Richard Blurton trained as an archaeologist, excavating in North Africa, Afghanistan and southern India. In 1986 he joined the British Museum working on the Indian collections, becoming Head of the South and Southeast Asia section before retirement in 2018. He presented many exhibitions in the Museum, as well as the British Museum/British Council 1997 exhibition, ‘The Enduring Image’ in India. More recently, he was the lead curator for the re-installation of the South Asia displays in the Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery (2017). He has published extensively, both in books and in scholarly articles. He first visited India in 1970 and has returned many times since.