Meet Sunaina Misra | Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sunaina Misra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sunaina, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I didn’t study art or art history. Therefore, when I started working in the industry, I never had a definitive role. I had the opportunity to work in multiple departments / teams duirng my time at art driven startups. This gave me the opportunity to work on communications, artist on boarding and understand how difficult it is for every single artist to stand out. Later, I worked as the manager of a privately owned contemporary art museum, where my interaction with artists, collectors and professionals from the art world increased. Artiste Culture is an outcome of all my learnings from the last eight years spent in multiple art disciples, demographics and engagements with artists from across the world. I wanted to create a project that not only helps collectors but equally focusses on helping artists in achieving their goals. We tailor the strategy for every artist because I strongly believe that every artist has a distinct path and a beautiful story that deserves the right resources and infrastructure. My vision is to make sure that the story of each artist I work with is narrated beautifully to the collectors and enthusiasts. This initiative is extremely close to my heart because I have the opportunity to truly help artists grow in the right direction and for the collectors to explore cultures. I believe in blurring the geographical boundaries and opening doors for artists and collectors from all walks of life.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Introducing a new concept comes with its own challenges. When I reached out to artists to introduce the project, they were pleasantly surprised. They found the idea of introducing them to new markets and tailoring a strategy and executing it to assure we help them grow within the industry, intriguing. However, few artists were skeptical. Similarly, when we introduced ourselves to new collectors, they wondered who we were. But we found creative solutions and eventually created strategies and communicated in distinct ways. We introduced the concept of consultations and conversations to ease the artists into the whole project. This helps us in not only exploring new stories but also gives an artist insight into what we can do for them. Having worked in start-up companies and small businesses, I completely believe in constantly revisiting the strategy and approach, tweaking the model to suit our audiences. While staying true to ourselves and our vision, we love learning and exploring new ways to overcome the challenges. We interact with artists and collectors from distinct cultures, so as a team we make a conscious effort to adapt and make their journey as seamless as possible. This is also a great learning opportunity for us because while engaging with artists from all over the world, we get exposure to their world and the best practices in the demographic.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh, I live in Goa, the sun and sand itself are so inviting! Goa is blessed to see tourism from multiple countries. This has resulted in the state being festive and culturally rich. So if a friend was visiting I’d first walk them through Goa’s beautiful architecture, especially the Latin Quarters followed by visits to little cafes run by people from all over the world. I’d love for them to explore the art here. It’ll be incredible to see their reactions to the artist studios and galleries here.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have been fortunate to have worked with some incredible people in the last few years. The organizations I worked with have been instrumental in shaping my perception of art and professionalism. It is important to be associated with people who have the zeal to create something unique and my time at the museum, taught me the importance of creativity and unique concepts. I guess, when you are surrounded by people who are as driven and committed as you are, it is encouraging and relatively easy to think big. Even the artists I have worked with or working with unconsciously become my guiding light. I still remember, when I first thought of initiating a project and haven’t even thought of a name, I spoke to Parul Mehra (an artist I’ve been working with for a long time). Her blind faith in me was one of the reasons why I was even more determined to take the idea forward. Similarly, the people I have collaborated to work with are so full of ideas that it is truly inspiring to see them put their trust in the brand. My list is never ending….lol. I have a weakness for books. While I have a zillion books to thank, there is one that I often turn to, the one that always shows me the path. It is The Rumi Prescription by Melody Moezzi. She is an exceptional author who made me realize how imperative it is to keep pushing despite what the world thinks. In the most poetic way, she shares episodes from her journey with a quick prescription from Rumi. It’s a mystical and close to reality, all at once. So my story so far is a true reflection of strong beautiful relationships with artists, family, friends, colleagues and mentors that have subconsciously or intentionally been instrumental to the inception of this project.

Website: https://www.artisteculture.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artiste_culture/?hl=en
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunaina-misra-627b0543/

Image Credits
NA. We own the rights to all the images