For research to write a critical history of Tamil theatre during the early 20th century, studying the writings of Pammal Sammadha Mudaliar, who is considered the founding father of modern Tamil theatre. The project will critically examine the categorisation of Tamil theatre into ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ forms, highlighting the struggles of theatre practitioners against the backdrop of anti-colonial and the emergent anti-Brahminical movements in the region. The outcome will be a manuscript for a book. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the Final reports will be the manuscript with images and excerpts of translations from the writings of Pammal and interviews conducted in the field. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, research assistance, travel and living, stationery and documentation, typing and printing, and an accountant’s fee.
For research on the British Colonial visual narratives of landscape and people in the High Ranges of Kerala. The project will study how European photographers, ethnographers and travellers documented the daily lives of people in the region and critique the colonial gaze. It will examine the ways in which the binaries of the civilised and the uncivilised were created on the basis of physical representations of the native people staged against exotic backdrops. The outcome of this project will be a photo essay and an exhibition. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be the essay and photographic documentation from various collections across Kerala. Grant funds will pay for travel and living costs, documentation costs, DTP and printing costs, exhibition costs, reference material costs, and an accountant’s fee.
For research on the Royal Carnatic Orchestra of the Mysore Court which has now evolved into the Mysore Police Band. It will trace the journey of the Orchestra from being considered as ‘exotic’ in 19th-century India to the current perception of it being an ignored ‘relic’ of the British Raj. The project will also examine the ways in which the Band, which was instated to safeguard the ‘culturally pristine form’ of Carnatic music against the backdrop of sociopolitical and cultural transformation in South India, has been excluded from mainstream discourses. The outcome will be a manuscript for a book. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the manuscript, audio-visual footage of recordings and performances, and notations of the music of the Band. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees, travel and accommodation, equipment rental, fee to institutions for copying relevant documents and records, and an accountant’s fee.
For research into the evolution and development of the Gaana music culture in Chennai. A popular form of music, practiced among the marginalised people of urban Chennai, Gaana in the recent years has become a powerful medium of socio-cultural and political expression. Through extensive documentation of the Gaana songs and the lives of its performers, and an in-depth analysis of the content, this project attempts to study this form against the larger context of society, politics and culture of Chennai in particular and Tamil Nadu in general. The outcome of this project will be a series of essays / articles in little magazines in Tamil. The research will eventually lead to a book. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the essays and, video and still documentation from the project. Grant funds will cover honorarium, travel and living costs, documentation costs, local conveyance, resource materials, photocopy and stationeries, and an accountant’s fee.
For research to study the work songs of women in Telangana focusing on the Uyyala Paatalu songs, which are predominantly sung while working in the fields or as labour in the informal sector. The project will explore the socio-political and cultural relevance of the songs in the present context by looking at the subversive histories of participation of women in the people’s struggle of Telangana and their assertions against patriarchal and caste oppressions in the region. The outcome of this project and the Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a film. The grant funds will cover honorarium, equipment rental and studio hiring costs, professional fees, travel and living costs, production costs, and an accountant’s fee.
For research into the changing practices and ecology of the performance form of Tamasha across Maharashtra. Building on earlier work also supported by IFA, this project entails revisiting, after nearly fifteen years, villages in the Konkan, western and northern Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Marathwada regions to document photographically the cumulative impact of socio-political and economic forces on the art form and the lives of its performers. The outcome of this project will be photographs with field notes.
For research that enquires into the Raseshori Pala of the Sankirtan tradition of Manipur to draw attention to certain aspects of Vaishnavism and its devotional expression through the contribution of women. The project will explore roles of women as custodians for maintaining and carrying forward this artistic tradition. The outcome of this project will be a monograph.
For support towards an international conference on the evolution of the Urdu language and its proliferation in popular culture across music, film, literature and television. The conference attempts to explore the worlds of popular and classical discourses in Urdu, and study their impact on the life, vibrancy and sustainability of the language. The conference took place in September 2017 in collaboration with Centre for Indian Languages, School of Language, JNU, New Delhi. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA will be the papers presented by all speakers at the conference and video documentation of the entire conference.
For research to study the syncretic traditions inherent in traditional Axomiya society by mapping the cultural and social history of the performance tradition of Jikir in Assam. The research will be conducted with her collaborator, Shakya Shamik Kar Khound. The outcome will be an anthology on Jikir.
This Grant was Terminated by IFA and the Grantee is ineligible to apply to IFA in the future.
For research that traces the manners in which the Shi’a community in contemporary India deploys the Panja or the Fatima’s Hand, as part of a larger collection of visual and material artifacts, to show veneration for the Prophet Muhammad’s family during Muharram in Dongri and Bhendi Bazar, Mumbai, within the context of various debates on iconoclasm within Islam. The outcome of this project will be a book.
This Grant was Terminated by IFA and the Grantee is ineligible to apply to IFA in the future.
