Listen to our Supporters

Small is Powerful

IFA believes that everyone can make a difference - a faith bolstered by the overwhelming support for our initiative - Friends of IFA. This initiative, which starts at a donation of Rs 5,000 a year, now has over 500 Friends, and has raised over Rs 4 crore in the last seven years. Their unwavering support and continued contributions of time and effort strengthens our commitment to the arts and reiterates our belief that 'Small is Powerful'.

Sunil Shanbag
Small interventions change people’s lives
– Sunil Shanbag, Theatre Director

Sunil Shanbag, Theatre Director and an IFA Grantee, shares how small interventions change people’s lives, in the arts. Like simple acts in the arts make a difference, Sunil talks about the transformation that a small contribution can bring - not only to the lives of the artists, but also for the community that benefits from the arts.

 

Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah
You don't have to be a king or a state to support the arts
– Ratna Pathak Shah, Actor

Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, Actors and IFA Patrons, agree with us. In this video, they speak about how everyone can do a little bit to support the arts and about the power of small sums, time and contributions that we can all extend towards the arts; for You don't have to be a king or a state to support the arts.

 
 
Raqs Media Collective
(Giving) is a very simple act
– Jeebesh Bagchi
 
In this video, Monica Narula, Shuddhabrata Sengupta and Jeebesh Bagchi from the Raqs Media Collective speak about their two-decade long relationship with IFA, as grantees, evaluators, supporters and artists in the community. As Jeebesh attests, giving is a simple gesture and support can happen through many small acts. A thought echoed by Shuddhabrata and bolstered by his contribution, over the years, as a Friend of IFA, an initiative which begins with a contribution of Rs 5,000 a year and goes up to Rs 10 lakh and more.

 
 

 

Art Thrives on Experiments

IFA believes that the arts thrive on experiments. Many of the projects supported by us have challenged inherited systems of knowledge and structures of dominance. These explorations into the experimental and marginal by artists and scholars are often accompanied by the risk of failure and ridicule. However, it is also impossible for the arts to thrive without these experiments. The ideal environment for the arts is one that encourages this risk-taking, regardless of the possibilities of failure. We believe that just as we take pride in these diverse outcomes, we must also be partners in the liabilities and uncertainties that pave the way.

Sameera Iyengar
The arts celebrate imagination, possibilities, and multiple perspectives.
- Sameera Iyengar, Co-founder and Director, Junoon

Sameera Iyengar believes in the importance of experimentation in the arts. In this video, she speaks about how the ‘(arts) celebrates always knowing that there are many ways to understand and see'. She invites you to ‘put your backs behind [the arts]’, which boldly challenge our thinking and perception of the world.

 

Q (Quashiq Mukherjee)
You have to invest imagination and resources [towards our shared futures].
- Q (Qaushiq Mukherjee), Filmmaker & IFA Grantee

Q also believes in the significance of experimentation in the arts. In this video he speaks about how the arts can help us make sense of our lives and open up the world through the power of imagination.

 

Shanta Gokhale
‘The arts survive through experiment. Experiment is important. Experiment needs support because … [if we have] to imagine a cultured civilisation, the arts [have] to thrive.’
- Shanta Gokhale - Writer, Theatre Critic, IFA Evaluator, Donor & Ex-Trustee

In this video, Shanta, who believes in the significance of experimentation in the arts, speaks about why it is important for the arts to find a safe space to flourish.