Help at hand for artists

HYDERABAD : Tt’s World Art Day today and with the Covid-19 lockdown enforced across several countries in the world, the art sector, especially the performing artistes, have been hit hard. Given there are no public performances and no gatherings the artistes involved in performance or exhibiting their works are bearing the brunt both in terms of funding and earnings which have trickled down to almost nothing. In such a scenario, it is a challenge for those in the creative field to maintain the balance between mental health concerns and also wait for the uncertainty to get over.

That’s when support is required not just for the reasons to ease their worries, but to understand that there’s still hope at the end of the tunnel. Volunteers of Prakriti Foundation, the noted art-culture-music platform is getting in touch with artistes in various categories such as music, painting, dance, poetry among others. The members have been contacting artists through phone calls. 

Says Meera Krishnan of Prakriti Foundation, “In these times which are really tough we are reaching out to people, who are part of the fraternity. We even encourage them to reach out to the counsellors writing through an unnamed email ID if they want to maintain absolute secrecy.”

The organisation has been inviting people to be a part of their volunteering service who want to offer their services on mental health. And since paying EMIs and other bill payments are becoming quite a challenge the organisation is also offering a nominal amount to those artistes, who are in acute need of it. An author, who doesn’t want to disclose his/her name, said, “It was a relief to receive a call from them and to hear that you are not alone. People willing to help you out when you don’t see any ray of hope around.”
 saima@newindianexpress .com @Sfreen