‘Matir Gaan’ stands by folk artistes amid pandemic
The corona pandemic has taken a toll on the livelihoods of people from all spheres. Artistes are no exception to this, especially those based in remote, rural areas of the country. Many folk artists and musicians were left with no income sources after the lockdown was imposed, as a major portion of their income would come from local gigs and programmes.
To address this issue and support the artists, Pashe Achhi Initiative, a relief and aid programme, launched Matir Gaan. This new fundraiser campaign aims to support folk artists in remote areas during the pandemic.
The works of the contemporary rural folk-artists are not quite known in the urban scene. This initiative can not only support rural artists in need but can also leave an impact on the bigger cause of spreading folk music among the urban audience.
"The idea was to connect these artists with folk music lovers in urban areas. We plan to raise funds for singers individually and upload one performance video of each artist that we work with. We want to introduces people in city areas to folk music and encourage them to patron rural artistes' works through donations," said Rafiul Mahmud Chowdhury, co-founder of Pashe Achhi Initiative.
"Logistical and technical challenges in reaching out to artistes and recording their performances remains a big challenge. It's difficult to access even average quality recording equipment sometimes, but we are trying our best to come up with solutions. For now, we are using our own resources to reach the artistes and record their performances," Rafiul explained.
"If people continue to donate, then we want to make a call for volunteers across the country to reach the artistes," he added.
The initiative has already released one performance video of folk artiste Humayun Kabir from Narsingdi on their Facebook page Pashe Achhi Initiative.
"The response has been great so far. If a donor wants to keep the music as a memento, we will send them the file via email. We don't want to term this as charity work -- the aim is to connect the artists with folk music lovers," said Rafiul.
"My music is only to please my Creator. I never wanted to make a fortune with this. I'm a blind man, hence I don't have any other way to earn a living. That is the sole reason behind me trying to make a living out of it," artiste Humayun Kabir told this correspondent.
"I enjoyed performing for this initiative. This is also helping me get through these hard times. I'm glad this initiative was taken, it's great for supporting folk music in the country," he added.
The initiative has also helped Sushanta Kumar Paul, a Rajshahi based potter to sell his products online to urban customers. "After we put up the post about Mr Paul's works on our Facebook page, our inbox was flooded with orders. The demand was huge, and he had to make an entirely new batch to meet this demand. Just a few months ago, he was unable to sell anything, and now he's even making profit," said Rafiul.
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