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What is the project about?
We are embarking on a mission to build an open community space that would serve as an artist’s residency, art gallery and performance venue for established & emerging artists as well as amateurs and enthusiasts alike. This platform for creative collaboration, creation and celebration of the arts is to be called Meeraqi.
What does Meeraqi mean?
‘Meeraqi’ is a Greek word that describes what happens when you leave a piece of yourself (your soul, creativity, or love) in your work. When you love doing something so much that you put something of yourself into it. Your essence is forever connected to whatever it is you have created.
I’m not referring to how much of ourselves we put into our careers. I’m referring to what we do when we want to share ourselves with those we love, doing what we’re the most passionate about. For example, cooking a gourmet meal, putting together a photo story, writing a play, choreographing a dance piece, creating a short film etc. We put time, thought, and energy into each of these endeavors. We leave a piece of ourselves behind. That moment shared is the moment that the audience and community will forever feel your presence.
This project is our combined labour of love to create one such space dedicated to the arts, for the community to explore, engage, evolve with various artistic disciplines.
Who is Meeraqi for?
If you are someone who is looking for a space to exhibit your work, a studio space to rehearse your production, jam with your band, conduct a workshop, host a performance, hold a meeting or co-work with a team, Meeraqi is here to support you achieve your vision. It will also serve as a melting pot of ideas, influences and education, as we will be bringing several well known professionals from across artistic disciplines, to both showcase their latest work, and engage directly with the community, both through performances, as well as interactive workshops / master classes.
Where is the space located?
We are located in the heart of Bangalore, at 601, 12th Main, 100 Ft Road, Indiranagar ( Opposite Haagen Dasz ).
What motivated us to create Meeraqi?
The core team behind Meeraqi has over a decade of professional experience in the arts, and has been a part of collaborations with several artists from across India and the world. A constant theme in every single one of these interactions was a conversation around a need for an open space for artists to be able to easily access, create and showcase their work. We felt that rather than always complain about the lack of support for the arts and artistic spaces in India, we take this head-on and create such a place and platform, for ourselves and the many creative professionals like us across India. Since we are based in Bangalore, a city that is known as the tech capital of India, and is at the forefront of contemporary art in India, there is no better city to start Meeraqi in, especially given how few such places exist in the country today.
What is the size of the performance/ gallery space in Meeraqi?
We are looking at converting an area of approx. 4000 Sq ft into the Meeraqi space. This would include a performance / gallery area of approx 1200 sq ft free of any walls or pillars. The remaining area would include a café serving organic and fresh refreshments, a small community library, a green room and restrooms.
How will the money raised be used?
Your entire contributions ( after deducting Milaap’s fee and the payment gateway service fee ) will be used in the construction of the Meeraqi space. Your monetary support would help pay for the main entry staircase, truss and support structures for the roof structure, structural bamboo roof material, tables, high quality wooden flooring in the performance area, and partition structures for the green room & restrooms.
The breakup of the costs is as below :
Main Staircase : Rs. 2,00,000
Main Roof Truss Structure : Rs. 2,00,000
Roof Material and Installation : Rs. 5,00,000
Sprung Wooden Floor : Rs. 2,00,000
Lighting Equipment : Rs. 1,00,000
Sound Equipment : Rs. 1,00,000
Electrical and Plumbing Wiring and Fixtures : Rs. 1,00,000
Furniture and Furnishings : Rs. 1,00,000
Our Token of Gratitude
As a token our gratitude to you, you shall receive a "4 classes card" which you can use to attend any of our classes and also "2 passes" for one performance that would happen at Meeraqi when you contribute INR 5,000.
Please also see the attached membership packages docket that lists offers including those related to rehearsal and performance, space utilisation offers which may interest you as an artist / organisation.
What will it look and sound like?
Meeraqi is envisioned as a vast studio area, extremely well lit and ventilated from all sides, with a unique organic shaped bamboo roof structure. The design of the space is to be modular, so as to be able to fit in different functional requirements as the artist / event requires. The main gallery/ performance area will be the main section, with large windows on all sides, that can be closed in case we need to soundproof the space. This space would be able to house an audience of upto 200 people. Lighting and sound equipment will be rigged around the performance area. The adjoining café area will be open air, with smoothies, juices, and fresh refreshments served. There will be a cosy lounge area as well, with a community library that people can freely contribute to, and borrow books from. On most days, you could walk in to Meeraqi, and be sure to discover something interesting, that you would find personally engaging.
Who’s the team behind Meeraqi?
Creative Director : Sudeep Bhattacharya is an award winning Photographer and Film maker with over 10 years of experience working with audiovisual arts. With his professional portfolio spanning wedding, advertising and corporate films & photography, Sudeep has worked with national and international brands including Facebook, Bajaj, Wrangler, Westside, Taxi For Sure, Housejoy, Fastrack, Practo among others, and has won awards for his short films, as well as several mentions in leading editorial magazines including Vogue, Conde Nast Traveller, and Asian Photography. Sudeep will lead the creative direction and curation at Meeraqi, working directly with artists and institutions, & leveraging his wide artistic experience to further enrich the Meeraqi experience.
Why crowdfunding?
How often have you had the opportunity to contribute to an initiative that aims to bring people together though art? To inspire social change through a spirit of collaboration? To find a space in the centre of the city that can replenish your creative energy in the middle of a stressful day? To partake in, and create the passion project you’ve always dreamed about with like minded creative and artists. Or to just get together with some friends and jam. Not just one day of the week, but anytime you feel like? To be able to step out and have a good evening that is not centred around just food and drink, but a whole lot more engaging?
Meeraqi aims to build communities around artists and their art. By supporting this campaign, you will contribute towards building a platform for many emerging artists, and aspirants who’s voices have so much to share and unique to say. You would be contributing to building a culture that celebrates expression, and nurtures skill. We believe that true change comes from within, and there is no better way to know oneself than by immersing in artistic expression of any form. And in the true spirit of Meeraqi, you have the opportunity to really partake of this platform, participate and create something wonderful.
How much of the work is pending?
At the moment we only have an open terrace area that we need to build on from scratch. We will start utilizing the funds as soon as we meet the target towards the construction of the staircase and roof first, followed by flooring and other parts of the space.
What are the hurdles you expect to face?
The biggest hurdle we have right now is to be able to get the word out, so that we are able to reach the people who would benefit from a space like this, and be able to meet our target. We have set am ambitious yet very realistic target in terms of cost. We have poured in all our capital into creating the new studio which resides on the floors below, parts of which we built with our own hands. We will have the same hands on approach for Meeraqi, building on our own wherever possible. However we will not be able to do much until we are able to pay for the materials involved in construction, and also pay fair fee for the labour involved in constructing the main sections of the space.
What happens if we don’t raise enough money?
We are committed to the Meeraqi vision and will continue to campaign for this cause, appealing to as many artists and creative as possible, hoping they can support this cause. Unfortunately, foundation grants and CSR for artistic ventures is practically non-existent in India – this is the only other funding route we have, and can take upto a year to materialize. If we’re not able to raise enough money through this campaign to fund the construction, we will not be able to move ahead, as then being able to raise the funds on our own would be a mammoth task, and may take an indefinite amount of time, if at all. This would be a terrible setback, since we would lose all the momentum we’ve built over the past month, especially with artist partnerships, and projects that we have in the pipeline, that we would like to bring to you as soon as possible.
We don't want that to happen so if you're thinking of contributing, there is no time like the present, CONTRIBUTE TODAY! We truly appreciate your patronage of this project and will do all we can to make it the best it can be, complete it as soon as possible, and make sure that you are proud of being a supporter!
How do we prove that we wont take your money and run away?
As you can see from our Facebook updates and videos on the Page, the core team have been working towards the new studio space for a few months now, right from conceptualizing the space, to building dry walls, partitions and door frames with our own hands, to now working towards the design and identifying materials to be used for Meeraqi. The next crucial step is raising the funding for us to execute all the plans and kick start the event calendar. We feel very passionately about this, and can’t wait to make this a living breathing space for artists from all over India and the world. If you help us reach our goal, there is nothing holding us back from finishing construction and being full functional and operational in the next 2 months. All we truly need is your help in raising our target goal, and spreading the word about what we have set out to accomplish.
How can you support the project?
- Make a pledge. Any contribution, no matter how small or large, will make a difference!
- Donate in kind to our wishlist. We would like to be as responsible to the environment and resources as possible, so would love to repurpose your own furniture, furnishings, art work, and household knick knacks to find a new home in our space.
- Spread the word by telling your friends, family and social networks about Meeraqi and our campaign. Please send the URL of this page with a heartfelt endorsement to everyone you know! “Like” and Share the link on Facebook, Twitter, by email or on your blog.
- Help us get press about this space & our Milaap campaign! Share this news with bloggers, journalists, websites, etc.
- Have some amazing creative skills? We’ll need help with branding, posters, interior design, photography, video or really anything you’d like to bring on board to make Meeraqi a unique venue.
- If you have other ideas on how to help, please contact us at themeeraqispace@gmail.com
What if I have more questions?
Great! We'd love to hear from you at themeeraqispace@gmail.com or
call us at :
Sudeep ( Creative Director ) – 9972799116
