Join us for the final Packsaddle Lecture of 2025 as Sundeep Bhandari, founder-trustee of Craft and Community Development Foundation (CCDF), presents his work on the Gondwana Art Project—a dedicated initiative supporting tribal artists from the Gondwana region of central India (Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra), working in Gond, Warli and Bhil traditions. In partnership with NERAM’s exhibition Echoes of the Earth: Tribal and Desert Art, the Foundation has collaborated directly with the museum to bring these artists’ voices and works to an Australian audience.

Under the Gondwana Art project, CCDF’s mission is to create a platform for tribal artists to present their work and their perspectives demonstrating their craftsmanship and creativity, introducing new methods and techniques that express both traditional and contemporary imagery and values. In this initiative, CCDF promotes artists and their art form that evolves from the dynamic living traditions. This project offers an invitation to the viewer to discover Gondwana region and artists that epitomise the incomparable diversity of contemporary tribal and popular Indian art.

Sundeep Bhandari, is a New Delhi–based business strategist with over three decades of experience in India’s energy and infrastructure sectors, and is the founder trustee of Craft and Community Development Foundation. He has undertaken several philanthropic projects and was heading the CSR board of Cairn India Ltd. In this role, he was instrumental in establishing community support and development projects across the country including the Centre of Excellence for vocational training in Jodhpur and The Enterprise Centre at Barmer ITI. He established Craft and Community Development Foundation with the aim of up-skilling artisans in different fields across India.

Established in 2008, the Craft and Community Development Foundation (CCDF) is a registered not-for-profit organisation created to support and fund projects that enhance livelihoods for communities in the arts and crafts sector. CCDF’s vision is to undertake initiatives that upskill artisans through the introduction of new concepts and designs while preserving the authenticity of traditional practices and connecting them to new markets. The foundation creates an empowering space that supports specialised crafts by providing training, introducing innovative design elements, and developing market linkages. Through workshops and skill development programs, CCDF works to strengthen artisan communities and improve their overall quality of life.

The Packsaddle Lecture Series invites guest speakers to expound on aspects of Australian and international artistic practices and history, providing the community with an opportunity to explore themes and ideas related to some of the museum’s key collection areas.