BoD to seek supporters for suggestions to revitalise T2F

In view of the mounting challenges faced by the Peace/Niche-T2F, a social platform founded by Sabeen Mahmud, its board of directors (BoD) has decided to reach out to friends and supporters for new ideas and suggestions for sustaining and reinvigorating the institution known for cultural production and democratic exchange.

In a joint statement issued after the BoD meeting, the members expressed their desire to seek the help of T2F supporters to help rethink and re-strategise about the organisation’s viability.

T2F was recently forced to temporarily close its activities. “We are taking this period of the temporary closure of physical activities during Covid to rethink and re-evaluate the visionary, financial, and administrative challenges facing the future of T2F by engaging in a process of multifaceted consultations in order to come up with viable solutions to these challenges,” read the statement.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, T2F suffered revenue losses from its café, gallery rentals and tickets, which had a high contribution to its budget. The pandemic closures, restrictions on public gatherings, drying up of funds from donors due to government regulations, and a surge of online interactions organised by many other institutions made it unviable to keep T2F functioning.

The BoD said that after the death of its visionary founder Sabeen, the T2F team, under the guidance of the board, attempted to sustain the organisation’s creative and progressive vision despite administrative and financial issues.

It said some board members had kept T2F afloat with personal donations over the past four years and even the salaries and benefits of T2F’s 12 full-time employees and administrative expenses were made possible from these donations.

The board reaffirmed its commitment to the public to continue the legacy of T2F’s founder and bring back the glory days. “Creativity, critical thinking, and showcasing gifted individuals from the field of visual and performing arts will remain the mainstay of T2F. We want to use this hiatus for stocktaking and developing new approaches. Hopefully, after this process of rethinking and re-evaluation, T2F will re-emerge as a vibrant, creative, and viable organisation,” the statement read.