The House of Creativity (HOC) is a project born out of the passion for creative excellence by founders Sonakshi Sinha, Luv Sinha, and Khush Sinha, a family synonymous with art, culture, and innovations. These three sets of expert eyes with artistic sensitivity and great taste in art form the core of HOC, a platform that aims at empowering Indian artists and help them reach a larger number of audiences. As Luv Sinha says, “The core philosophy of House of Creativity is to empower artists by allowing them to showcase their talent to the world.” The noble initiative recently made headlines for a commissioned wall artwork by BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) along the Mahim Fort and also drew the attention of commoners. In a detailed conversation with TMM, Luv Sinha talks about the soul of HOC, the commissioned work, and much more.
Tell us about the House of Creativity. How, when, and why did it happen?
House of creativity was an idea that came to me a few years ago when I noticed my sister’s love for painting. My brother and I are passionate about photography, so I thought about coming up with a platform to assist talented artists to showcase their talent. There is so much talent in India, however, most of them never seem to find the right platform to showcase their talent, and that is how House of Creativity was born.
What is the core philosophy of the House of Creativity?
The core philosophy of House of Creativity is to empower artists by allowing them to showcase their talent to the world. There are so many artists who are phenomenal at their work, but they just don’t know how to reach out to a larger audience. Today, with so much social media and digital clutter, it has become easy as well as challenging, and hence we want to empower and help these artists and reach out to a larger number of people.
Such initiatives often face a lot of hurdles. What were the issues that you and your siblings faced while turning it into a reality?
The hurdles that we faced were related to the pandemic, as we had to delay our launch twice. We were completely ready to launch, and everything was in place, however, three days before we launched, the government announced the lockdown. We got delayed by two months, however, post that everything seems to have gone smoothly. The art market and the nation’s economy both are not where they are supposed to be, but I am confident that everything will fall in place very soon.
As per the website, there are many artists who are working with different mediums. What is the process of selecting the artists and the theme of artworks they create?
We have an in-house team that curates the artists as they are primarily from the art world. We also have a method via which talented artists can submit their work, and I must admit that we have received a lot of entries. We cannot have everyone put up their work as there is a selection process that includes Sonakshi, Khush, and myself. Having said that, just because we are not able to have everyone’s work on our website, does not mean that they are any less talented. It just means that we are not able to connect with their work as per our personal assessment.
The most recent work of House of Creativity commissioned by BMC along the MAHIM Fort is receiving a lot of appreciation. Tell us about the wall art, and the message that the House of Creativity wishes to convey with it.
The Mahim beach wall art is receiving a lot of appreciation and we are very happy about it. This was something that Mr. Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) of that area got in touch with me and we decided that we would like to do something around the beach area and make it stand out. We discussed a few ideas and on the basis of the brief I found Shabbu Painter, through a reference and I contacted him. He came to Mumbai, and we brainstormed the idea. Mr. Dighavkar himself had a few valuable inputs that he suggested and we incorporated that into the artwork. The message that we are trying to convey is that the wall art is basically a reflection of Mumbai. Think of it as reflecting Mumbai or the Bandra Promenade that is reflected on this wall along with showcasing the Mahim beach area. I am glad that it worked out well, in terms of the final artwork.
Do you think that collaborating with mobile photographers and social media influencers will help diversify the popularity of such an initiative? Your comment.
Surprisingly, there have been a lot of people posting about it on social media. In fact, even before the work was completed, there were a lot of people who were taking selfies with the wall. It shows that it is something that is attracting a lot of people. Even the local residents who saw it felt happy about it and for us, it was a very proud moment when it was finally launched. While I believe that mobile photographers and social media influencers will make it popular, I am certain that people of Mumbai will make it popular, and not just the ones who are popular on social media but everyone who goes there will take pictures and popularize it.
You and your siblings are working at different levels. How do you guys balance the time commitment to brainstorm ideas and plans for House of Creativity?
To be frank, it is actually very difficult. But we all make sure that we give time to this because this is not just a hobby or something that we are doing for fun. It is something that we take very seriously, not just for ourselves but the artists who have put their faith in us. For me, it’s something I am completely hands-on with and obviously, I have a lot of talented and experienced individuals working with me, because no organization is about just one individual. It’s always about the team, and I thankfully have a bunch of good people that I am working with. I am committed to this, and I want to see it grow. I want all the artists on the website to feel that this initiative has helped them in a way.
Your Instagram account is a treat to the eyes. When did you develop the passion for photography, and do you remember what was the first click that made you fall in love with the passion?
I think my passion for photography coincides with my love for cinema. Other than that, I always had a camera from back in the day. When film cameras were replaced by digital cameras, we made the shift early on and for me, the camera was one of the most important possessions. And I am not talking about a phone camera, because no phone camera can be better than a DSLR. I did develop this passion at a very young age and for me camera till date is all about memories of my parents, family members, close friends, and pets. I don’t remember my first click, but I can say that the moment I switched from a basic camera to a professional camera, I found my love for photography. The technology allows me to play a lot with the techniques, and try different styles of photography. Whether you want to do long exposure shots or panning shots with blurred motions and more, there is so much to learn every day, and I guess that is what excites me to go out and play with the lens every time.
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