Leadership

Uday Balasundaram

Catalyst for Arts

India / South Asia

Uday stewards Estuary Cultures, which exists to equip creatives and institutions to go deeper in understanding and applying principles of theological creativity and creative design in order to build more open and inclusive cultures that nurture and propel people everywhere to be their creative best. He is also the founder of the Order of Bezalel, a network to equip and strengthen creatives from all walks of life to fulfil their creative calling and work. 

Uday’s background includes serving as a pastor in the global church (US and India) and teaching as an adjunct professor at seminaries, including Fuller Theological Seminary and Houston Graduate School of Theology. He has also worked for several years in the Indian advertising and film industry and was part of a movement that revolutionized the world of commercial music and the production and spread of Indian film music worldwide. During this period, he worked closely with A. R. Rahman, the award-winning composer of the film Slumdog Millionaire.

Uday holds a PhD in intercultural studies from Asbury Theological Seminary, where he introduced the concept of creatio Dei as it applies to creativity as participation in the creativity of God. Currently, Uday is based in Bangalore at the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS). He is married to Sujatha, a fellow artisan working in the area of art and meditation. They have two daughters, Nadira and Aradhya.