ART CHAIN INDIA
THE REVIEW CHAIN︎
A democratic peer-support movement for visual artists in India working with all media.
View available works at #ArtChainIndia︎
ART CHAIN INDIA
THE REVIEW CHAIN︎
A democratic peer-support movement for visual artists in India working with all media.
View available works at #ArtChainIndia︎
MEDIA
OUTLOOK INDIA
An MF Husain Artwork, Now At Your Fingertip
Shailaja Tripathi, June 23, 2022“.... Stepping outside the comfort zone of the gallery ecosystem, artists Purvai Rai and Ayesha Singh launched #ArtChainIndia in 2020. This peer-support initiative enables artists to buy or sell their work priced between Rs.500 and Rs.10000 on social media. Today over 16,000 artworks by artists are uploaded on this network.
This year, Art Chain India is readjusting the price cap so that artists can offer their work at the price they deem fit. In an email interview, Art Chain India revealed that its scope would only widen with time. "This year, we will be focusing on translating the resources we provide to more languages spoken in India and to expand our resources for artists selling work and those looking for legal assistance and guidance," the company's spokesperson stated.....”
CULTURE 360 ASEF
Funding the Arts in the time of pandemic
Veeeranganakumari Solanki, Jan 14, 2021“.... When India moved into its first severe lockdown in March 2020, a majority of the country’s population found themselves stranded in their place of work or education, usually far from their hometowns. This included young artists and creative practitioners who grappled with the displacement of studios and no spaces available to showcase their works. Art Chain India set up by artists Ayesha Singh and Purvai Rai was one of the primary initiatives in India that provided a democratic platform of opportunities that has assisted and encouraged the development of community through peer support....”
FIRSRPOST
2020, a year in Indian art: From virtual galleries to lost livelihoods and new artistic vocabulary, changes a pandemic wrought
Ankush Arora, Dec 30, 2020“.... A few initiatives have been launched in order to address this disruption in the arts and cultural sector. UNESCO, which has referred to this scenario as a period of “cultural emergency”, has launched a global movement to mobilise the creative community in these times, while finding solutions to empowering the artists and other professionals through policy changes and financial measures.....‘Art Chain India’, allows artists to sell their work by tagging the online platform on social media, while encouraging them to buy works of their peers once they make a certain number of sales....”
THE HINDU
2020 will be remembered as year of artistic resilience
Nivedita Ganguly, Dec 24, 2020“.... At a time when most sectors were impacted by the pandemic - art showed its resilience. The turbulent times saw a coming together of the artistic community in support of each other, in support of art...Another peer-support movement is ArtChainIndia, a social media initiative by Delhi-based artists Ayesha Singh and Purvai Rai. ArtChainIndia encourages artists to sell their work directly on Instagram, and support fellow artists by buying their works...”
ART FORUM
Where We’re At: Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, New Delhi
Meera Menezes, Sep 3, 2020“.... In a country with scarce infrastructure for cultural production, artists’ support of their peers, especially in the midst of a pandemic, is an inspiring show of solidarity.... For many artists without gallery representation, the platform has been a boon for visibility and sales, offering a range of online resources on how to draw up a certificate of authenticity, pack and ship artworks, or even create a simple invoice....”
TIMES OF INDIA
Art Sector Paints Canvas Differently to Stay Afloat During Pandemic
Prashant Rupera , Aug 23, 2020“Delhi-based artists duo - Ayesha Singh and Purvi Rai - have created Art-Chain India, an Instagram movement where artists can upload pictures of any work of art priced under Rs 10,000, with #ArtChainIndia. Once they sell work worth Rs 50,000 they pledge to spend Rs 10,000 on the work of another artist”
THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
Ching a new path
Monika Monalisa, Jun 27, 2020“.... For Pritam Nayak, a water colour artist from the city, the closure of galleries has left him with barely any commissions. “I heard about this initiative from an artist circle and managed to sell one of my works,” says 24-year-old Nayak, whose paintings usually start from Rs 10,000. Vikas Shiyal, who shuffles between Bengaluru and his hometown Ahmedabad, says, “Out of 10 artworks that I have posted under Art Chain India, four have been sold. It’s a huge motivation for the artists,” says Shiyal.”
GQ INDIA
Affordable art is now a thing
Shikha Sethi, Jun 16, 2020“.... Recently, ArtChainIndia (@artchainindia) has jumped into the fray, encouraging all artists selling works under Rs10,000 to post a picture of it with the hashtag #artchainindia, creating a virtual catalogue of affordable art on Instagram.”
INDIA TODAY
State of the art
Mrini Devnani, Jun 19, 2020“Historically, we have seen that artists are among the worst hit during crises like these because they cannot market or exhibit their art. Therefore, we are trying to develop a community over social media, especially for artists just starting out,” says Singh. Launched in the first week of May, the Instagram movement has over 4,500 related posts. “Social media has the power to create an online market for artists so that people can understand their work and relive their stories. We are hopeful about this change,” says Rai.”
MID-DAY
A Chain Of Support For Artists
Team Mid-day, Jun 11, 2020“Last month, we had reported in this page how artists Purvai Rai and Ayesha Singh started the Instagram page Art Chain India to help fellow creators sell their artworks. Now, the duo have been joined by independent curator Radha Mahendru to help the community apply for various opportunities by collating resources to guide them on creating CVs and portfolios. They will also get industry experts to offer guided reviews to the artists...”
STIR MAGAZINE
Priya Paul and Minal Vazirani speak of significant trends and future of arts
Rahul Kumar, Jun 10, 2020“Gallery to artist ratio’ globally, and specifically in India is very poor. This means that there is a far greater number of artists and too few galleries to showcase and represent their works. There have been initiatives that have attempted to provide greater access for arts and also democratise it.... Artchain is a platform that uses Instagram to showcase artwork images. It is not curated and this makes it truly accessible to all. Its co-founder, Ayesha Singh, is herself an established artist. In my catch-up conversation merely after two weeks of its launch...”
STIR MAGAZINE
'Creative Quarantine' by Creative Image prompts us to make art for pleasure
Jones John, Jun 09, 2020“Both Rai and Bhatia have been engaged in creative spaces outside the aegis of Creative Image during the lockdown period. While Rai co-founded Art Chain India with Ayesha Singh, as a peer-support movement that assists artists to sell work at this uncertain juncture and beyond, Bhatia...”
TIMES OF INDIA
This Initiative is Helping Young artists earn amid Covid
Ketaki Desai, June 04, 2020“The lockdown has been a difficult period for the art world. With no galleries open, artists don’t have a place to showcase their work. Young artists who are in the early stages of their careers have been hit even harder, with very few sales and commissions coming in. A new initiative...”
THE PATRIOT
Demystifying art
Proma Chakraborty, May 29, 2020“Calling this a “democratic movement”...”here is no gallery involvement, no commission and no curation. This makes it a lot more accessible and friendly for many who otherwise keep away from the art market. “It’s a space where buyers can also develop their taste since there is an array of work of different disciplines and practices...”
THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
Founders of 'Art Chain India' Ayesha Singh, Purvai Rai's moto earn and help others earn
Bhumika Popli, May 24, 2020“Rai further adds that this platform doesn’t charge any participating fee from the artist and the sole motive is to expand support. “Once we are pass this pandemic, we want a fellow artist to say that, ‘I was able to sustain myself in difficult times through my art,’ and not ‘I had a difficult time because I am an artist’...”
INDIAN EXPRESS
The lockdown culture guide: Of theatre, music, food, art and books
Team Indian Express, May 20, 2020“The pledge has more than 1,000 works till date, spanning a variety of media, and is open to the public. There is no curation, no gallery representation and no commissions, with purchases handled directly between buyers and artists. Guidelines for artists interested in joining the pledge are available on Art Chain India’s website and on Instagram @artchainindia. Pledged works can be viewed under the hashtag #ArtChainIndia on social media...”
THE PRINT
ArtChainIndia, a peer-support movement helping artists tide over the Covid crisis
Fiza Jha, May 17, 2020“On 8 May, they launched #ArtChainIndia, an initiative to enable artists to connect with new audiences and buyers by selling their work directly on social media. What at first appears as an innocuous hashtag, #ArtChainIndia uses a pay-it-forward philosophy to activate a community of stakeholders, be it artists or those who appreciate art, to create a circle of support...”
MID-DAY
Let's Not Break The Chain
Team Mid-day, May 13, 2020“The past month has witnessed artists not just responding to the crisis with art, but also collaborating to help each other out. An initiative called Art Chain India, started by artists Purvai Rai and Ayesha Singh, with assistance from Pranati Kapur and Natasha Jeyasingh, among others, is doing just that...”
GRAZIA MAGAZINE
Here’s How The Art World Is Coping With The Covid-19 Lockdown
Ojas Kolvankar, May 7, 2020“...a newly founded collective, Art Chain India through their peer-support policy ensures that the artist community self-sustains each other. The initiative supports budding creatives who could stop practicing and consider switching careers during such financially challenging times.”
DISCLAIMER
When writers ask the Art Chain India Team for images for an article, essay or any piece of writing, we direct them to the #ArtChainIndia page on Instagram. The writers select the images of the artworks they would like to include, themselves.
The screenshots used on this media page are not used to sell or promote any works or artists.They are on display here, as they were published in the article they are placed alongside.
When writers ask the Art Chain India Team for images for an article, essay or any piece of writing, we direct them to the #ArtChainIndia page on Instagram. The writers select the images of the artworks they would like to include, themselves.
The screenshots used on this media page are not used to sell or promote any works or artists.They are on display here, as they were published in the article they are placed alongside.