Interviews with the city’s leading designers, artists and architects, a fictional series exploring an artist’s relationship with art ... these are among the contents of a YouTube channel, Srishti TV, launched by 14 graduating students from different departments of the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology.
The student-led project aims to engage with the larger student community in the field of creative arts and bridge the gap between designers/artists and the world.
The videos also showcase traditional art and craft of the State and a dictionary which decodes complex design/art jargon. “There still exists a huge barrier between art and the common man. We wanted to break it. We though of launching a YouTube channel as it is the most popular, viable and accessible digital platform today,” said Devika Sandill, a visual communication and strategic branding student. Work on the channel started in January, with students taking workshops to learn the basics of developing and streaming video content. The project has been encouraged by Geetha Narayanan, founder-director, Srishti institute, and mentored by television director and faculty Niret Alva, said Ms. Sandill.
One episode with nine segments totalling 40 minutes was uploaded on April 19. In the coming days, a fresh episode will be uploaded every Wednesday. “We have nine playlists, with five episodes in each, and the longest run time is 10 minutes. We have deliberately kept the duration short so that people don’t lose interest in the content,” said Atreyo Mitra, film student, who donned the role of a scriptwriter for the project.
“In one week, the channel has got close to 550 subscribers. The ‘My Best Friend Art’, which is the fictional series, has received over 1,000 views in a short time,” said Soumya.
Though Srishti TV is part of the students’ thesis, the institute wants to make it a permanent project. “Our task primarily was to create a template and framework for Srishti TV. We are hopeful and confident that this legacy will be carried forward by future batches,” said Mr. Alva.
