Introspection. How many of us even knew this word before we were plunged into lockdown after lockdown. Now, with the extension of yet another lockdown, we are back in our homes, in our rooms and in our own minds with nothing but introspection to follow. Inevitable, our thoughts drift between our 'old normal' past and our 'new normal' future. So, if you are a student and you catch your thoughts drifting the next time, why not channelise it into art. Draw, write, paint or even sketch it out, and send your work over to be featured in The Note, the first digital magazine of the Hyderabad chapter of Student Art Spaces (SAS). In another first, SAS Hyderabad is the first Asian chapter of the global art community to offer young artists a platform to showcase all kinds of creative work.
 

Shilpa is a self-taught artist who is influenced by anime. Horimiya is her favourite anime

It was youngsters Udita Gowdety (16) and Shilpa Munjuluri (17) who initiated SAS Hyderabad and they, along with a few other core members, are the brains behind The Note, which they intend to publish digitally on June 21. "We have been trying to innovate during the pandemic, we even launched a virtual 3D art gallery that displayed the work of students. We had over 1,000 views and that has made us eager to get on to our next project," shares Shilpa. That's when they came up with the digital magazine, which will be a quarterly feature. For the first edition, they are inviting submissions from writers, poets, photographers and creators that align with their theme ‘Letters to Oneself’. The theme encourages one to send a message out to their past, present or future selves. 

One of Shilpa's work

While the team of five volunteers plus the two founders are yet to zero in on the number of pages the e-magazine will have (it will depend mostly on the number of submissions they receive), the objective is the same as that of SAS, "To offer artists a platform to showcase their work in all its glory," explains the Class XII student of CHIREC International School, Hyderabad. Also, since publishing a hard copy is out of the question during this ongoing pandemic, PDFs of the magazine will be emailed or a link will be sent out. Columns on fashion and music will be interspersed among all the artwork that they hope to receive from across India. Last date for submission is June 14, so hurry up!

For more you can email them on studentartspaceshyderabad@gmail.com