Sekhar Mukherjee, Professor and Programme Lead at Anant, is a filmmaker, cartoonist, illustrator, infographic artist and an experienced academician. A National Institute of Design graduate, Sekhar masters the art of communicating through animation and comics. Collaborating with scientists, doctors, musicians, etc., Sekhar has worked extensively on bridging the societal gap and making studying easier through his works.

As one of the founding editorial members of Longform Graphic Collective, he encourages various narratives, both fiction and non-fiction, to create a more extensive repository of unsung stories. His teaching method is working with students as fellow team members and bringing out collaborative results by balancing both theory and practice. His research intention/topic is to establish a centre of sensory learning and non-verbal communication with local, national and global networking.

At Anant, Sekhar works on building a robust curriculum through sequential mentorship of young minds for their intellectual and applied skill development. He brings cross-disciplinary projects for potential students to work beyond their disciplines. He also aspires to continue with a design story festival like Chitrakatha from Anant to position the department globally. Sekhar shares his work-life experience with students and encourages fellow faculty members to publish their work to build a rich repository of Indian design, collaboratively setting up the Anant Press/Publishing wing.

Sekhar holds an MDes in Animation Film Design from the National Institute of Design. He also has a Film Appreciation diploma from FTII, Pune and a Multimedia Content Creation from Jadavpur University. While completing his BCom, Sekhar worked with the Economic Times, Kolkata, as a cartoonist, illustrator and infographic artist. He also worked as an active NID film club member during his bachelor’s. His graduation film ‘The Antagonist’ was the first of its kind crowdfunded student animation project.

Before joining Anant, Sekhar was the Founding Director of the National Institute of Design, AP, for five years. He was instrumental in shaping the institute through networking, MoUs and collaborative projects. From 2002 to 2018, he served as senior faculty in Animation Film Design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. During his tenure, he developed a biennial international student animation festival named Chitrakatha, which has evolved since 2007 into one of the most refined festivals of design stories.

Sekhar’s contribution to high-quality design education fetched the CNBC TV18 Aptech Award in 2009. Apart from educating students, he also encourages them to fulfil their entrepreneurial dreams by supporting them in all ways possible. Many students under his mentorship have worked with international personas like Isabel Herguera, Francoise Chalet, etc. He also set up and trained one of the first 2D animation studios, Greenfield Toons, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Beyond academics, Sekhar is a minimalist, pacifist, humourist and cook. He finds solace in sharing stories with like-minded people and preparing healthy food for them. He loves to observe life unfold around him and sketch those beautiful instants, etching his state of mind at that moment. Sketchbooks are an extension of his personality. During the lockdown in 2020, Sekhar expanded his kitchen to serve food to stranded students and others in need. He also conducted an innovative virtual classroom during that time.

Some of his leisurely work has been published as newspaper cartoons, caricatures and graphic novels. During Chitrakatha 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019, he collaborated with an Italian-Spanish storytelling group named Cucinema to bring cooking, cinema and music together.