Tsuktiben Jamir
Initially known as The Community Circle, Rooftop is a popular online learning resource in India for live art classes, workshops, and educational information regarding traditional as well as folk art in India. Such carefully curated workshops aid in bridging the gap between artists and art enthusiasts to make art simply available and approachable to everyone who seeks it. At Rooftop, they “offer a wide range of courses starting from Live art workshops, where passionate and skilled artists give voice and purpose to their art, to Maestro Courses and Art Therapies. An app that not only offers creative services but connects art enthusiasts to form an exclusive art community like never seen before.”
When Kartik Gaggar noticed the disconnect between art enthusiasts and in-person art experiences as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that forced everyone to scurry back into their homes, he founded Rooftop in 2021 with a sole mission to connect art lovers to art despite the physical divide. He took advantage of the digital bridge and saw that switching to a virtual medium and delivering live classes led by award-winning artists as well as local experts would not only help preserve the art and its history but also enable many more people to experience and learn the many art forms from the comfort of their homes.
Courtesy: Rooftop App
Presently, the community has approximately 3500 artists from over 162 Indian towns, representing a diverse spectrum of artistic styles. Through the platform, one can study about 30 different visual art genres through master classes and virtual live art workshops. With the rapid growth of digital advancement, Rooftop is making the courses accessible to more people by introducing the app in mobile phones, both android and iOS. More good news for art lovers as the art courses are available in English and Hindi.
Rooftop’s goal “is to expand our customer base and clientele through introducing new ways of experiencing art, and always challenging our status quo while providing the highest quality products and services. To become the world’s leading provider of art experiences, we strive to deliver consistent and profitable growth.”
The master courses are pre-recorded by award-winning artists who provide in-depth information about a specific art form, while the workshops are conducted by local expert artists, which are conducted over the course of a few days. These programmes last for a few months. The master artists who design the course are paid a royalty on each course that is sold.
The platform has also recently begun working on its offline course prototype. The maestro classes’ duration will be split between online and offline platforms. The company has begun collaborating with a few nearby art studios and classrooms to hold its offline sessions as it converts the app from entirely online to hybrid.
Kartik Gaggar, founder and current CEO of Rooftop told Entrackr, “Visual art forms across India are untapped and more or less unstructured. People living the fast-paced life want to consume creative things and for this we need to have a standardized platform where consumption can be friendly, and the experience will help people connect with others.”
