Critical Collective is an initiative by art curator and critic Gayatri Sinha. Critical Collective works towards building knowledge in the arts in India. Since its inception in 2011, it has collaborated closely with institutions in India and abroad to create exhibitions and seminars on art. In order to take is activities on a larger scale; Critical Collective created criticalcollective.in. This website is intended to fill in the lacuna caused by an absence of publishing in the arts, a lack of reprints and a shortage of institutional infrastructure to support knowledge in the domain of the arts.

Although India can boast of a history of outstanding Indological research and publication from the early 19th century, the present scenario in writing on the visual arts is bleak. Major texts on Indian art history, aesthetics, iconography, modern and contemporary art lapse from the public sphere once they are out of print. Very few new studies or anthologies are commissioned.

The website, criticalcollective.in, is based on the need for concerted editing and preservation of writing on the visual arts in India. The website is also designed to address different categories which have virtually no significant writing at present, such as lens based practices, video and photography. As repositories holding rare books on art shrink, there is a real concern around the loss of knowledge in the domain of the arts. This is underscored by the fact that the departments in the arts and humanities are increasing rapidly.