executive Director in the process of establishing the Pattani Archives.

આમ તો સૌથી અઘરું છે પોતાનો પરિચય આપવાનું. પણ અનુભવ મજાનો છે. હું ફાલ્ગુની ભટ્ટ, કર્મે ગૃહિણી, પ્રૂફરીડર અને એડિટર. ૨૦૦૩થી ૨૦૦૮ સુધી આકાશવાણીમાં કેઝ્યુઅલ અનાઉન્સર તરીકે કામ કર્યું. પછી પરિષદમાં પ્રૂફરીડિંગનો કોર્સ કર્યો. એક જાણીતા પબ્લિકેશનમાં થોડા વર્ષો જોબ કરી. અને ફ્રીલાન્સ કામ પણ ઘણું કર્યું. વાંચવાનો ખૂબ શોખ બંને પક્ષના માતા- પિતાએ વારસામાં આપ્યો છે અને આ વ્યવસાયમાં એ શોખ જળવાય અને પોષાય છે એ મારા માટે વધુ આનંદની વાત છે. પટ્ટણી આર્કાઇવ્સ સાથે જોડાવાનો અનુભવ ખરેખર સંતર્પક રહ્યો. આપણા ભવ્ય વારસા વિશે ગૌરવપૂર્ણ હકીકતો જાણવા મળી. 

Trained as a designer and historian, Ishita Shah (she/her) says their practice revolves around the idea of curating for culture (www.curatingforculture.com). In the current pandemic, Ishita has been conducting online incubation programs or shorter workshops on Constructing Personal Archives in order to discuss creative possibilities for archiving in India and the Global South.

Over the past year, Ishita collaborated with Biome Environmental Solutions, National Centre for Biological Sciences and INTACH Bengaluru, and co-curated the public engagement platform “Design-ed Dialogues'' at The Courtyard Bengaluru, with an intention to develop a wide range of public interpretation projects. Prior to these appointments, Ishita served as an educator and a coordinator to the UNESCO Chair in Culture, Habitat and Sustainable Development at Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology. Ishita was also the founding archivist and oral historian at CEPT Archives, and they worked with Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), INSITE Magazine, SPADE India Research Cell and Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC).

Ishita is the 2020 recipient of the Graham Foundation Grant for their research project on reimagining the architectural history of 20th Century India by tracing the narrative of women practitioners.

Maitreyi holds a Bachelor of Technology in IT engineering and has worked as a software engineer for three years. Her career took a significant turn when she followed her calling and got selected for a two-year Teach for India fellowship in Ahmedabad. Working with children and communities in low-income schools, she discovered her passion for education. She firmly believes in the potential of every child to excel given the right circumstances and opportunities; this conviction inspired her to delve into project-based learning pedagogy and explore experiential education. 

Over the past four years, she has designed and implemented learning expeditions for primary and middle schools and coached educators in creating enriching expeditions as a coordinator. She is an Assistant School Leader at K.G.K school, Ahmedabad working towards school transformation. She aims to create meaningful and impactful student learning experiences through progressive education. She is looking forward to contributing towards the growth of Pattani Archives in educational initiatives and creating beautiful experiences.

He is one of the leading art conservators in India. As a Conservator in Private Practice, for nearly 30 years, he has been working with a number of cultural institutions in India in various capacities. He has been involved in many projects: documentation, condition assessment, conservation & restoration, exhibition and storage of art collections of various nature and material compositions. He has worked with a number of individual and institutional collections in the country like the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts New Delhi, HEH the Nizam’s Private Collection, Hyderabad, the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, New Delhi, Tata Consultancy Services, Mumbai, Tata Central Archives, Pune, The City Palace Museum, Udaipur, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in New Delhi etc. He has also published a number of articles on many conservation related topics.

Shevang Berani holds a Master’s in History from Maharaja Krishnakumarsinghji Bhavnagar University. He's an avid reader and traveller and has a deep appreciation for old monuments and their histories, which inspired him to join the Pattani Archives as an intern in 2022. During his internship, he engaged with the community of Bhavnagar and is well-versed in the city's history. Shevang actively participated in various programs at Pattani Archives, including Antaraal and Alap, gaining valuable experience. His dedication and growing expertise led him to become a support staff member, where he volunteered in the open house program,'ઓરડાઓ પટ્ટણી પરિવારના અને વાર્તાઓ કાઠીયાવાડ' which allowed him to enhance his skills and deepen his understanding of archival work. He is now appointed as the Archives Assistant at the archives. He continues to learn, grow, and contribute to the preservation and celebration of history.

Shwetal is an alumna of the National Institute of Design (Furniture Design), Ahmedabad, the Faculty of Fine Arts, MSU (Sculpture), Baroda, and the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. She practices as a designer, artist, archivist, and educator. She was the founder and principal designer of an independent design studio, FoDoMe, which developed and marketed copper and glass products. Today, FoDoMe is a lab for creative explorations on various natural and man-made materials, as well as a research space. In 2016, she made the film "Ramji Thakkar Bhimji Thakkar," which explores the microhistory of Navratri in Baroda, Gujarat. 

Over the last 20 years, she has led various furniture and craft design and development projects. She has been involved in various capacities in art and design pedagogy for K12, design colleges, and corporate training programs, facilitating courses, and designing curriculums and spaces. She is an Assistant Professor at the School of Design and Innovation, RV University. Shwetal’s work is multidisciplinary and at the intersection of nature and the human mind, where tangibles like materials and processes intermingle with cultures and anthropology.

He is a content researcher and archivist and has a decade long experience in addressing domains like publishing, data-reproduction, museums, archives, documentation and digitization. An active Gandhian Researcher with keen interest and an understanding for first generation Gandhian literature, in English, Hindi and Gujarati.

Dr. Prof. Sudarshan Iyengar is one of the leading scholars of Gandhian studies in India and an expert in Environmental Economics. He is former Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad which was founded by Mahatma Gandhi. He is the former Director, Centre for Social Studies, Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad. He was Chair Professor, Gandhian Philosophy, at IIT, Mumbai. He is currently working with Action Research in Community Health and Development (ARCH)at Dharampur Centre, Valsad, Gujarat. His major focus research are Gandhian thoughts and practice, natural resource development and management, people and civil society institutions. He has worked as Vice Chairperson of the High Level Dandi Memorial Committee and was Member of the National Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission, by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

Tana Trivedi has been a lecturer of Communication at Ahmedabad University, Gujarat, India since May 2015. A graduate and postgraduate in English Literature from St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad, she completed her M.Litt. in Postcolonial Diaspora from the University of Stirling, UK. She completed her PhD in contemporary Indo-Fijian poetry in 2020 from Christ University, Bangalore. In addition to this, she also holds a Diploma in Human Resources Management from Ahmedabad Management Association. She has worked as full-time faculty with the Department of English and Media Studies, Christ University, Bangalore, where she taught for five years. She has also taught part-time at St. Joseph's College, Bangalore, and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She has designed and taught courses such as Business History, Science Journalism, Diaspora Studies, Gender Studies, Postcolonial Studies, British Literature, World Literature and Indian Writing in English. She also specialises in designing and delivering courses in Communication Skills and Spoken Business Communication. Her research interests are in the area of Diaspora studies, Business History, Postcolonial Studies, and Gender Studies. 

With studies in Statistics and Systems Management (DISM) as well as Certificate in Computing (CIC) from IGNOU, Titiksha is a committed individual astute with handling front office operations and administration.

With keen interest to learn about preserving heritage and archival objects, and understanding family histories, she joined Pattani Archives as Archives Coordinator to help establish and oversee the office operations and cataloguing of the collection at Pattani Archives. In her free time, you will find her busy cooking and innovating healthy recipes in the kitchen.  

With a Bachelor's in Archaeology and Ancient History and a Master’s in Museology from The Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda. Vishnupriya has a profound interest and passion for archival studies, conservation, and crafts.

She has extensively worked on the topic of Musealization of the Kerala Jewish Community and curated a single object exhibition during her postgraduate period. Her professional experience includes roles as a Research Intern at the Marine Museum in Nhava, Mumbai and the Hill Palace Museum in Kerala. These experiences have enriched her understanding of museum practices and deepened her commitment to preserving. Her interest involves Political Science and the art of Origami. She is taking on a new role as the archivist at Pattani Archives. 

Trained as an architect, Anjani Trivedi’s interests revolve around the preservation of cultural heritage and people’s histories. She has previously worked with various heritage conservation practices across Gujarat including Abhikram (Ahmedabad) and People for Heritage Concern (Surat), gaining experience in archiving and documentation. Additionally, she has done a certificate course in Heritage Studies through INTACH Heritage Academy. Anjani assisted the curator and team of Pattani Archives towards the Public Launch.

Aparna Ramachandran is trained as a landscape archaeologist, but her work spans diverse fields—research and museum planning, heritage education and outreach, archiving and documentation. She has worked with esteemed organisations such as Lord Cultural Resources, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum (Mumbai), Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Mumbai, Cipla Archives, and Eka Archiving Services. She was an oral historian at Pattani Archives. She loves listening to people’s stories and believes that oral history not only helps chronicle the past and the present but also paves the path for future narratives.

Kinjal thinks in colours, textures, visuals and emotives. Being introduced to the design process while training at NIFT and practising intersectional design at Conflictorium has shaped their communication design practice. They were engaged in identifying and developing the visual language/s at Pattani Archives. Kinjal’s current design practice is centred in art, culture and social justice sectors and is very curious about designing play at most serious of places as tools of transformation. Kinjal assisted Pattani Archives with visual communication and branding for the public launch of Pattani Archives. 

With a bachelor's in Sociology and a zeal to learn new things, Pooja helps us with some of the basic archival practices of preservation. She was responsible for cleaning and organising the archival collection including books and papers at Pattani Archives. 

પ્રફુલ પંચાલ, જેમણે સિવિલ ટેકનોલોજીમાં સ્નાતક અને કોમ્યુનિકેશનમાં અનુસ્નાતક કરેલ છે. પોતે ૯ વર્ષથી થીયેટર, કોમ્યુનીકેશન,આર્ટ અને ટીચિંગ ફિલ્ડમાં સંપુર્ણપણે કાર્યરત છે. તેઓ ‘ધ અર્થિંગ ગ્રુપ’, ‘થીયેટર સ્કુલ’ અને ‘ફિલ્મ એકેડેમી’ ના ફાઉન્ડર પણ છે.કોમ્યુનિકેશનના વિવિધ ફોરમેટસ જેવા કે, પ્રિન્ટ, ઓડિયો-વિઝ્યુઅલ, પ્લે, વર્કશોપ્સ, પપેટ, ફિલ્મ, ઇવેન્ટ, કેમ્પેઈન, રીસર્ચ, હિસ્ટ્રી જેવા માધ્યમો માટે ૯ વર્ષથી સતત વિવિધ ઓર્ગેનાઈઝેશન સાથે સંકળાયેલા છે, જેમ કે; સેપ્ટ યુનિવર્સીટી, નિરમા યુનીવર્સીટી, GEDA, આગા ખાન ફોઉન્ડેશન, ગુજરાત રાજ્ય સંગીત નાટક અકાદમી, પ્રસાર ભારતી, વાયાકોમ18, GIZ(જર્મની), વગેરે. તેઓનીલીડરશીપ હેઠળ અત્યાર સુધીમાં તેમણે ગુજરાત અને ભારત ક્ષેત્રે રહીને ૯૦ જેટલા આર્ટ પ્રોજેક્ટ્સને સફળતાથી પૂર્ણ કરીને, ૪ રાજ્ય કક્ષાના અને ૨ નેશનલ કક્ષાના એવોર્ડ પ્રાપ્ત કરેલ છે. તેઓ સર પ્રભાશંકર પટ્ટણી ઓપન વિન્ડો ચેરીટેબલ ટ્રસ્ટ સાથે રહીને ૬ મહિનાથી ઓરલ હિસ્ટોરિયન તરીકે ફરજ બજાવી રહ્યા છે તથા પટ્ટણી આર્કાઈવ્સ માટે ઓરલ ઈન્ટરવ્યું અને ટ્રાન્સ્ક્રીપ્ટ ક્રીએશનના કાર્ય સાથે જોડાયેલા છે.

Radha Devpura was a Research Associate at Pattani Archives where she was involved with the transcriptions of an Oral History Project. She is also associated with the CEPT Foundation year Programme (CFP), CEPT University as a tutor and is actively involved in the documentation team of CFP. She has been a part of various craft-design training programmes and workshops with the craftspeople, curating exhibitions and developing toolkits in her experience of working for nearly six years as a Researcher. She has also co-authored various publications and a toolkit on crafts and vernacular furniture. She has a keen interest in working hands-on with natural materials and speculating simpler ways to live a community-centric life. She is enthusiastic about travelling, reading, writing, painting and capturing oral narratives. 

Raj Maurya, a heritage professional with a Master's degree in Photography Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, specialises in photography, archiving, research, and communication design, primarily focused on Indian art, culture, and heritage. His extensive portfolio includes various media forms such as print, photo books, exhibitions, publications, video, and interactive content. Notably, he received a grant from the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) for the IFA Bastion Bungalow Creative project in 2023, showcasing his dedication to preserving cultural narratives. Raj worked as a curatorial researcher for the public launch of the Pattani Archives. His area of research was Land, Culture and Politics and, he also made a film on the history of Ports and Railways of Bhavnagar.

An architect with a keen interest in art and culture, born in Bhavnagar she has a strong passion for working towards preserving the city’s unique identity. She loves developing design solutions that pay homage to context, culture and history. Beyond her professional realm, she indulges in art, adventures and reading. Her ability to communicate ideas with enthusiasm sets her apart. Yagnee worked with the curatorial team to carry forward the spatial documentation and neighbourhood research for the public launch event.