Life at IMDR

Mrs. Sanjukta Barik Founder, LA Aartesmisia Studio and Gallery

MBA 1986-88

Founder, LA Aartesmisia Studio and Gallery

Entrepreneur- Mrs. Sanjukta Barik

Interviewed by - Raibhan Shinde

Prepared By - Shivani Bapat

Mrs. Sanjukta, having felt a pull towards art since a young age, took the bold decision of leaving her corporate job and a promising career to pursue her passion. She decided to tread down the unconventional path and follow her voice within which told her that her passion lies somewhere else. Knowing that she was not cut out for the typical 9-5 routine, she realized that it was time to follow her dreams and do something that brought her more satisfaction. She took up painting as a profession and started showcasing her talent by exhibiting and selling her artwork. That’s how her journey began and today, she is a Mumbai based artist who specializes in oils, acrylic paintings and much more. She works as a gallerist and a curator.

Mrs. Sanjukta also believes that one’s roots i.e., the educational institutions such as school, college play an important role in shaping one’s career. She says that typically, an artist’s approach is different from that of others. She looks at her art as a business proposition and this is where one’s academic foundations play a role. It imbibes values like entrepreneurship and out of the box thinking. However, these learnings alone are never enough.

According to her, you face a lot of challenges, especially being a first-generation entrepreneur. It was quite difficult for her since there is always a lot of work for an artist. Art is a very niche and small industry in the first place. Apart from the financial struggle, one has to fight a mammoth battle of social acceptance too. But when your product is good and you are a serious about your art, people eventually take cognizance of you and your work. They’ll start noticing that your work is different, and that you really have the ability to stand out. However, this purely depends on your product, its quality, how you position yourself in the market and how you strategize &portray yourself as an artist.

Hard work and honesty are the principles Mrs. Sanjukta abides by in her life as an entrepreneur. She paints for 8-9 hours a day, works with a number of artists, follows their journey and makes a sincere effort to gain in depth knowledge about her contemporaries in the field. She also gives valuable advice as an entrepreneur to startups. She thinks that there can be multiple reasons behind short lived startups. It is possible that their research wasn’t enough, they didn’t approach the problem in time or just gave up too soon. As a budding entrepreneur, it is always important to assess risk and understand that things take time. If one is going to be a part of the rat race, one has to make sure that their product is very different and up to the mark. The government is encouraging entrepreneurs and one ought to capitalize on such support schemes. Her constant effort is towards bringing the art industry into mainstream and promoting Indian art overseas.

Having set foot in the field of art over 20 years ago, she understands the plight of those that are underprivileged. Being an artist, the recognition has to come from society. Hence, she likes to give back to the society by helping those in crisis, like children with disabilities or autism, and cancer patients. People are unaware of costs that treatments incur and thus she tries to chip in wherever possible. In her opinion, it gives one a lot of personal satisfaction and inner peace.

She adds, that if she could go back in time and give any advice to her younger self it would be to- HANG IN THERE! She had to go through a lot of struggles when she started out as an artist. Her battle for recognition in the industry was long and arduous. There was a time when senior artists wouldn’t even acknowledge her presence because she didn’t have a fine arts degree. Today, she thinks that a degree may help for those willing to enter such a niche industry. She has made it to where she is because her art was decent, and she was highly determined to make it in the art world.

As an Artist-Entrepreneur-Homemaker, she is multitasking all the time. Dedicating her time to painting, managing various shows & exhibitions and at the same time being equally present at home is a demanding job. There is a lot of stress involved in it. However, when you’ve always been a person like her who enjoys challenges, life gets easier. But then in terms of business, it runs even more efficiently when you know the right people. Networking plays a huge role particularly in an industry where your work is characterized by whether people recognize you. Mrs. Sanjukta has spent a lot of time networking and is a part of all the major chambers of commerce & networking groups. For every entrepreneur trying to establish themselves, reaching out to people beyond the industry they are from, is extremely essential.

Everything Mrs. Sanjukta says is more than substantial advice to all entrepreneurs out there. However, for new entrepreneurs she believes that choice of industry is very crucial. One has to ensure that one hangs in there like she did despite all the hurdles. She concludes by saying that there is no mantra for success- Just work hard and stay true to yourself!