From a sound engineer to a visual jockey, final year engineering student of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad, and head organiser of the college fests, Siddharth Lenka, always had a tough time while deciding whom to hire for the four major events that take place on campus annually.
“When it came to an artiste as big as Arijit Singh, who has six managers, it is easy to get in touch with him. But otherwise, I either waste my time searching for various organisations or there have been times, when we have ended up hiring someone based on word-of-mouth and have been disappointed with their work,” says 20-year-old Siddharth.
And that’s when he thought, ‘Why not create a platform where people can showcase their talent?’
“Imagine a portal wherein you can look through profile of designers, musicians, sound engineers etc., with detailed list of their works and achievements, and connect with them based on your requirement. The portal will even help budding performers who are good at what they do but can’t afford a personal manager. It would save a lot of time and money,” says Siddharth.
The web portal ArtKonnect will provide a platform and a launch pad for all the art forms — photography, performing arts, dance, music, stand-up comedy, painting, fashion designing etc.
Apart from Siddharth, three students, Sagar Anand, 22, Harsh Garg, 20, and Sreekar, 18, have been working on the idea and the website, though functional, will be officially launched in a week.
“We want to focus on creativity. There won’t be a ‘share’ button, but one that says ‘appreciate’ or ‘become a fan’. The idea is to not only get the artistes in the spotlight, but also help fans connect with them. For instance, there was this time when the band Agam performed on our campus and it was brilliant. Through ArtKonnect, fans can get in touch with them, and keep following up on their music. And if someone else wants to invite the band for an event, they can check out the performance chart and connect with them,” he says.
