Sandbox

Meet a Sandbox member: Achyutha Sharma

April 7th, 2010 by Cathrin Lesslhumer

Achyutha Sharma is a 26 year old design entrepreneur from India, who is building projects to have a creative and social impact. He is currently running an art organization, Antahkaran, art customized for spaces with social and ethical impact. Additionally he is building a charitable trust that supports Creative arts & design for social impact, the Sulochana development trust with a vision to incorporate Creative economy in India. He graduated as a Fashion designer from NIFT Delhi, and though he considers clothing the best product to design, his passion lies in multi – disciplinary design and the potential impact of the creative industry in India. He has worked with Fashion, retail design, branding, design strategy and communication in his professional experience that has inspired him to build a vision that is universal yet regional in its application. Find Achyutha on Facebook.

Tell us the story of your latest project

- Launched the first project under Sulochana development trust called Collaborative Community that offers strategic and creative consultancy services to Non – profit organizations who need help to make stronger impact through design, strategy, branding and marketing.
- Putting together an art education curriculum for under- privileged children of different age groups in India under the Antahkaran initiative.
- Building a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and innovators in India for Sandbox and my charitable trust. Currently I’m working on the road map and feasibility.

What are you doing and how did you get there?

Working in the design and retail industry, the urge is to make our work more relevant to a vision that is sustainable, socially relevant and culturally grounded. Antahkaran was an idea that came from taking art to spaces, making it more accessible to people than limited to appreciation in galleries or the elitist. Part of the revenue from projects goes to art education for under privileged children in India who don’t have any access to art or creative curriculum. While working on the social impact, I realized a huge gap and potential of creative arts and design that can make social impact. India still needs to recognize and implement design impact in our development process and in our daily lives and the Sulochana Trust is based on this idea. I have put together a holistic development model that not just looks at social, economic and ecological impact but a fourth important criteria; a cultural context. Cultural preservation and contextualization is imperative to be understood and implemented in our development process in countries that are strongly rooted to their traditional culture as much as modernization of their systems.

Tell us about the biggest successes and failures in your life. What worked, what didn’t, and what did you learn?

I’m still in the phase of a learning curve and exploration that I have found little sign of success and bigger signs of setback (rather than failure). But it keeps me excited and inspired as I want to learn from my setback to pave my way to more successful ideas and projects. In India, I think as creative individuals, we have no support of a ‘system’, lack of guidance, resources or platform that can encourage us to push new boundaries. We are struggling to maintain a ‘standard of living’ which gives us limited freedom to take risks or explore new innovation path as compared to opportunities in Europe or America.
My biggest setback has been lack of funding, lack of support from a system or community that could help me with my work but the biggest success has been meeting like – minded individuals from around the world who continue to inspire me.  It is amazing how people from one country are so passionately dedicated to an issue or community in another part of the world and they re-assert my belief that I’m on the right path.

What do you want to achieve in a) the next week, b) the next year, c) the next 10 years?

a) A presentation to Sandbox team about Sandbox India road map and insight on expanding the Sandbox network that can be democratic and has tangible collaborations.
b) Implement my project and initiatives, work hard and build the foundation for creative impact!
c) Lead and consult organizations that have social relevance, are sustainable and have cultural context. Align professional individuals and organizations operating in the country to the ‘creative economy’ vision of India through a vision accord.

Delhi, March 2010: Achyutha hosted a Brunch with Young entrepreneurs and “to-be-Sandboxers”

What was your most inspiring moment during the last two weeks?

Connecting with other sandbox members in Delhi like Guptara Twins and Marcel Oedi. We instantly connected and were amazed to share similar passion, ideas and vision.
Reading ‘Be bold’ publication by Echoing Green, it’s an inspirational book for every budding social entrepreneur.

How could other Sandboxers and the outside world support you and why would that be exciting for them?

Sandboxers can contribute to my projects, become strategic stakeholders and be part of a greater impact. I’m looking for more tangible and constructive collaborations with like – minded individuals/ organizations.
Sharing opportunities, ideas, skills and vision that can become like a sustainable community within sandbox that help each other like a micro – finance model.
It is exciting for sandboxers because it all about ‘credibility’. Credibility to your life and to your work – which is meaningful, constructive and a rewarding experience.

Achyutha’s favourites:

book : Simulation by Jean Baudrillard, Art & Lies by Jeanette Winterson
movie: The Cell
food – Indian, pan – Asian, Danish lunch, Persian
drink – Indian raw mango juice, sugarcane juice
quote : “life is about chances you take and choices you make” – my own quote