Jenny Housego
Emily Janet Housego, fondly known as Jenny, has helped inspire a generation of Indian craftspeople to raise their weaving skills to new heights of creativity and excellence. During her two decades in India, she has worked diligently with weavers and embroiderers to forge new ways of combining their traditional craftsmanship with contemporary designs. Jenny has revived ancient weaving techniques and simultaneously contributed to the livelihoods of weavers' families especially in Haryana and Kashmir.

She is the author of Tribal Rugs: An Introduction to the Weaving of the Tribes of Iran, and of Bridal Durries of India. She has co-founded two successful textile brands in India, Shades of India and Kashmir Loom.

Maya Mirchandani
Maya Mirchandani is an award-winning Indian journalist with interests in Indian Foreign Policy, South Asia, and identity conflicts, and the co-author of Jenny’s memoirs, A Woven Life published by Roli Books in 2020. Currently, Maya is an Associate Professor of Media Studies at Ashoka University and a Senior Fellow at the Delhi based think tank, Observer Research Foundation.

About the talk
Jenny Housego thought, as a child, to be a spy, but life had other plans- Brought to the world of Asian textiles, art and Museums, she has over the last five decades travelled across Asia with a passion to document traditional, local, and nomadic weaving and handcrafted textiles. Maya Mirchandani in conversation with Housego, talks of her journey into textiles, her decision to settle in India and her forays into the world of Indian textiles.