'Folk Friday': For the artistes, by the artistes

Concerned over the sad state of the smaller, upcoming artistes in the pandemic, documentary filmmaker Yasmin Kidwai and musician Amit Kilam have come up with a fundraising platform, Artists for Artists. 

This online musical concert is held every Friday under the theme Folk Friday, in collaboration with Longform, and aims to spread awareness, and find ways and means to support the artistes.

Regaling the audiences with their folk songs and music are noted performers like Delhi’s Nizami Brothers (qawwali), Raju Das Baul (Baul music) from West Bengal, Prabha Yadav (Pandavani) from Chhatisgarh, Kaluram Bamaniya (Kabirvani) from Madhya Pradesh and Nathu Lal Solanki (drum) from Rajasthan. 

“Folk musicians who depend only upon their art for livelihood have no work as there are no live shows. Many artistes don't know how to go online with their concerts,” says Kidwai, on the reason behind holding the show. 

“I thought if we independent musicians could together help these folk artists by giving them a platform and not just pass on monetary help, it would help them greatly,” adds Kilam.

Noted artistes Vishal Dadlani, Salim Sulaiman, Shubha Mudgal and Indian Ocean have also extended support to these artistes. 

“Art plays an important role in our lives. And this is our small endeavour to give back to the artist community who have given us tremendous joys through their art,” says Neeta Raheja, Co-founder, Longform.

Next month, Artists for Artists will hold a grand finale at Sundar Nursery with performances by these folk artists. 

Performance Line-up 
November 13: Pandavani by Prabha Yadav, Chhattisgarh 
November 20: Master drummer Nathu Lal Solanki, Rajasthan