Sethi, Dr. Ritu
Sethi, Dr. Ritu
Dr Ritu Sethi is the editor, Global InCH journal of living heritage (www.globalinch.org) in addition to overseeing Asia InCH Encyclopaedia on the heritage arts, textiles, and crafts of India and the wider South Asian region (www.asiainch.org). Both globally recognized as the leading repositories of knowledge on intangible cultural heritage.
Ritu’s research interests examine the cultural histories of textiles, arts and crafts, their continuities and interpretations in design, fashion, and the everyday contemporary. Her publications include: Handmade for the 21st Century: Traditional Indian Textiles (pub: UNESCO); Embroidering Futures – Repurposing the Kantha (pub: India Foundation of the Arts (IFA)); Designers Meet Artisans – A Practical Guide (pub: UNESCO – trans: Spanish and French); Painters, Poets, Performers – The Patuas of Bengal (pub: IFA); besides essays on cultural histories, sustainability and policy in international and national publications.
In the past she has served on advisory committees in China, Sri Lanka, Argentina. She chaired the UNESCO Consultative Body examining nominations to the ICH of the World, UNESCO, Paris; served on the Steering Committee for the 12th Five-year Plan for Handlooms and Handicrafts, Planning Commission, Govt. of India; Consultant to UNESCO on Post Disaster Need Assessment on ICH, board member Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya Samiti (National Museum of Man), Bhopal; Centre for Cultural Resource and Training (CCRT), Ministry of Culture, and other institutions.
She continues to serve on committees in Japan, UK and Europe. In India, she presently serves on the advisory board of the National Crafts Museum and Hastkala Academy, Government of India; the ICH committee (ABHICHU), SNA, Ministry of Culture; Asia Society: India Advisory Council for Arts and Culture; INTACH Heritage craft and community division; besides others. Most recently being appointed on the editorial board for UNESCO’s State of the Education Report with a focus on Culture and Arts Education.
She is founder-trustee of Craft Revival Trust, India
