Loise Frances Braganza

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Explorations will explore the intricate relationship between garment and body, as a sound piece in the form of a voice performance accompanied by sound effects and music, and a video montage of fabric filmed in Mumbai amidst an industrial landscape. Loise Frances Braganza is the Coordinator for this project. 

Loise Frances Braganza is a Mumbai-based artist and fashion researcher, specialising in sustainable textiles and community engagement. A graduate of ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Arnhem, Netherlands with an MA in Critical Fashion Practices, Loise has collaborated with leading institutions and artists globally, contributing to projects at prestigious venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Documenta 14 in Kassel, Germany, and the Kochi Muziris Biennale. Loise had a solo exhibition titled We Are Closer to Our Clothes, Than Our Livers in HH ArtSpaces / Citron Art Studio, Aldona, Goa, and has also been recognised with the 2024 PRAF Artist in Residence Award, for an artist residency at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris. Given her experience, Loise Frances Braganza is best placed to be the Project Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA.

This project with the working title The Commitment will be a meditation on the interaction between the body and the garment, as an exploration of the voice as the primary medium for expression. Drawing from her background in textiles and clothing, Loise will move into the auditory realm to explore garment-body dynamics, through a voice sound piece that will lament the misunderstood relationship between the body and garment, portraying the garment as an entity with its own voice. By expressing the garment's voice through sound rather than its material form, the Project Coordinator will challenge the conventional perception of fabric, prompting the audience to listen and reconsider the dynamic between the wearer and the garment.

The artistic process involves experimenting with voice as sound, integrating a visual aesthetic through a video montage of a silver metallic fabric floating amidst a busy Mumbai highway. Collaborating with a sound designer and film editor, the Project Coordinator plans to overlay her voice narration with the video footage, creating an abstraction that enhances the expression of the garment. The concept of "voice" is explored within the context of the garment, narrating a poetic lament about the intricate relationship between garment and body. The video will capture the fabric flapping and merging with the urban landscape, adding depth to the auditory performance.

The outcome of the project will be the sound piece, the voice performance, and a video montage. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a sound piece featuring voice narration, with sound design, accompanied by a video montage, and documentation of the artistic process.   

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Practice programme in the manner in which it attempts to play around with everyday materials, especially by trying to find an anthropocentric voice for something as mundane as a piece of fabric, from the point of view of a specialist in critical fashion studies, through experimentations in voice performance integrated with video montage.    

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 by convening an online gathering of artists coordinating Explorations projects. 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 the Sony Pictures Entertainment Fund.