World Wide Associates & Advisors
Dr. Tjokorde Istri Ratna Cora Sudharasana
Associate for Indonesian Textiles
Ratna is the HOD of the department of Fashion Design in the Indonesian Institute of Arts, Denpasar, Bali
She is also an active member of the Traditional Textile Association of South East Asia.
With her royal lineage and upbringing, she has traveled far and wide and is very well versed with all Indonesian and S E Asian textile traditions.
Ratna is the most important bridge that has helped Exotic Echo plan it's first overseas Loinloom Festival to Bali. Her presence as our advisor helps to strengthen the ancient cultural link between India and Bali and integrate all the Loinloom practising traditions in more than a 1000 islands of Indonesia
Emalese Russell
Advisor and Mobiliser for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and East Timor
Emalese Russell started delving into the world of natural and botanical elements used by different civilizations nineteen years back, out of sheer curiosity.
Her travels and interest sustained and grew over the years and she gradually focussed on textiles.
This led her to seek out boutique organizations across the world which were involved in a complete organic cycle chain, from the growing of plants, to ginning and carding the plant wool , to spinning them into yarn, dyeing them, weaving and finally finishing them into usable products.
Emalese has now joined hands with Exotic Echo to bring her years of travel, experience, passion and soul to directly benefit the Exotic Echo 108 Blue Lotus Initiative across the world.
She will be looking after all Exotic Echo direct and co branded activities in the geographies of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.
Nina Vendelboe
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Nina has been an accomplished engineer by profession for the last 30 years. She is presently in a leadership position involved in laying down a gas pipeline in Denmark and parts of Europe.
She is a world traveller like all Exotic Echo associates. She describes her visit to India as transformational and life changing.
She came to know about Exotic Echo in March 2018 and began to gather more details about the organisation. In Feb 2019, during her second visit to India, she visited the Exotic Echo project in Nagaland and saw how Exotic Echo managed it's complete organic process  from growing their own cotton, to hand spinning of yarn, to organic dyeing of the hand spun yarn, followed by  hand weaving of dyed yarn into fabrics, to the 100 percent hand finish of the fabrics into modern and  usable finished products.
She was impressed enough and instantly decide to become a friend of the project straight away.Â
In the summers of 2019, she helped mobilize greater support in Denmark about Exotic Echo. By October 2019, she had  become a full time  associate. In June 2020, she gave her consent to lead the Exotic Echo Blue Lotus initiative across all the Nordic countries.
Adriana Griffith
Advisor and Mobilizer for Exotic Echo for West Africa
Adriana is born of mixed parentage - Ghanaian and Irish. Born in Ghana, educated in London and traveling the world since an early age. She graduated from the London School of Fine Arts in 1993. She had this beautiful idea of "Social Change through Art"
Her work took her to many places including the prisons of US where she undertook "Social Change through Art" to another level.
She went onto do her Master's from the City and Guilds of London between 2006 and 2008 and there was a definitive shift in her approach after visiting India in 2009.
She was mesmerized by the colour and range of Indian textiles and started visiting the weaving communities in India, Asia and South America and learning how to weave herself. Sufficiently inspired by the vision of Exotic Echo In June 2020, she gave her consent to join the Exotic Echo 108 Blue Lotus global initiative and coordinate the initiative activities in West Africa from Ghana
Mone and Doi Jouymany
Loinloom Weaver Associates from Laos
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Catherine Allie
Associate for Bavaria in Germany
Catherine Allie is from Aschaffenburg, near Frankfurt in Germany. She has done her schooling in Germany and New Zealand and her BBA from Paris, France.
She has travelled all over the world like all Exotic Echo associates and has been involved in social projects in Peru and India.
In 2014, during her travels through the North East India, she visited Exotic Echo and met Sonnie Kath, one of its co founders.
Catherine later founded the organisation KAL which today works with natural fibres and hand weaving in Ladakh, Himachal and Assam.
In August 2020 she has agreed to join hands with Exotic Echo and become a pan India associate for Ladakh, Himachal and Assam in India and a worldwide associate for Bavaria in Germany.