Every family has textiles that quietly bear witness to lives lived - weddings celebrated, journeys undertaken, losses endured, and traditions passed. Yet these objects are rarely documented or preserved. Recognising this gap became the inspiration behind ASMITAA.

Sareekah Agarwaal is an Indian textile archivist, curator, researcher, and academician dedicated to documenting, preserving, and celebrating the material memories embedded within family-owned textiles. Through ASMITAA, she seeks to create a platform where textiles are valued not merely as objects of craft, but as living archives of identity, memory, and heritage.

Holding a Master's degree in Fabric and Apparel Science from the University of Delhi, Sareekah began her professional journey in the corporate sector before transitioning into academia, where her growing engagement with India's textile traditions shaped the direction of her life's work. Over the years, she has served as Senior Consultant at IGNOU, Assistant Professor in the Department of Fabric and Apparel Science at Lady Irwin College, and is currently associated with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi.

At NIFT, she serves as the Content Team Lead for The Repository – Indian Textiles and Crafts, a national digital knowledge portal developed for the Ministry of Textiles and launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on National Handloom Day in August 2023.

Her doctoral research, Textiles as Evidence of Material Memories: Exploring the Power of Narratives in Textile Preservation, is among the pioneering studies in India to examine how oral histories and personal narratives can strengthen textile documentation and encourage the preservation of family collections. The research combines textile scholarship with archival practices to develop practical approaches for documenting and caring for cherished textiles.

Her work extends beyond research into exhibitions, publications, and public engagement. She has curated exhibitions including aaina and abhivyakti, presented her research at national and international conferences, contributed book chapters and MOOCs, and continues to advocate for the preservation of India's textile heritage through documentation, education, and outreach.

Today, ASMITAA reflects the culmination of more than two decades of professional experience and research. Through it, Sareekah envisions creating one of India's leading centres for textile documentation, preservation, research, and public engagement, ensuring that the stories woven into family textiles continue to inspire future generations.

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.