Mary Therese Kurkalang
Board Member
Mary Therese Kurkalang is a cultural curator and social researcher who works across the Arts, Culture and Social Sector since 1995. She dabbles in writing – poetry, fiction and nonfiction; and has been published in Media and Art Platforms. Her books are due to be published next year. She is a student of Peace and Conflict Studies since 2020 in the Global Campus Programme including Universities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Japan, Pakistan, and India. She is an Art Think South Asia (ATSA) Fellow and certified Trainer.
Born In Shillong in 1978, Mary moved to Delhi in 1997 where she worked in Publishing, International Culture Exchange and the Disability Sector for fifteen years, before she started her independent practice ‘Khublei’ in 2012, working across Culture and Social sectors at the international, national and grassroot levels. Most recently she was the Creative Director of the Shillong Literary Festival 2022, a first by the Meghalaya Government.
Her mentorship programmes with youth and creative practitioners in Northeast India in the last decade has enabled their inclusion in national and international platforms in equal and respectful exchange. She has also worked with communities in different Northeastern states including with the weavers in Assam and Nagaland; artisans working with Bamboo and Clay in Meghalaya; and with peripheral communities including the homeless, the incarcerated, and victims of gender violence.
Her pro bono focus since 2019, is advocacy and facilitation of access to mental health and transformative justice interventions for survivors of sexual abuse. She serves on the Advisory Boards of several Culture and Social Justice Platforms.