M. Sahana Rao has a Masters in Ancient History and Archeology and a P. G. Diploma in Arts Management. She has worked as the Programmes Officer at the Dakshinachitra museum in Chennai where she curated events that brought together local artisans and folk artists to make their work accessible to a diverse audience.

She has also worked with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts on the National Mission on Cultural Mapping project under the Ministry of Culture. Most recently, she worked as an independent consultant for the Simurgh Centre, an initiative of the Goethe Institute/Max Mueller Bhavan in New Delhi. There, she executed projects such as the Simurgh Festival that supported artistic collaboration between Afghan, Indian and German practitioners. Rao has also participated in excavations in Rome and Israel.

See the complete list of festival organisers here.