Online talent hunt ‘Discover the Artistry’ offers platform for aspiring musicians with disabilities

Kerala NGO Prajaahita Foundation is organizing an online talent hunt called ‘Discover the Artistry’ for aspiring musicians with disabilities. Held on a virtual platform, organizers claim that the event is first-of-its-kind. Entries for the talent hunt will close on 30 September and winners will be announced of 8 October.

Prajaahita Foundation, a Kerala NGO that empowers people with disabilities has started something exclusive as part of their anniversary celebrations. ‘Discover the Artistry’ is an online music talent hunt organised by the NGO with experts in the field.

Prajaahita will provide a platform for aspiring musicians with disabilities to showcase their talents, win prizes and also get opportunities to pursue their love for music. Organisers are expecting a huge online participation, love and support from people across all walks of life.

Lockdown creates opportunities

Past few months have been hard for everyone taking into account the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. Needless to say, it has taken a toll on the mental health of people who are now looking for ways to keep themselves entertained. Events have moved to online platforms, so organizers are preparing for that.

Prajaahita Foundation was started by Sooraj Santosh Kumar, an alumni of The Center for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (The UNESCO Chair) Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham along with his co-founder Ajay Balachandran.

“Organising a music competition for people with disabilities has been a long time vision for Prajaahita”, says Sooraj. “We want to create a community of singers with disabilities, provide them with a platform to showcase their abilities and help them in all possible ways. We are celebrating our anniversary, so there is no better way than holding a musical competition. In the current pandemic, we can only hold it virtually”, he adds.

People with certain disabilities are unable to use all kinds of musical devices. “There are no facilities for people with certain types of disabilities. Prajaahita aims to create a forum for inclusion in music”, says Sooraj adding that they are likely to introduce music fellowship programs soon.

Open to kids & adults

‘Discover the Artistry’ is for music enthusiasts between the age group of eight to thirty years. But interested people of any age groups can apply. They will be categorised into a separate group.

The entries will be judged in two categories — vocals and instrumentals. Participants will be evaluated based on their performance in the video that they send to us and engagements it receives on Prajaahita’s social media posts. Top three performers will win cash prizes.

Entries will close on 30 September and results will be announced on 8 October by renowned names from the industry.

This talent hunt was a brain child of Rejin Jose and Muralikrishna U.

“We believe this is going to be a different talent hunt for many reasons, especially because we are bringing together musicians with disabilities from across India. The trigger behind doing this was that musicians with disabilities do not have much supporting groups in India. The ones that are there are not established. Prajaahita wanted to discover artists and do something for them. We know there are many disabled musicians aspiring to get a platform”, says Rejin, project coordinator.

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