Aditya Garg

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Explorations will bring together artists from different disciplines to explore breath as an artistic element across art forms, in the wake of the severe dearth of oxygen cylinders in the country during the pandemic and the abysmal Air Quality index in most towns. Aditya Garg is the Coordinator for this project. 

Aditya Garg is an interdisciplinary artist, who divides his time between Mumbai and Bangalore, and his hometown in Kishangarh, Rajasthan. Although Aditya has been trained as an Engineer with his B Tech in Electronics from Government Engineering College, Ajmer, he got immersed into the world of theatre through Indian Ensemble. He works as a physical theatre practitioner and facilitator, an author and an actor. He has also been part of the Integral Movement and Performance Praxis programme at Arthaus, Berlin. Given his experience, he is best placed to be the Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA.

This project titled The Breath Project will explore breath as a fundamental phenomenon in art and life. Three artists will be invited from different artistic disciplines, and a workshop will be conducted over a period of six weeks, to understand, how breath acts as a physical, emotional, and spiritual concept, through improvisations, explorations, and discussions. The expectation is to find new ways to interact with different art practices. In his proposal the Project Coordinator says, “Breath is understood in different ways by different artists, the play and the purpose varies, yet it is a simple mechanism of CO2 out & O2 in.” Philosophically it connects all living beings, as a collective interchange of life breath, yet its dimensions are beyond what can be described through language. This aspect will be explored in the project, in the context of two phenomenon - the trauma experienced by the country when there was a severe dearth of oxygen cylinders during the pandemic; and the abysmal Air Quality Index across many towns in India perennially. 

The outcome of the project will be an interdisciplinary workshop. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the video documentation of the workshop. 

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Practice programme in the manner in which it attempts to explores art practices through the phenomenon of breath – both as a bridge and a fundamental element across art and life – in the context of a time that is making clear air a rare and expensive commodity and its access limited to those privileged.

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.

This project is made possible with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment Fund.