Thomas Sehested becomes Director of Danish Cultural Institute in India
India expert and branding agency co-founder Thomas Sehested becomes Director of Danish Cultural Institute in India
Press Release, 15 August 2018
Author, India Commentator and Director of the branding and communication agency Stereo Associates, Thomas Sehested, becomes Director of the new Danish Cultural Institute in India, which opens in Autumn 2018.
The Institute will move in at the new Danish Embassy in New Delhi, from where it will cover all relevant Indian states.
“We are very happy to welcome Thomas Sehested as Director of our new Danish Cultural Institute in India”, says Secretary General of DCI, Michael Metz Mørch.
“With Thomas’ strong insight in India, business thinking skills and large Indian network, he will play a vital role for Danish arts and culture.
The interest in Denmark for India is growing, and the timing could not be better. We will take advantage of this in relation to Danish partners and sponsors. We must tell, why cultural presence is crucial to Denmark, and position us as an attractive partner, who can make things happen and create impact on the art and culture scenes for both Denmark and India. We will create new encounters.”
Ever since his first visit to India in 1988, the country, its people and culture has been of great interest for Thomas Sehested, who holds an MA in History from the University of Copenhagen. During his studies he started out working as Editor on “The Large Danish Encyclopedia” and continued with different non-fiction publications, books on Denmark and guides on culture for digital platforms, among others for the Danish Foreign Ministry. Later he shifted career to Danish top branding agencies, at first Kontrapunkt and later on E-types. In 2016 he co-founded the branding and communication agency, Stereo Associates, based in both Copenhagen and Bengaluru – to be able to focus on assignments in India. The agency creates solutions for many different kinds of clients – fashion, tourism, architecture, education, urban development, lifestyle brands, fast food – a lot of what is on the agenda in modern India.
With his profound knowledge on India, Thomas Sehested is a regular commentator in Danish medias, on both radio and tv, as well as a writer. In 2010 he published the book ”Indien – verdens næste stormagt” (India – the world’s next superpower, L&R Business).
India is the land of culture, says Thomas Sehested – the country is probably one of the culturally richest in the world. To be able to create impact we have to consider our moves – the competition is high. We need to ensure, that there is a sounding board to our efforts and always think in partnerships. From the first steps we must show our presence, engagement and empathy.
DCI in India will build on DCI’s broad concept of culture. To be able to develop relevant content, we will focus on themes with both Danish and Indian sounding board: Resources, identity, democracy, liveable cities, education and research. Our first efforts must be put on developing solid and broad partnerships around these themes. We will establish links between arts, culture and people in Denmark and India. I can not imagine another assignment, that could be more interesting or is more meaningful.
For further comments please contact:
Secretary General Michael Metz Mørch, tel +45 4045 6270, mmm@danishculture.com
Director Thomas Sehested, tel +45 2888 2095, ts@danishculture.in