The Coronavirus pandemic has manifested changes in the world that will stay in the near future, if not for good. Amid the lockdown, videos and tweets of famous celebrities from the television and film fraternity have been surfacing every day revealing their contributions by donating to relief funds, feeding the poor, even posting content to keep their fans in high spirits. Why, filmmaker Farah Khan’s daughter raised Rs 70,000 in just five days by sketching her pets! Keeping pace with the rest are artists who have risen to the occasion in myriad ways, putting their weight behind the nation’s fight against the crisis.
When a Delhi-based professional artist Roop Chand heard Prime Minister Modi’s announcement of the lockdown, he knew the nation would be facing a huge crisis and that he would have to do something soon. A professional artist and recipient of the President’s award, Roop Chand has remained connected with social issues throughout his professional journey and strongly believes in the social duty of an artist. “It’s my duty towards my country to spread awareness among people through my art. A picture is worth a thousand words and it is a very powerful medium to educate the uneducated to ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’.”
Amid the welcome solitude, time and a ‘legitimate’ reason to stay home, he started to paint. Once 12 of his works were complete, he began his hunt to find the right platform to sell them. He met Allure Art Gallery founder Nipun Soin and they decided to sell the water-colour paintings via a ‘virtual exhibition’. They spread the message through social media platforms, WhatsApp groups, gallery patrons and good-old word of mouth. “The response to support the cause through art has been great. Of the sale proceeds, 50 per cent will be sent to the PM Cares Fund.”
Overwhelming response
All his paintings touch upon an important aspect of the nation’s fight against the Coronavirus outbreak. “Just about everyone’s role is important — policemen, cleaners, media personnel, etc.” His call to other artists to contribute collectively in the nation’s fight against the pandemic has received an overwhelming response and several artists across the country have approached him, albeit virtually — Markandey Jajware, Balwinder Tanwar, Hena Chakraborty — to name a few.
Many artists are of the belief that this is a better way to contribute toward the cause rather than by merely donating. A work of art remains with the person forever as a memento. It’s no secret that artists face sustenance issues in the absence of a regular source of income. So, with the Covid-19 pandemic raging in the country, buying a work of art would be the last thing on one’s mind, making survival of artists difficult. Ahmedabad-based mixed media artist Hasmukh Makwan did not hesitate even for a moment when approached to contribute his work for sale to generate proceeds towards the Covid-19 fight. “I shared two of my works with a team whose initiative supports the national fight against the pandemic through art. Fifty per cent of the online sale proceeds will be given to the PM Cares Fund.”
Fighting with art’s help
In neighbouring Vadodara, sculptor Vinit Barot works with metal scrap and creates animal sculptures to represent issues affecting humans. “I am creating a form that has hens trying to appear individualistic by crowing over each other, but, in the end, are much like humans who realise the futility of this behaviour only when locked down together.”
Another contemporary mixed media artist Abhishek Dodiya, presently in Bhavnagar, has been eagerly waiting for the lockdown to end so that he, with friends, can create artworks for sale and contribute a portion to the PM Cares Fund. Several art galleries in the country have also taken initiatives to adapt to the changed art scenario by focussing on digital operations. Many have gone a step further to contribute in some manner in the nationwide fight against the pandemic.
Auctions for a cause
Rekha Lahoti’s Kalakriti Art Gallery in Hyderabad was already prepared when a group of Telangana artists approached her with the idea to conduct a digital exhibition and an online auction of their works and direct the entire collection to the CM Relief Fund. “We decided to lower the base price for bidding to attract more potential buyers. The entire auctioning process was simulated online to give the bidders a ‘real’ experience,” she says. “The response was overwhelming for the inspired works of the 27-odd artists.”
How could Goa be far behind when it comes to art and artists. So, Daegal Godinho of the Carpe Diem Art Gallery in Majorda, Goa couldn’t be happier when Hesham Malik, an internationally-acclaimed contemporary artist with “roots in Goa”, set out to document the “experiences of Goans during the times of Covid-19” through a virtual art show. The motive is “to be able to imagine the pain and struggles of people, and at the same time, see them unite as one community.”
The Coronavirus pandemic has united India in more ways than one. Everyone, with their limited means, is playing a part to maintain safety and ensure a swift return to normalcy. Artists, both renowned and the new, have been playing significant roles in documenting the struggles, agony, courage as well as the triumphs of Covid-19 warriors and contributing their bit by donating for the cause.