Grant & Projects

Nakul Singh Sawhney


Project Period: Six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Workshops, Residencies, Seminars, which will create workshops for young people from rural contexts to practice non-fiction filmmaking skills that will empower them to tell their own stories, in the socio-political context of North India. The outcomes of the project are the workshops, including individual sequences prepared by each participant and non-fiction short films that they will make in groups. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be photographs, audio-visual documentation of the workshops, the individual sequences, and the non-fiction short films. Project funds will pay for contract fees, food, travel and living, materials, and stationery.

Tajuddin Azad


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project with IFA that will engage eighth grade students of the Government High School in Tarafile village, Kalaburagi district with the historic Khwaja Banda Nawaz Dargah by connecting it to their curriculum in social science and languages. Students will explore the Urs celebrations at the Dargah with its sandal procession and Qawwali music performance. The outcome of this project will be a performance and a publication. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will include still and video documentation of the process and the performance, and a publication. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel, workshop, publication, performance, and documentation.

Rani DM


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will engage eight grade students of the Government High School in Hosahundi village, Mysore district with Interactive Theatre practice and its applications by encouraging them to build arguments and dialogues around themes and ideas based on their school curriculum. The outcome of this project will be a performance. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will include still and video documentation of the process and the performance. Project funds will pay for contract fees, performance, materials, documentation, travel and living, workshop, food, printing, and equipment hire.

Santhosh DD


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will engage fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students of Government Higher Primary School in Kalkere village, Hassan district with the traditional practice of tingalu mavana habba – a celebration of the rain gods - by connecting it to their curriculum in social science, mathematics, and languages. Students will explore songs and stories based on this practice, while creating their own. The outcome of this project will be a series of performances. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will include still and video documentation of the process and the series of performances. Project funds will pay for contract fees, performance, travel and living, workshop, documentation, food, materials, and stationery.

Shivakka P Kuravatti


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will engage fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students of the Government Higher Primary School in Yadavagiri, Mysore district with the stories and traditional practices of a local rag picker community and a migrant community located near the school. Students will understand and document stories and traditional practices of these communities through the Hejjemela folk dance form, and connect it to their mathematics and language curriculum. The outcome of this project will be a performance. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will include still and video documentation of the process and the performance. Project funds will pay for contract fees, performance, material, workshop, documentation, stationery, travel and living, food, and printing.

Chinar Satishbhai Shah


Project Period: One year and three months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Arts Projects (Research/Practice) that will research into the lives of artist-led institutions that existed in Bangalore between 1990 and 2022. Through an in-depth study of about 10 to 12 such initiatives, the project will inquire into the early history, programming, economic model, community engagement, politics and artistic visions of each space. This is an attempt to discursively engage with an alternative art history that defied the norms of dominant art markets and remained on the fringes. The outcomes from this project will be 10 to 12 commissioned essays and art works, a process essay and a website that will be a repository of all textual and audio-visual materials. The Project Coordinator's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a downloaded version of the website, audio recordings of all interviews, the 10 to 12 commissioned essays and art works, the process essay and copies of all public announcement posters. Project funds will pay for contract fees and materials.

Ashavari Majumdar


Project Period: Six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Workshops, Residencies, Seminars, that will create a residency for movement artists and filmmakers to collaboratively explore a language for the practice of the Indian dance-film, with a focus on non-classical and marginalised movement forms. The outcome of the project is the residency and the dance-films that will result from the collaborations. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be photographs, audio-visual documentation of the residency and the dance-films. Project funds will pay for travel and living, food, hire of equipment, contract fees, materials and hire of venue.

Akash Srinivas


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA, that will develop a series of twelve podcasts based on the materials available at the SL Bhatia History of Medicine Museum. They will focus on themes related to the history of medicine, traditional medical practices and beliefs, evolution of modern-day medical procedures, women and medicine, deities of disease, and mental health and institutions in colonial India, amongst others. The outcomes will be the podcasts, associated blog-posts and caricatures for each episode, an interactive website to host the podcasts, an audio-guide for the museum, and public events including talks and walking tours in the museum. The Principal Investigator's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be podcasts, blog posts, website, audio-guide and recordings of public events. This is a collaboration with the SL Bhatia History of Medicine Museum, Library and Archives, Bangalore. Project funds will pay for contract fees, production expenses, consumables and transport.

Ammel Sharon


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will research, document and analyse how the University of Mysore has been documented and portrayed in the Star of Mysore newspaper since the late 1970s. Unlike  ‘official’ histories, the project will attempt to narrate the quotidian stories of the University gleaned from opinion columns, photographs and articles from the newspaper’s archives. The outcomes will be a database of the newspaper’s coverage of the University; a visual essay based on this coverage; podcasts and written interviews with alumni who have written for the newspaper; and periodic articles for the newspaper based on research on the scholarly cultures of Mysore. The Principal Investigator's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the visual essay, podcasts, written interviews, articles and the database. This is a collaboration with the Star of Mysore newspaper, Mysore. Project funds will pay for contract fees and production expenses.

Aishwarya Amar Kirit


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA to create an accessible, digital archive of the Star of Mysore’s reports on the built heritage in Mysore and investigate their impact on the government’s and citizens’ involvement in protecting and revitalising old buildings. The project will also explore conservation efforts, disputes over re-structuring the buildings, and their significance in citizens’ lives. The outcomes will be the digital archive; an interactive social media account (Instagram and Twitter) of heritage buildings as seen through the lens of the newspaper, together with views of the lay public; an archive of oral histories about the buildings gathered from the local community; and public programmes including talks and walks. The Principal Investigator's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the digital archives, access to the social media account and recordings of the public events. This is a collaboration with the Star of Mysore newspaper, Mysore. Project funds will pay for contract fees, production expenses, transport, venue hire and stationery.

Meera Krishnamurthy


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will result in five to seven short animated pieces strung together as a film in English and Kannada, bringing to life selected exhibits from the SL Bhatia Museum, Library and Archives. The aim is to make science accessible to children by telling stories of human persistence in medicine. The outcomes will be the animated pieces; the film; a booklet about the animated exhibits in English and Kannada, together with experiments and games based on the collection; and public programmes including tours developed around the animated exhibits and virtual and physical screenings of the film. The Principal Investigator's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the animated pieces, the film, booklet and recordings of the public programmes. This is a collaboration with the SL Bhatia History of Medicine Museum, Library and Archives, Bangalore. Project funds will pay for contract fees, production expenses and local travel.

Mahalakshmi Prabhakar and Aranyani Bhargav


Project Period: One year and three months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Arts Platforms which will curate a series of 12 to 15 sessions of discussion on the online platform titled Re-Cognising Dance. Propelled by a need to create a healthy and safe space for building dance scholarship in India, this series hopes to build robust and stimulating conversations on neglected themes, bridge the classical-folk divide, and provide access to resources, collaborations, scholars and mentors in the field of dance. The outcomes from this project will be the 12 to 15 virtual sessions of discussion and a website that will be a repository of textual and audio-visual materials. The Project Coordinators’ deliverables to IFA with the final report will include recordings of the sessions of discussion and a download of the website. Project funds will pay for contract fees, zoom and canva subscriptions, and website domain and hosting. 

Sita Reddy


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA, which will re-examine Hyderabad’s public museums and archives as social institutions at a time when the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated into two states, with Hyderabad as the capital of both from 2014-2024. Investigating this particular decade (in which the collections too are being bifurcated), the project will attempt a new collective biography of these institutions that will address their origins, collection records and ownership dilemmas over conflicting histories and contested objects and artefacts. The outcomes of this project will be a symposium and a series of museum podcasts. The Project Coordinators’ deliverables to IFA with the final report will be audiovisual documentation of the symposium proceedings and copies of the podcasts. Project funds will pay for contract fees and the symposium.

Salila Prasad Vanka


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Arts Projects (Research/Practice), which will investigate the narratives of visual culture and spatial politics in Bangalore through a study of the evolution of public statues and sculptures since the early 1990s. The outcomes of the project will include an archival photo collection of public statuary, six to eight in-depth case studies of public statues, and a public exhibition highlighting the project findings. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the archival photo collection of public statuary with annotations, maps, a detailed illustrated project report of six to eight in-depth case studies, and detailed documentation of the public exhibition, including publicity creatives, photographs and audio-visual documentation. Project funds will pay for contract fees, exhibition, local conveyance and stationery.

Ram Ganesh Kamatham


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Arts Projects (Research/Practice), which will create a theatrical production on Bangalore’s imminent water crisis. The play will focus  on the paradoxes of Bangalore’s development such as the inequalities created by water scarcity, the changing imagery and management of water as it moves through the city, and a future-focussed approach towards sustainability. The outcomes of the project will be a playscript and the production. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the playscript, and photographs and audio-visual documentation of the production. Project funds will pay for contract fees, production, consumables and travel and living.

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