Baadal Nanjundaswamy, a Bangalore based artist who works at an advertising agency uses his art to embarrass the civic authorities into fixing the potholes that litter the roads of Bangalore.
In the country formerly known as Burma, these free thinkers are a force in the struggle for democracy.
By Joshua Hammer
Photographs by Adam Dean
Smithsonian Magazine, March 2011
Seeking to use war-time waste for social good, Saught was set up by Pamela Yeo, Adeline Heng and Ng Sook Zhen in December 2010. Based in Singapore, the company uses the metal from de-activated landmines to create pieces of jewellery. The organisation employs citizens from conflict-ravaged regions, offering a source of employment for those who may have lost as a result of the fighting in their nation.
With World Comics India, the organization he started, Sharad has pioneered a cheap and easy medium for poor people to communicate meaningfully on issues that are neglected by the conventional media. While the urban elite dominates public media, the grinding day-to-day concerns of millions are rarely heard. Layers of discrimination and abuse heaped on huge numbers of people keep their problems out of sight and out of mind.