hands of change

Ritu Sethi of Craft Revival Trust on preserving India's heritage with authenticity

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“Authenticity means not being scared to stand by what you believe, even if everyone around you disagrees,” says Ritu Sethi, founder of the Craft Revival Trust. It’s this unflinching sense of purpose that has guided her in preserving and celebrating India’s vast heritage of handmade crafts and textiles. Founded in the late 1990s, the Craft Revival Trust began as a response to something Ritu found deeply troubling: the inaccessibility of artisans and their work. “When I traveled, I couldn’t find a way to connect with these remarkable creators—be it weavers, sculptors, or block makers. There was no address, no contact, no way to reach them,” she recalls. Even those working in the field often guarded this information. “It felt like gatekeeping, even from those who claimed to help. That’s when I decided to create an organisation that wouldn’t buy or sell but would focus on making information freely available to everyone.”