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Meet the Indian artists offering art in exchange for aid to Covid charities
Painters, musicians, writers and comedians are creating customised digital portraits, free beats, giving donors the chance to name a character in a book.
Digital portraits in exchange for donations; a beat for free if you give to charity; a chance to name a character in a new graphic novel — these are some of the ways in which artists are helping in the fight against Covid-19.
“The idea came to me from a feeling of helplessness — with the state of the country right now, with the lack of government response, and the bravery of on-ground Covid warriors risking their lives to help others,” says musician Arjun Vagale, 42. “As an artist sitting at home, there is very little we can do to help, and the only way is via our music.”
He and 14 other Indian electronic musicians released a 14-track digital album called SOS on Bandcamp, an online record store, on April 30, to raise funds for the Hemkunt Foundation, a Gurugram non-profit currently focused on helping patients’ families access oxygen.
“The compilation was put together and released in three days. The reason being, we need to help now,” Vagale says. The album, priced at 10 Euro (about ₹900; but you can choose to donate more), has raised ₹3 lakh so far.
Elsewhere, Bengaluru-based illustrator Divya Gupta (@divcookie) is offering digital portraits if you donate ₹1,500 or more to any of the NGOs listed on her Instagram page. Sidin Vadukut raised ₹1.75 lakh in a 24-hour fundraiser that let donors pick the names of characters in his next graphic novel (seven people donated ₹25,000 each to a Covid relief body of their choice). Siddhanth Chordia aka The Convo, 24, a music producer from Pune, is working with 27 others to give beats out for free in exchange for donations of ₹2,000 or more.
Chords for a cause
Chordia launched his project, Breathe This Air (@breathethisairproject on Instagram), on May 4, while recovering from Covid himself. He lost an uncle who was like a father, he says, as well as a close friend who was only 27. When he decided to give out beats in exchange for donations of ₹10,000 or more, he says he expected “about 10 friends to donate ₹2,000 each”. “But on the first night, last week, we saw donations of ₹1.17 lakh,” Chordia says.
Since then, Breathe This Air has added more artists to their collaborative effort — painters, dancers, video producers. “We expect to reach a target of ₹8.8 lakh by the end of this month,” Chordia says.
A most moving experience, he adds, was when a woman who lost her mother to Covid-19 approached him with proof of her donation, asking if he would create a beat similar to a song that reminded her of her mom. “I spent a whole day on that one beat,” he says.
N Bhandari, 25, a software engineer from Dehradun, is among others who have claimed a personalised beat from Chordia. “It’s amazing to see artists coming together to create content like this,” she says. “Both of us have lost people. I’ve lost an uncle and friends who were dear to me. That mutual sense of loss was a part of what made this more meaningful.”
Artistic value
Among the artists performing to raise funds are comedian Vir Das, culinary researcher Shubhra Chatterji and artist Indira Mallik. Das raised ₹7 lakh over two days (May 1 and 2) and continues to perform online gigs from home to raise money. Tickets are priced at ₹750.
Mallik, 25, a doctor in the UK and an amateur artist, has raised about ₹10,000 selling digital prints of her paintings via Instagram (@indiradrawsthings). “I think many people want to help but are unsure how to do so. Buying art makes the process a bit more straightforward,” she says “And for me, painting has provided a fulfilling way to do something for the cause.”
Chatterji (@historywali on Instagram), 37, has launched a lecture series featuring scholars, researchers, chefs and writers talking at events held virtually every weekend. Tickets are priced at ₹750 per head, with about 50 seats per session. The first lecture, on May 8, was by food writer Marryam H Reshii about the culinary culture of Kashmir. The second, on May 16, was by food historian Salma Husain on summer feasts in Mughal times.
All proceeds go to Covid relief organisations such as the Protsahan India Foundation, which is focusing on children orphaned by the pandemic. “I was basically paralysed all week and this felt like using my own anger and frustration. This gave me something to do,” Chatterji says.
Author Sonia Faleiro is leading an Artists for India fundraiser that has raised $26,000 (about ₹19.5 lakh) from the sale of signed copies of books by Salman Rushdie, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Kiran Desai, Jodi Picoult and 66 others. Proceeds go to the NGO Mission Oxygen India, which is funding the import of oxygen concentrators for hospitals in need.
“Every little bit counts at such a time,” says Jaswinder Singh, executive director of Protsahan. “There are influencers and artists and people who have their own networks who can take our word forward. Every person who’s pitching in brings value to someone else’s life in some way.”
