New Delhi | 12th February 2021: Confluence Ideathon 2021, an initiative by Serendipity Arts Foundation launched in January to develop the most creative and impactful ideas for an accessible, inclusive and sustainable Culture Center in Delhi NCR has now become financially even more rewarding.
A cumulative incubation fund of Rs. 10 crores ($1.3m) will support some of the shortlisted ideas, and a few could potentially become part of the upcoming cultural centre project. Confluence Ideathon 2021 will also offer prize money separately; the top three winners in each of the five domains will get rewarded with a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh for the 1st position, Rs. 50,000 for 2nd position and Rs. 20,000 for the 3rd position.
To make it to the Confluence Ideathon 2021 shortlist, applicants are expected to submit a 500-word proposal that imaginatively and efficiently addresses the challenges of building a large, multi-purpose, urban cultural centre. The submission window has been extended to February 28, 2021.
Explaining the logic behind the project Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal, Founder Patron of Serendipity Arts Foundation said “Confluence Ideathon seeks to create new ways of imagining cultural spaces; we hope ideas from across the world will help improve our understanding of what a cultural centre should be and can become. We aim to make this the most accessible, experimental, open, effective, environmentally friendly, and energy efficient arts space in the NCR, and one that is Indian at heart and global in scope. We are also setting up an incubation fund that will allow the creators of some of the best ideas to become a part of the implementation process.”
Problem statements have been identified and divided into 5 categories including ART x Technology, ART x Environment, ART x Social Behaviour, ART x Design for the Future and ART
x Business Models. After the responses to the problem statements are reviewed, shortlisted groups would be invited to pitch their ideas, and judged on the basis of criteria such as:
● How would the idea support the cultural centre, while ensuring relevance and adding value?
● How would the idea help the cultural centre create jobs, or develop new funding methods or revenue streams?
● Does the team possess the skills and capacity to develop the idea, and would the cultural centre be able to adopt?
● Is the idea innovative or original?
Applicants are being encouraged across a range of vocations, including architects and designers to sustainability consultants, engineers and businessmen and women to students, with an emphasis on ‘out-of-the-box thinking’. Following the initial 500-word proposal, ideas would be reviewed over three stages. Successful candidates would be mentored before getting the opportunity to pitch directly to a judging panel from the 30th of March – 5th of April.
Confluence Ideathon 2021 is supported by Hero Enterprise and powered by the Indian Angel Network & TiE Delhi – NCR. Academic Institutions from across the world like The Royal College of Arts, London, Birmingham City University, IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Roorkee, IIM Vishakhapatnam, IIM Bodh Gaya, IIM Amritsar, IIIT- Bangalore, Ashoka University, BML Munjal University, NIFT Kannur and many more have already joined the initiative as partners, along with professional bodies like CII-IGBC, Wadhwani Foundation, NASSCOM, SINE IIT Bombay, to name a few.
The patrons, mentors and jury members are made up of leading global thinkers including Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Chairperson, Biocon), Rajan Anandan (Managing Director, Sequoia Capital and Surge), Arvind Singhal (Chairman Technopak Advisors); Saurab Srivastava (former Chairperson NASSCOM), Navyug Mohnot (CEO, QAI; Vinita Bali, Former MD Britannia Industries Pvt Ltd, Ratish Nanda (architect and Projects Director of Aga Khan Trust for Culture) and Pramath Sinha (Founding Dean of Indian School of Business); Prof Alison Honor, Pro Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean Arts Design and Media, Birmingham City University, Abhimanyu Dalal (architect); and Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal (Chairman, Hero Enterprise) to name a few.
All information related to Confluence Ideathon can be seen at www.confluenceideathon.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
Key dates:
Phase I Begins
28 February: Application submissions close
3 March: Announcement – semi-finalist selection
Phase II Begins
5 – 10 March: Meet your mentor
11 March: Submissions for Phase II begins
13 March: Art x Environment and Sustainability panel
15 March: Art x Social Behaviour panel
16 March: Art x Design and Creativity panel
17 March: Art x Technology and Accessibility panel
18 March: Art x Business Models for the Arts panel
Phase III Begins
25 March: Finalists announced
26 March: Meet and greet with the finalists
27 March: Talks on innovation and creativity. Keynote speakers include: Sunil Kant Munjal, Rajan Anandan, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw & Vinita Bali
30 March: Jury I – Technology
31 March: Jury II – Social Behaviour
1 April: Jury III – Business Models
3 April: Jury IV – Environmental and Sustainability
5 April: Jury V – Design and Architecture
9 April: Grand event with announcement
