Proposals for Projects in Music | Deadline: October 15, 2017 (CLOSED)

India Foundation for the Arts invites Proposals for Projects in Music

Are you a musician working within a particular musical tradition?
Are you a music practitioner exploring diverse musical forms?
Are you a music scholar/ researcher studying various musical histories?
Are you an artist / curator who would like to engage with music?
Are you a cultural institution, an archive or a museum working in the domain of music?

If so, this Request for Proposal is for you!

We, at India Foundation for the Arts, are inviting proposals from music practitioners, music researchers and scholars, and artists, curators and arts organisations working with music, in areas of research, practice and education.

Our support for music projects aims to encourage reflective thinking in the field of music, enable critical dialogues and creative exchanges among musicians and forge linkages between musicians and practitioners of other artistic forms. These can be individual or collaborative projects. We encourage working with materials in archives and museums, among other available resources. The outcomes of these projects could be performances, books, essays, films, installations, exhibitions and so on.

Grant funds are available for projects in the following areas:

  1. Engaging with multiple / unexplored narratives
    Across different genres of music in India, there are linear or dominant narratives that often offer a singular story of particular musical traditions or movements. However, for many of these traditions, there are multiple narratives that remain unexplored or are marginalised. You could seek support for research or practice projects that engage with these multiple narratives of the history, performance and pedagogy of music.
  2. Experimental productions
    You could create experimental performances, exhibitions, films, installations and other forms of presentations. These projects could challenge prevalent idioms and conventions of practice, counter standardisations, push new frontiers in terms of content, form and medium or explore new modes of engagement with audiences.
  3. Residencies and Workshops for music practitioners / practices around music
    Residencies provide a space for artists to come together and create artistic work/s while learning and sharing from and with each other. You could seek support for residency projects that bring music practitioners from any particular genre or different genres to work independently and/or collaboratively to create musical work/s. The residency could also be for practitioners from other artistic disciplines who want to create works that are focused on music.
    You could also seek support for intensive workshops where a select group of music practitioners are offered exposure to a wide range of themes that enhance their understanding of music in its personal, social and political context. It could also explore music as a form that is in dialogue with other performing arts, literature and visual arts.
  4. Engaging with school curriculum
    If you wish to work on music projects in schools, you could seek support from us. These projects should attempt to enrich curriculum and classroom teaching through musical interventions or develop concrete music-based pedagogical approaches that can be integrated into the school curricula. (This support is ONLY available for projects in government schools in Karnataka.)
  5. Seminars and Conferences
    You could conceptualise and organise public platforms such as conferences and seminars that facilitate critical dialogue, debate, sharing and discussion in the field of music. By creating a space for interdisciplinary conversations they could pave the way for new areas of research and practice. These platforms could bring in new scholarship, explore a new language to speak about music or throw light on the various philosophies of music and sound.

Who can apply?
You are eligible to apply if you are an Indian national, a registered non-profit Indian organisation, or have been resident in India for at least five years.
(For more on the eligibility criteria please click here)

How to apply?

  • Proposals for projects would be received under the various programmes at IFA. However you could begin your conversation with us with a proposal which outlines:
    1. Your existing practice, concerns and interests as a scholar / researcher / practitioner
    2. Details of the proposed project and its objectives
    3. Methodology and detailed work plan
    3. Possible Outcomes
    4. Approximate Budget 
  • Your proposals could contain audio-video materials too, but please ensure you send links to online supporting materials or low resolution compressed files not more than 25 MB in size.
  • The duration of the project could be from 3 months to 18 months.
  • Proposals can be sent in any Indian language including English.
  • Applicants can also visit the IFA office to share their project ideas with the team. For this, please arrange a meeting with the programme officer mentioned below, in advance.

Deadline:
The last date for receiving proposals under this request is October 15, 2017. Timelines for decisions on grants would depend on the nature of the projects and time required for evaluations.

Please address your application and all other communications to
Sumana Chandrashekar at sumana@indiaifa.org by email
OR write to her at:
Sumana Chandrashekar
Senior Programme Executive - Arts Practice
India Foundation for the Arts,
‘Apurva’, Ground floor, No 259, 4th Cross,
Raj Mahal Vilas, IInd Stage, IInd Block,
Bengaluru 560 094
Tel: +91 80 23414681/82