Journeys can be transformative, reflective and even, inspiring. For Sarmaya founder Paul Abraham, it has proven to be an adventure. Having set up Sarmaya as a digital archive in 2015, the curator has now opened 2025 with the first exhibition at the 146-year-old heritage building of Lawrence & Mayo in Fort. Titled High Roads, Open Seas, the exhibition is a mirror of the museum’s own journey, he shares. “Sarmaya was born from a desire to tell the stories about India that typically lay hidden in the vaults of the archive,” Abraham says.

A Cancer Zodiac, silver rupee of Ahmedabad mint by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir was part of 12 coin designs that went against the then orthodoxy. Pics Courtesy/Sarmaya Arts Foundation