Page 13 - Spectrum Volume 14 Issue 3

2020 | Spectrum | Volume 14 Number 3 13

Pandemic and the rise Virtual tour of the national

of video calling services gallery of modern art

PRIYANSHA SINGH
ISHIKA GHOSH
AISHIKI HALDER
The SRM Directorate of
2020 has been a tumultuous Student Affairs and the SRM
year so far. With most countries Centre for Performing and Fine
going into lockdown abruptly Arts collaborated to arrange the
back in March, things were in event on a Zoom Video Call,
utter disarray. With businesses, hosted by the SRM CPFA head,
work and educational systems Dr Shobhana Vignesh and a
shut down, people were trying student convener, Ms Aparna
to hold onto any remaining Srivastava. They briefed the
semblance of their past lives. working of the SRM Cultural

As social distancing became groups while acknowledging Mr Argha Kamal Ganguly
the new norm, Video calling Distance is no longer an issue in today’s age! the honourable guest, Mr Argha
services became the perfect tool, Kamal Ganguly, Assistant
both for work and to maintain meetings to virtual classrooms, privacy are at a compromise. Curator of the National Gallery
some remnant of social life. This church sessions to even the While such cases aren’t an of Modern Art, New Delhi.
was supported by the fact that UK cabinet meetings. When everyday issue, there still runs a He diligently exhibited the
the video conferencing apps it comes to killing some time risk of hacking and calls being National Gallery and explained
experienced record growth and shooting the breeze with interrupted. how art is a set of Collection,
between March 14th and 21st friends, Houseparty and Brunch The various companies were Documentation, Restoration,
with a whopping 62 million are the perfect partners. And if definitely unprepared for such Display and Education.
downloads from the app store. you want to add a little music a sudden spike in demand and Mr Ganguly started the virtual
to the mix, Discord is your
While we all knew about unaware of the myriad of ways tour by presenting four major
apps like Skype and Facetime, place to go. With a plethora consumers are using them. It artists- Raja Ravi Varma, Nicolas
of options, users are no doubt
what’s notable is the rise of much spoilt for choice. is a responsibility for them to Roerich, Ramkinkar Baij, and Ms Aparna Srivastava
lesser-known apps like Google make sure that there is no such Jamini Roy. The audience
Hangouts Meet, Houseparty, However, with a multitude breach of privacy besides also was fully engrossed into the
Brunch, Discord with Zoom of pros also come cons. With evolving with the times and description, and stories behind
topping the charts. These services an increase in the popularity maintaining the interest of their compositions.
were everywhere, from business of such apps, internet and data their users. This was followed by taking
the audience through paintings
Putting technical skills to test of various yogic poses portrayed
for the International Yoga day
and ‘MAATRITVA’; unseen
expressions of motherhood
NEERAJA MISHRA showcased on the International Art by Raja Ravi Varma
GAYATRI RAMYA KOTHURI The top 5 participants for Mother’s Day.
Through the end of the tour, a
SEMICOLON is a city level technical the event were announced detailed 360° view of the entire
competition conducted by the IT Association gallery and the enormous four
which puts to test the technical skills and on the 1st of November 2020 floors of preserved paintings
knowledge of the participants. This year, the and sculptures were shown.
sixth edition was conducted virtually due to in the closing ceremony of
While showing paintings and
the ongoing pandemic situation. SRM Ideathon. works from his collection- a
The event was held recently, consisting of a Kavad and a Patachitra art, he
round each day. All the participants were sent a answered several questions.
mail regarding the test link and login credentials questions such as MCQ’s, error correction, and The honourable vice-chancellor,
an hour prior to the commencement of the finding output of the code which lasted for about Prof. Dr Sandeep Sancheti paid
test. The first round had various basic coding an hour. Once done with their first rounds, the a visit thanking Mr Ganguly
participants were apprised and those who qualified for his unique presentation. Mr
were updated of their second-round timings. Rohith Ravi, convener of the
The second-round of the event was held the SRM SPICMACAY Heritage
next day when all the qualifiers were reverified club thanked Mr Ganguly on
through call or mail. This round too took place behalf of the organisation for
for an hour and consisted of more complex keeping the audience fascinated
coding programs based on mathematical and throughout the session.
logical reasoning.
There were 37 registrations for the event and
25 participants. The top 5 participants for the
event were announced on the 1st of November
2020 in the closing ceremony of SRM Ideathon.
The participants felt that the event was quite
a challenging one and the continuous support
from the organizing committee and the technical
events domain ensured a smooth functioning of
SEMICOLON registration poster the event which led to its ending on a good note. Dr Shobhana Vignesh Art by Jamini Roy