Sareekah Agarwaal is an Indian textile archivist, academician, curator, and researcher dedicated to preserving the rich legacy of traditional Indian textiles. Holding a Master’s degree in Fabric and Apparel Science from Delhi University, she began her career as a freelancer before stepping into the corporate world in 2006 with a consulting firm specializing in technical textiles.

Though she thrived professionally, Sareekah’s heart remained tethered to India’s heritage textiles – handcrafted treasures that carried stories of time, place, and memory. Her unwavering passion led her to transition into academia and eventually brought her to the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi. There, she played a key role in developing a digital national knowledge repository for Indian textiles and crafts – a landmark initiative launched by Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7th August 2023.

As she delved deeper, Sareekah became increasingly aware of a quiet crisis: countless handcrafted textiles – once loved, now forgotten – lay hidden in family closets across India, their artistry fading into obscurity. Driven by the urgency to document and preserve these living memories, she began archiving textiles infused with personal and familial memories, each piece telling a story of identity, celebration, resilience and belonging. This calling culminated in the birth of ‘ASMITAA’.

With a warm smile and an unwavering voice, Sareekah Agarwaal remains steadfast in her mission to preserve the treasured keepsakes of Indian families. Her passion fuels her vision of safeguarding these cultural treasures for future generations, ensuring that textiles with deep emotional and historical significance continue to inspire the world for years to come. Her belief is simple yet profound: Objects that hold meaning and have emotional value are not just possessions – they are legacies. And legacies, if nurtured, can last forever.

Dr. Anamika Pathak is a distinguished museum professional and scholar with over four decades of experience in the field of Indian art, textiles, and material culture. She holds a Master’s degree in Buddhist Studies and Ancient Indian History & Culture, a Ph.D. in Mughal Costumes, and has completed a Museum Management course at the Art Institute of Chicago.

From 1980 to 2019, Dr. Pathak served as Curator at the National Museum, New Delhi, where she played a pivotal role in shaping the museum’s collection and public outreach. She curated several landmark exhibitions, including three permanent galleries: Indian Textiles (1996), Wood Carving (2012), and Decorative Arts (2013). Her curatorial work also includes major temporary exhibitions such as The Art of Calligraphy and Beyond (2015), Rama-Abhirama: The Beauty of Rama in Indian Art and Tradition (2017–18), and Headgear Traditions of India (2018).

An expert in traditional Indian textiles and decorative arts, Dr. Pathak has travelled extensively with renowned exhibitions like Nizam’s Jewels (Delhi & Hyderabad), Alamkara (Singapore), and The Word is Sacred and Sacred is the Word (Germany). She is closely associated with several academic institutions and her lectures and mentorship have guided generations of students, researchers, and practitioners.

Dr. Pathak has authored several important books such as Pashmina, Indian Costume, The Art of Calligraphy and Beyond, and Ramayana: The Poetic Expression on Temple Hangings. She has also co-edited Splendours of Pahari Embroidery and published over 30 scholarly articles in journals like Marg, Arts of Asia, and the INSA Journal. With an eye for detail and a passion for India’s intangible cultural heritage, Dr. Anamika Pathak continues to inspire a deeper understanding of India’s rich textile traditions and museum practices

An economist, researcher and scholar, Dr Ruchira Ghose is notable for her contributions as former chairperson of the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy, New Delhi.  Ghose studied economics at Cambridge University, UK, where she also completed her PhD. She taught and worked as a researcher at the University for several years, and published her first book, The Behaviour of Industrial Prices in India, in 1989. Following her return to India, she chose to switch fields and work in the arts and culture sector, beginning with a stint at the Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage in 1994. 

In April 2015 Dr. Ruchira Ghose was elected as a Tagore National Fellow at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), with Indian textiles as her area of research. As part of her project, she organised an exhibition titled Mapping Indian Handcrafted Textiles at the IGNCA in September 2016. The exhibition included 155 textile objects displayed across five sections: Painted, Printed, Dyed, Applique and Embroidery. It had a strong digital component, including a central interactive display depicting diverse textile traditions on a map of India and a dedicated digital display for each section.  

Alongside the exhibition, Dr. Ghose also published a report, Mapping Indian Textiles (2017), aimed at helping museums to safeguard their collections through preventive-conservation practices as well as improve methods of information-sharing on Indian textiles. Presently, Dr. Ruchira Ghose lives and works in New Delhi.