#ThouARTloved, a social initiative launched by Kochi-based LetterFarms, aims to reduce emotional distance during the lockdown. They do this with art – illustrations, poetry, a story, a song or any other form of self expression. The campaign, which is collaboration with online art platform Mojarto, went live on Social Media on April 15, which is World Art Day.
“This World Art Day, which unfortunately coincides with the lockdown and COVID-19, is the right time to focus on reducing emotional distances and nurturing relationships,” says Jubie John, program director of LetterFarms. Explaining how they are attempting to create a platform for emotional well being, he says, “We are using art as a means of connecting people in this difficult time. The concept is ‘break the chain’ of transmission and not break relationships. It is also to reduce emotional distance. Times such as these are emotionally draining for all of us.”
- Hand-write/handcraft an art message – a painting, a song, a poem, a simple one-line message or anything – for somebody you miss the most during this lock-down.
- Take a selfie with the message and upload it on your social media using #thouartloved.
- Tag the person for whom this message is created.
The response has been encouraging with people asking for more time to create the works and uploading them. “These are not professional artists but regular people who are expressing their feelings,” Jubie says. The messages include those written to family – a note by a young child to his grandfather, another is to those in the frontline of tackling and containing the spread of COVID-19 while yet another is a note to a friend with the promise of new adventures.
LetterFarms, as the name suggests, encourages people to write letters. Management consultant Jubie set it up in 2015, with Saji Mathew, a creative professional who works with an advertisement agency. LetterFarms conducts letter writing sessions – ‘write-drop-crop’ boot camps – in schools and colleges.
It is based on the premise that writing letters by hand builds relationships, “It is about emotional intelligence, enough has been said about the intelligence quotient (IQ). We want to start a dialogue about emotional intelligence at the school level. Letters are powerful tools of articulation, which not many use,” says Jubie. Due to the lockdown not many letters are being written or posted, since there are restrictions on movement, for now show your love on social media, through art.
