During this pandemic, when glimmers of hope have become the need of the hour, the role of art is now central in our lives.
One such initiative, Art for Charity, has been bringing together students, artists and art enthusiasts from across India to contribute for a cause.
Madan Mohan, student of photography, National Institute of Design and co-creator, Art for Charity
I found my calling in art and design during high school. Photography became my constant muse and I enjoyed filming events in a documentary format. This interest paved the way for me to study Visual Communication at Madras Christian College, where I specialised in photography. After working in advertising for two years, I wanted to continue practising photography and image-making. So, I joined photography design at NID in 2018. My parents were supportive.
I practise analogue and historic processes of photography and am slowly getting into archiving old photographs — both familial and institutional archives. I eventually want to specialise in archiving and curation. Art has slowed me down and made me more meditative about life and what I do. It has made me more observant and got me to look at things from a different perspective than most others. With people becoming more aware and appreciative of art these days and the art world made accessible and available to the masses, it feels good to be an artist now.
Without some form of art, none of us could have survived this prolonged lockdown. Movies, songs, books, poetry are forms of art we consume to feel better, or for entertainment. When we cleaned the house at the beginning of the lockdown, I discovered some objects that were kept safe because they had an important story or a sentimental value — like my grandfather’s surgical kit, my father’s first-ever Ray-Ban glasses, a traditional Finnish bowl. Every time we clean the house, we tend to discard things. After contemplating, these things might be thrown away or might wither at some point. So, I am photographing these objects and creating a visual archive of them and writing the significance it holds in our home. It is a work in progress.
Favourites
Alec Soth, Sally Mann and Josef Koudelka are some of the photographers I look up to. Banksy, Salventius, Antonio Canova are some of the artists I admire.
Srinidhi Chandrasekar, digital artist and co-creator of Art for Charity
From doodling on pictures in History textbooks and painting unnecessarily layered concepts on posters to inking my thoughts in my favourite colours, the idea of art has always been a side venture. But, I love that art is a multi-sensorial experience that appeals to everyone and is open for interpretations. And this understanding and ‘art’ inclination is what brought me closer to the concept of design. I love that now art has become a powerful tool for activism. I’d like to believe that art is a lot more inclusive, accessible and has evolved from being just a medium of self-expression to a medium that introspects and reflects the thoughts and feelings of societies.
Art has made me more observant of my surroundings and this helps me draw inspiration from everything — even ‘normal’ everyday objects around me, people and the things they say. Visual puns have always been a staple and drawing more of them out in quarantine has been relaxing. It’s been a great medium for me to express my thoughts, worries and even my jokes. And this time around, art has inspired me to design to do some good for the larger community.
Amid all the donation requests from big NGOs and campaigns on social media, we stumbled upon a lot of small, incredible people-led initiatives that were running out of funds. We figured it would be more impactful if we raised money for such individuals that support vulnerable people who are in the blind spots of the bigger NGOs. These individuals are on the ground, personally involved in the purchase and distribution of essentials to the communities affected by the Pandemic and the lockdown. #ArtForCharity is an open and community-driven concept that connects artists who want to donate art, buyers who want to contribute, with individuals that are making a difference across Indian cities. We’re using skills and expertise from creatives to help channel money to small people-led initiatives that need funds and are doing it by hosting fundraising workshops online and by selling artwork on our page.
Art therapy
I find doing digital illustrations a lot more therapeutic than pen to paper (definitely an unpopular opinion). For me, it’s a medium that gives me more room and freedom to experiment, be iterative, make errors, ctrl Z and repeat.
Devi Ramanathan, junior art director
When I was a child, I dabbled with several hobbies and learned Carnatic music, to play the piano, and swimming. But, visual arts is what stuck with me. I vividly remember — when I was about 10 years old, during sleepovers, my friends and I would try to weave the cartoon characters we loved the most into a whimsical land of our own on canvas. After school, I went on to study product design and now, I work as a junior art director at an advertising agency. And my journey has only begun.
I’ve only recently been more open about my artworks. With social media, and everyone so well-connected, it’s easy to get lost in what you can/can’t do. These past few weeks, however, I’ve had more time to practise and create...so, I’m getting confident with each day. When the lockdown was announced, like everyone, I worked during the day but as the days passed, it was getting harder to keep up the positivity. With all the calls and meetings, I always felt drained at the end of the day and I wouldn’t have checked off everything on my list. So, I started staying up late into the night trying to create pieces of art. And it has never failed to make the following day better. Art has helped me cope during this period. But, it has been a two-way relationship.
I look for comfort in art and it shows me new things to learn and be curious about. In turn, I contribute to a global community of artists. When I came across Art for Charity initiative, I was inspired by how a community of artists can come together to make a difference. I also work with an NGO called Yein Udaan, which has been supplying grocery and sanitation kits to those in need. I constantly hear stories about the current plight of those who are underprivileged. Art For Charity has given me a simple way to help and I am glad to be a part of it.
Keeping it lively
Currently, I work on a lot of digital illustrations and stop motion. The mediums for stop motion can vary from clay, paper to any small object. I’m trying to learn how to give life to objects you find in your daily life through animation.
Bhavya Sundar, textile designer-cum-illustrator
I used to be the kid who asked for crayons instead of chocolates. Somehow, art has always played a part in my life and I realised that it made me feel like I was expressing myself in the best way. Eventually, that pushed me into going to the National Institute of Fashion Technology, and majoring in textile design helped in honing my skills and more importantly, understanding the beauty of craftsmanship. I’ve always felt a strong affinity towards handmade products which was one of the reasons I decided to specialise in handmade stationery.
Art helps me every day in learning a little bit more about myself. It gives me the freedom to let everything go, give rest to my anxiety and be present when I’m creating something. As an artist in 2020, there are a lot of initiatives being taken to promote and support artists, but I think it needs more awareness.
This lockdown period has allowed me to give my undivided attention to all pending artworks and redo my workspace. For an artist, the workspace needs to be creatively motivating, so I ended up painting my walls and beautified the whole area.
My process is pretty simple, I get lost in the Pinterest world and suddenly inspiration will strike, and so it begins. Art for Charity is a selfless initiative started by young artists who wish to give something back to society with art as a medium. I am grateful to be able to help the less privileged, because after all, the thing about making art is putting a part of your soul out there, hoping to touch another soul.
Inspirations
I draw a lot of my inspiration from ancient times including the Mughal period, because of my textile background. There’s a sense of classic beauty and timeless appeal that I would like to achieve in my works.
People/Organisations Art for Charity supports
Shrivigneshwar, who has been preparing and distributing food packets to the wage-worker communities in and around Chennai.
Kartik Agarwal from Feel and Heal Foundation, New Delhi, who has been supporting migrant daily-wage communities in and around New Delhi.
Fatima Zohra and her team, who have been buying and distributing ration kits for the lesser-privileged communities in areas like Powai, Ghatkopar in Mumbai.
Palani Kumar has been documenting sanitation workers in Chennai and through him, Art for Charity has donated money directly to families that have lost their only breadwinner to manual scavenging.
Aditi Jain and Swaminathan, who have been supporting weaver communities in Kurinjipadi and Theni.
Anish Anto and Srijith Sundaram, who have been financially supporting marginalised communities of transwomen, transmen, sex workers in Tamil Nadu.
Sold!
The drive, which aims to raise funds for the underprivileged by selling artworks, has garnered a following of over 600 people. So far, over 40 artists have donated their artworks and have raised over Rs 25,000. For details, visit Instagram page: @artforcharity.india