Overview

A practitioner and scholar of Indian traditional arts, Dr sushruti Santhanam has spent the last 2 decades as an independent researcher working with artists, their communities and grassroot organisations to understand, preserve and adapt Indian traditional crafts and art to the present day context.

Having grown up surrounded by music her journey into the world for traditional Indian performing arts started with Carnatic classical music in a gurukul system of learning. Her formal degrees include a bachelors in Sociology, Masters in media studies and a Phd in history. Having spent the last 25 years performing and teaching Carnatic music along with on-ground work with traditional musician communities of Telangana and Rajasthan, her training in the arts as well her education have helped shape her perspective today.

Focused on understanding the social basis of the artist’s idealism, on the evolution of their relationship with Indian society, the nuances of performing and the struggles of adapting tradtitions to fit a 21st century world, her work includes research and collaboration with artisans, genealogists, archivists, designers, linguists and many more that make up the framework of Indian traditional art practice.

Recognising the need for an intervention to prevent the loss of invaluable cultural practices she created the Dakshina Dvaraka foundation in 2014 as a platform for knowledge, it’s remembrance and preservation.