Anita Bharat Shah

Anita Bharat Shah obtained her PhD from Osmania University, in 1994. She has been active in the Museology Committee (ICOFOM) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) since 1987, and served many years on its Executive Board. Dr Shah has taught at several universities abroad as a visiting faculty of Museology. She has previously authored Visitors to South Indian Museums: Museological Context and Visitor Study as well as published extensively in the museological journal ICOFOM Study Series. She has conducted extensive research on Kalamkari, Deccani and Rajasthani paintings and pichvais from 2013 to 2022. An avid collector of Indian textiles and art objects, she has organized many exhibitions, including a special display of Ancient Indian Textiles for Queen Elizabeth during her visit to Hyderabad in 1983. She and her husband Bharat Shah, creators of the AABHA collection, organized an exhibition titled Threads of Devotion showcasing embroidered pichvais from Kutch and Rajasthan of the early 19th to mid-20th centuries at the Nirmala Birla Modern Art Museum, Hyderabad, in 2021. She lives with her family in Hyderabad.