General Enquiries

The Team

  • Dr Meena Khatwa

    Director

    Dr Meena Khatwa

    meena@bombaymix.org

    +44 (0)20 7732 6169

    +44 (0)7905 417 574

    {read biog}

    Meena has worked for over a decade in the community, arts and academic sectors, 

    taking a keen interest in communities’ active exploration of their own heritage. 
    She graduated in 2004 from Queen Mary, University of London with a PhD titled 
    Life Journeys: Narratives of Hindu Mothers and Daughters in British Homes, 
    which explored themes of home, identity and migration. Her work combines
    both academia and creativity, and she has been employed in a number of varied 
    roles such as Researcher, Consultant, Project Co-ordinator and Lecturer with 
    organisations including Age Exchange Theatre Trust, Hayes School Drama 
    department, Albany Theatre, The London Mela, Ithaca Institute, University of 
    Sussex and Birkbeck, University of London.
    Her interest in South Asian cinema began in childhood when she was 
    bought up on a diet of Bollywood films. It was at university in the late 90s, she 
    discovered ‘Indian New Wave’ and took interest in directors such as Satyajit Ray, 
    Shyam Benegal, Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair and Gurinder Chadha. She also DJs, 
    specialising in world music – and has performed at City Hall, Greenwich 
    Picturehouse, The London Mela Festival, the Tricycle Theatre and the Royal 
    Geographical Society.
  • Lionel Openshaw

    Co-Director /
    Design & Marketing

    Lionel Openshaw

    lionel@bombaymix.org

    www.openshaw.uk.net

    {read biog}

    Since completing a design degree at Goldsmiths, University of London, 

    Lionel has had over ten year’s experience as a designer. While specialising 
    in graphics and print media – typography, identity and publishing – he is 
    experienced in the creation of visual communications of various kinds. 
    This has been for clients from the cultural, non-profit and business sectors 
    including the BBC, Amnesty International, London Metropolitan University,
    Soho Theatre and the London Borough of Southwark. An active interest in 
    social and cultural issues enables him to create work from an informed and 
    sympathetic perspective.
    He has also participated in many performing arts events – from club 
    nights, concerts and radio shows to theatre productions – not only as a designer 
    but also as a DJ, promoter and performer. He served as Chair of South East 
    London Community Access Theatre, and performed in their productions of 
    Dr Faustus, The Gut Girls and Picnic On The Battlefield. He has also acted in 
    a number of short films such as Asylum (Offical Selection Rotterdam 2010).
    As a DJ, Lionel has performed at many venues across London including the 
    Rise Against Racism Festival. He continues to develop and curate visual arts 
    projects and regularly exhibits at spaces such as Cockpit Arts, the Menier Gallery, 
    the Viewfinder Photography Gallery and the London Design Festival.
  • Dheeraj Akolkar (UK/India)

    Associate Director / Industry Consultant

    Dheeraj Akolkar (UK/India)

    dheeraj@bombaymix.org

    {read biog}

    After graduating with a Gold Medal in Architecture from Pune University, India, 

    Dheeraj worked extensively in the Indian film industry on various films such 
    as Lagaan (Academy Award Nominee 2001), Devdas (Cannes Showcase 2002, 
    BAFTA nominated 2003), Charas – A Joint Effort, Sala Bandar (official 
    selection Rotterdam 2004, nominated Best Short Film Edinburgh 2004) 
    and Black (Time magazine’s fifth best film of the year 2006). As a writer, 
    director, cinematographer and producer, his own work includes the short 
    films Jyotirgamaya – Lead Me To The Light (IDPA Awards for Excellence 2005: 
    Best Script and Best Editing), Whatever! (ICE 2006 2nd Best Film of the 
    Festival), Sold my Soul (Official Selection Clermont Ferrand 2007) and 
    Asylum (Official Selection Rotterdam 2010). He graduated from Goldsmiths, 
    University of London in 2007 with an MA in Feature Film and currently lives 
    and works between the UK, India and Sweden.
  • Ben Craggs

    Editor

    Ben Craggs

    ben@bombaymix.org

    {read biog}

    Ben is a cultural theorist and artist working in the field of ‘new’

    digital media. After graduating from the University of Westminster in
    2003 he spent several years working as a digital artist and has
    exhibited his participatory, digital installations at festivals around
    the UK. Ben has a particular interest in independent and community
    media projects, particularly their potential as catalysts for social
    change and has worked with various organisations to encourage their use
    of available media technologies. He is currently writing his doctoral
    thesis at Goldsmiths, University of London, in which he is exploring the
    future of ‘new’ media and asking how those technologies currently
    employed by specialist practitioners might, in the future, be
    appropriated and exploited by hobbyists, artists and community
    activists. Ben is also a web designer, photographer and film editor.

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