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
‘[T]he 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.