Independent artiste collaborations are quite commonplace in the digital age, where a plethora of online platforms encourage work across disciplines. Take Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s HitRecord, Dextra and ProCollabs for instance. Closer home, we have SkillBox, an online community platform for musicians, and a chatbot named Dara, which helps artistes collaborate.
With so many options online, is there still an allure to offline? “Despite the ease of communicating in the virtual world, everyone likes to belong to a real-world community as well,” explains Vignesh Ramaswamy, co-founder of Tartl, the Bengaluru-based online content platform. The two-year-old outfit helps creators generate a sustainable income through digital portfolios and marketing their expertise. Now, the start-up is looking to translate the operation into something more “on-ground” with MAPS Originals, which debuts tomorrow in Chennai.
Akin to a community open mic, the event, slated for this evening, hopes to provide a space where creators can showcase their talent, and possibly work together. These collaborations, however, will not be as impromptu as they seem.
“Wherever we felt there was potential, we connected the artistes who registered to put up a performance together,” clarifies Ramaswamy. For instance they’ve connected a violinist and a string of city-based poets. At the same time, stand-alone acts like Rabhinder Kannan’s comic set is also slated.
They’ll also be working with Yaazhi, a city-based band helmed by violinist Kiran Kashyap. “We took over the music and creative aspect of bringing the talent together,” elaborates Kashyap, who will also feature as a solo guest performer in a line-up which will see about 15 performances.
Advantage homeground
Though Tartl is Bengaluru-based, and is funded by the Kerala government’s Startup Mission (KSUM), Ramaswamy and his team have zeroed in on Chennai to host the first session of MAPS Originals for one reason — it’s home to all of them. And while cities like Mumbai and Delhi have event agencies, pubs and even studios which help artistes collaborate through focussed events, Chennai too needs a platform that will help collaborations turn into something “more tangible”, he says.
The lineup will also feature nattupura kavidhaigal , a Tamil poetry format woven with local folklore, typically describing life in the rural countryside. “Our agenda is to also promote local art forms that are pertinent to the city’s culture,” says Ramaswamy.
The first session of MAPS Originals is on Saturday, at The Artery, Royapettah, from 6 pm to 7.30 pm. Tickets at ₹150 on instamojo.com.
