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What it's about?

Folk music has created a multitude of artful melodies for the communities that practice as well as enjoy art. Besides being their source of exploration into the spectrum of music, it has provided them with an income to rely upon for their daily needs. 

Through Anahad’s exploration across various states of the country, it has been observed that most of the folk music performances are conducted in the live format and a lot of the times enjoyed by tourists and visitors, sometimes at cultural festivals that are celebrated traditionally within the states. Such social gatherings have the potential to come to a halt during the upheaval of a healthy ecosystem due to unforeseen predicaments such as the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Sensitive to such situations due to a lack of involvement in understanding the process of distribution of their art through digital mediums, the incomes of folk artist communities are jeopardized as they are resting mostly on earning wages per every performance.     

Since most of the artists within the community lack ample financial stability or security pertaining to the absence of substantial savings, they are directly affected by such changes in the socio-economic environment in the society due to any crisis situation that may appear. The objective of Anahad Artist Relief Fund is to provide the artists with the required support in order for them to secure their financial stability.

Together, Louder, Stronger – is an online event for the performance industry workers and folk artists by Anahad Foundation, which is aimed at conserving India’s beautiful folk music heritage and its artists, produced by Believe Entertainment, world’s fastest-growing digital and live music company.

The current situation with Covid-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented lockdown and cancellation of all live shows. This crisis has put the industry workers- ranging from sound engineers to tentwaalas as well as the folk artists at great risk due to no events happening right now or for the foreseeable future. It has put over 10 million+ jobs in the Indian event industry at risk thereby placing 25,000 livelihoods at stake. The future of these artists and backstage workers, which relies completely on the on-ground shows and events, is at risk. These are unprecedented times and while mainstream artists are now going digital and have found alternatives, it is the freelancers and daily wagers of this industry along with the folk artists for whom the lockdown has had a devastating impact.

Up to 20+ mainstream and independent, highly talented musician and stars of India like Shaan, Mame Khan, Jonita Gandhi, Benny Dayal, When Chai Met Toast, Bhuvan Bam, Nithyasree Mahadevan and others have come together to support these folk artists, workers and their families at this critical time through this initiative. Together, Louder, Stronger, the virtual event will be launched on Saturday, 26th September, live on Facebook and YouTube channels of Anahad Foundation and Believe Entertainment.  Several celebrated artists will perform from their homes. There will be talks by reputed industry stalwarts, sharing their journey from their struggling days. Each artist will do a 5-7-minute-long web-episode and the entire event will be of 3-4 hours long. The event will bring to light the stories of actual industry workers, folk artists, showcasing the indispensable role of freelancers and encouraging fans to contribute towards the fund and support these folk artists and industry workers.

Why it's required?

According to a survey conducted on 29th March 2020, to evaluate the direct as well as indirect impact of the outbreak of the Coronavirus on the artist communities, it was observed that 90% of the artists and their families lack an income source to attain a state of financial stability during crisis situations that may persist for longer than a few weeks. 

The current situation with COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented lockdown and cancellation of all live shows. This crisis has put our industry workers – ranging from sound engineers to tentwalas at great risk due to no events happening right now or for the foreseeable future. While artists are now going digital and have found alternatives, the freelancers and daily wagers of this industry are severely affected owing to the ground nature of their work. 

Anahad Artist Relief Fund is a research-based program that focuses on the preservation as well as propagation of the art forms that fulfil the needs of the communities. The objective is to incubate the initial week of the survival process of the struggling artists and performance industry workers while they face such unfavourable circumstances. 

How does it work?

Anahad Artist Relief Fund in its essence is an implementation reliant support system that DOES NOT distribute its donations for free until exceptionally adverse circumstances are observed. In order to ensure an even-handed as well as equitable distribution of the donations, Anahad has created this innovative method to generate an employment scenario for the artists. To effectuate this procedure, the system requires the artists to earn their relief grants by showcasing their skills on Anahad’s digital platforms. The grants are divided into two categories based on the urgency of the requirement:

Conditional:

  • The artist is required to register and submit an online form for the relief program.
  • Every registered artist must then prepare and showcase a 30-minute performance for the audiences who may watch these performances any of our online platforms.
  • A fixed relief stipend shall then be provided to the artist after the performance is broadcasted.
  • Relief shall be provided to the artists on a first-come-first-serve basis while the priority will be placed according to the economic conditions of the artist.

Unconditional:

The artists and performance industry workers who have an immediate requirement of support from the relief fund shall clearly mention the details of their circumstances in the ‘special circumstances’ column of the online form.

Step 1 – Collection of data

Step 2 – Analysing and interpreting the data by segregating it on the basis of city and job profiles.

Step 3 – Filtering the data by identifying the correct target audience through one to one calls.

Step 4 –  Prioritising basis a fixed set of questions with the help of a regional panel consisting of reputed touring engineers and event agencies.

  • Phase 1:  People who have no income at all and no other source of livelihood in the dependent/immediate family

  • Phase 2: People who have certain income through other means (though not equivalent to pre lockdown income) but still not enough to support the family.

  • Phase 3:  People with zero income but immediate family is supporting them to an extent.

The distribution of funds will progress from one phase to the next depending on the amount raised.

₹44.47 lakh of ₹75 lakh raised
  • 100% of the donations go to the benefactors.
  • Contributions made are Tax-exempted under 80G.
  • For any query call on +91 9811545089 or mail@anahad.ngo
  • International Donor? CLICK HERE
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Donation Total: ₹3,000 One Time

40.1
Lakhs of funds utilised
1820
Artists given monetary support
1260
Kits of 25kg ration each distributed
45
Locations across 10 states
13th April - With the help of our volunteer Salim, 48 families within Kalakaar Colony received food and essentials. This was done by designing supply kits as heavy as 25 kilos and delivering them to the artists with the assistance of Modi Provisions in Sadar Bazaar, Jaisalmer. These kits contain food supplies as well as essentials such and soap, vim, etc.
14th April - As we expanded our food distribution drive to different regions, we were able to safely deliver our food and essentials kit to 99 artist families in 7 different villages of Rajasthan. We were also able to begin food distribution in the state of Jharkhand starting from Silli by delivering these kits to 72 households making up for a total of 1.5 lakh rupees of ration distribution in a day.
15th April - 81 families of such artists residing in Jaisalmer and Barmer were provided food as well as essentials within one day. These artists come from 5 different villages and were grateful for the support as all the food kits were delivered safely with all the social distancing norms being strictly followed.
17th April - Over 3.1 lakhs worth of ration and essentials kits were delivered with the assistance of our volunteers in the previous four days. 33 more families from Jaisalmer and Barmer were identified and reached in order for us to provide them with food and essential supplies within the day.
19th April - 66 more households were provided with ration and essentials bringing our total up to 370 households. Over 3.5 lakhs worth of ration was distributed among artists from over 25 villages across 3 states within one week of the food distribution drive!
27th April - We are making all the efforts that we can in order to curb such a crisis amongst the folk artist communities of the country. A total of 432 food and essential kits that include 10 kilos of rice and grains and about 12 kilograms of vegetables as well as spices were delivered as 36 more artists who needed our support were identified within Kalakaar colony, Jaisalmer.
28th April - Within two days, over 1.7 lakh rupees’ worth of ration was distributed to the artists who face an economic crisis. We have now commenced our food distribution drive in the state of Karnataka as well and were able to identify and assist new groups of folk artists from Udupi district.
29th April - 6 new villages within Rajasthan were reached in order to provide relief to the folk artists and their families including Sanawara, Baiyya, and Dedasri. 3 Artist groups in the state Karnataka were also identified one of which was provided monetary support as well as food and essentials kit within the day.
30th April - Our volunteers from Bihar were able to commence the food distribution initiative in the state beginning with the identification and delivery of the food and essentials kit to a necessitous artist group in Kaimur district. 10 more artist groups were identified within the state of Bihar. The distribution continued in Rajasthan as well with 48 kits being delivered in villages like Sam, Lakha, and Sanawara.
4th May - 11 artist groups from Kanoi and Poonamnagar were identified and provided assistance with the help of our volunteers. A total of 33 artist families were supplied with the food grains, vegetables, and essentials to get them through the lockdown period.
5th May - Over 1.5 lakhs worth of ration was dispatched from various general and departmental stores in 7 different districts and about 70k worth of ration and essentials kits were put in line for dispatch as we looked to support more and more folk musicians from all states.
6th May - 8.5 metric tonnes of ration and essentials had been provided to folk artists from 39 different villages. Over 8.1 lakhs worth of support in the form of food kits had been provided. The food kits prepared in advance were also delivered to 105 artists residing in 9 different villages that include Devikot, Bhinyad, and Myazlar.

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