The current situation with COVID-19 has led to a 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 financial risk. It has put on pause over 10 million jobs in the Indian event industry, 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.
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.
20 mainstream and independent musicians and celebrities like Shaan, Mame Khan, Jonita Gandhi, Benny Dayal, Akriti Kakar, 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 a virtual fundraising initiative. Together, Louder, Stronger 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. 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.
Together, Louder, Stronger is a fundraiser 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. Anahad is a Nonprofit Organisation, registered in 2013, under Section 8 of the Companies Act. It works towards conservation-preservation, the evolution of folk musical heritage in India with the help of technology.
Said Abhinav Agrawal, Founder – Director, Anahad Foundation, “We, at Anahad, continually work towards uplifting and bringing back underprivileged folk musical communities into the mainstream by providing them access to production technologies at their doorstep. However, with the pandemic situation, we understand that the daily wagers and freelancers have suffered immensely. Through this initiative, we are trying to provide financial aid to around 600 performance industry workers across the country. We aim to unite the performance industry across India for the cause of the daily wage workers. These workers make sure all your favourite artists perform their best and that all their needs are met. We hope to bring together all the music enthusiasts and supporters of these folk artists and performance industry workers to stand strong with an industry that gives them so much happiness.”
Watch Together, Louder, Stronger live on YouTube and Facebook pages of Anahad Foundation.
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