The Future of Craft: Inside AVID Learning's AI & Arts Series Panel At NGMA Mumbai

As artificial intelligence edges into every corner of the creative economy, one question keeps surfacing at design schools and craft studios alike: what happens to the human hand? AVID Learning's AI & Arts Series takes on that question head-on with its third episode, "The Future of Craft: The Human Hand in the AI Age," bringing together craft revivalists, gallerists and design technologists for a conversation on where tradition and algorithms actually meet.

What The Session Is About

Episode 3 of the AI & Arts Series sits at the intersection of two worlds that don't always get to talk to each other: India's living craft traditions and the AI tools reshaping how objects get imagined, analysed and made. Framed around the ideas of vision, tradition, making and innovation, the panel will dig into how artisanal practice — deeply tied to touch, memory and slow skill — holds up against a moment when machines can generate a thousand design variations in seconds.

It's not a techno-utopian pitch, and it's not a craft-versus-code face-off either. The panel is built around practitioners who've spent years inside both the handmade economy and the systems now trying to model it, which should make for a more grounded conversation than the usual AI-and-creativity panel.

Quick Facts: The Future of Craft

• Series: AI & Arts Series, Episode 03

• Date: Wednesday, 30th September 2026

• Timings: 6:00 PM–6:30 PM registrations; 6:30 PM–8:00 PM panel discussion

• Venue: National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai

• Register at: www.avidlearning.in

• Presented with: Ministry of Culture, NGMA, INTACH Greater Mumbai Chapter, Chanakya School of Craft and AVID Learning

A Quick Word From Our Sponsors

Meet The Panel

Meera Goradia, Chair, Creative Dignity: Goradia chairs Creative Dignity, a collective response network that emerged to support India's handmade sector through crises, and has spent years working at the policy and ground-level intersection of craft livelihoods, sustainability and market access for artisans.

Sushmita Kaneri, Founder, Gullakaari: A software engineer by training, Kaneri turned down a conventional tech career to found Gullakaari in 2023, a marketplace that has since worked with over 1,000 artisans to revive 13 endangered Indian craft forms — from Warli and Gond painting to Patachitra and Kavad storytelling boxes — turning them into everyday, sellable products.

Radhi Parekh, Founder Director, ARTISANS': Parekh founded ARTISANS' in Mumbai's Kala Ghoda district in 2011 after a career spanning design roles at Oracle and PayPal in Silicon Valley. The centre now works with over 10,000 artisans, designers and social entrepreneurs, running it as a gallery, marketplace and cultural hub rather than a conventional store.

Siddhi Gupta, Moderator: Gupta is Assistant Professor at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology and Design Director at its Inclusive AI Lab, giving her a front-row view of how AI systems are actually being built for — and sometimes without — the communities they're meant to serve.

Why This Panel Matters Right Now

Conversations about AI and creativity tend to default to two extremes: breathless hype or blanket dismissal. What makes this lineup interesting is that none of the four panelists fit neatly into either camp. Goradia and Kaneri work daily with artisans whose livelihoods depend on the value of the handmade staying legible to buyers — a value proposition AI-generated imagery complicates in ways the craft sector is still figuring out. Parekh has spent over a decade building market infrastructure for handmade goods. And Gupta's work at the Inclusive AI Lab is explicitly about who gets left out when AI tools are designed without craft communities in the room.

Held at NGMA against the backdrop of India's museum and cultural policy establishment, the session also signals that this isn't a niche design-school debate — the Ministry of Culture, INTACH and a dedicated craft school are all co-presenting it.

Another Quick Break

What To Expect On The Evening

Registrations open at 6:00 PM, with the panel discussion running 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM. Expect the conversation to move between big-picture questions — does AI threaten or expand the market for handmade craft — and specific, practitioner-level detail on how tools are already showing up in artisan workflows, from pattern generation to documentation and archiving of dying techniques.

This is the third episode in AVID Learning's ongoing AI & Arts Series, which has been building out a broader conversation on AI's role across creative disciplines. If the previous two episodes are any indication, expect a room full of practitioners, students and policy folks rather than a purely academic crowd.

One Last Ad Before You Register

How To Attend

The session is free and open to the public, held at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai on Wednesday, 30th September 2026. Registrations can be completed at www.avidlearning.in — given the venue and the lineup, seats are likely to fill up ahead of the event, so early registration is worth it if you want a spot.

Future Of Craft Panel: FAQs

When and where is 'The Future of Craft' panel?

It takes place on Wednesday, 30th September 2026, at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai. Registrations run from 6:00 PM to 6:30 PM, with the panel discussion from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM.

Who is speaking at the event?

The panel features Meera Goradia (Chair, Creative Dignity), Sushmita Kaneri (Founder, Gullakaari) and Radhi Parekh (Founder Director, ARTISANS'), moderated by Siddhi Gupta, Assistant Professor at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology and Design Director at its Inclusive AI Lab.

How do I register?

Registration is done online at www.avidlearning.in.

What is the AI & Arts Series?

It's an ongoing AVID Learning series exploring AI's impact across creative disciplines. "The Future of Craft: The Human Hand in the AI Age" is Episode 3 of the series.

Who is organising the event?

The session is presented with the Ministry of Culture, NGMA, INTACH Greater Mumbai Chapter, Chanakya School of Craft and AVID Learning, an Essar initiative.