Akanksha Deo Sharma, an Indian multidisciplinary designer and artist, works as an in-house designer at IKEA. Recognized in Forbes India’s 30 Under 30 for her work in integrating craft into the global design landscape.
With a foundation in fashion design, Sharma actively collaborates with craft communities, highlighting the essential role of community and craft in societal progress and its intrinsic link to materials and the land.
Her work incorporates new and waste materials, exploring our relationship with these resources as society evolves. Notably, in her Forandring project, she transformed rice straw, a harvest residue from India, into a renewable material for IKEA.
Sharma’s work has been featured in Wallpaper, Dezeen, FRAME, Vogue, Elle, and exhibited at the London Design Museum. As a TEDx speaker, One Young World ambassador and The Soulful’s mentor, she advocates for inclusivity and believes in design’s power to drive positive behavioral change.
Having moved to Scandinavia three years ago, Sharma switches between Copenhagen, Malmö, and Delhi- and seeks to understand — and address — the ways in which society is evolving.