Request for Applications: Archival Fellowship | Raman Research Institute | Deadline: Friday, October 26, 2018 (CLOSED)

India Foundation for the Arts
in collaboration with
Raman Research Institute, Bangalore

invites applications for

an Archival Fellowship
Application deadline: Friday, October 26, 2018

This initiative is supported by TATA TRUSTS

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) in collaboration with Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore, invites applications for an Archival Fellowship for a period of nine months.

The Archival and Museum Fellowships initiative of IFA began with the two-fold objective of providing practitioners with an opportunity to generate new, critical and creative approaches to public engagement with collections in archives and museums, and to energise these spaces as platforms for discussion and debate.

About the IFA-Raman Research Institute Archival Fellowship:
The Fellowship offers creative practitioners a range of materials to work with from the archive of the Raman Research Institute (RRI) for a period of nine months. The awardee will be responsible for designing and curating a permanent display of the archive during this time. The focus of this fellowship is on designing the archival space - to think of ways of displaying and communicating a range of objects that include photographs, letters, information and instruments in Sir CV Raman's archive, in innovative and engaging formats.

About Raman Research Institute:
Sir CV Raman, Nobel Laureate founded the Raman Research Institute in 1948 in Bangalore on land that had been gifted to him by the Government of Mysore. After the Professor's demise in 1970, RRI was restructured in 1972 to become an aided autonomous research institute and has since been receiving funds for its research from the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India. The mandate of the Institute is primarily research in basic sciences that advances the knowledge of humankind. The research in basic sciences today is in select areas of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Light and Matter Physics, Soft Condensed Matter Physics, and Theoretical Physics. The research work includes Physics in Biology, Soft Matter Chemistry, Quantum Information, Computing and Communications.

About the Archive:
Sir CV Raman, an iconic personality and a stalwart of Indian Science, is known for the role he played in building institutions and fostering science communication in the country. The archive at RRI holds more than 5,000 photographs, many of historical importance, such as the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm in 1930, as well as the correspondence that Prof Raman had with many scientists of his time. His handwritten letters and transcripts of lectures also form the bulk of the archive. Besides photographic and textual material, the archive also contains artefacts and instruments used by Prof Raman.

For more information about RRI please visit www.rri.res.in or contact Dr Meera BM at meera@rri.res.in

Applicant profile:
We seek applications from exhibition designers, curators, researchers and other creative practitioners with prior experience in exhibition design and a strong interest in research and working with archival material. The objective of the fellowship is for the archival material to be brought alive through the design and curation.

Applicants from Bangalore will be given preference. Practitioners who are Indian nationals or have been residents of India for five years or more are eligible to apply. To know more about our eligibility criteria please click here

Financial assistance and other support:
The Fellowship provides an honorarium of Rs 2,00,000/- for a duration of nine months. A separate budget will be provided for production expenses.

Important dates:

  • The deadline for receiving applications is Friday, October 26, 2018.
  • Shortlisted candidates will be informed by the first week of November 2018.
  • Interviews with shortlisted candidates are expected to take place by the second week of November 2018.
  • The Fellowship will commence by the third week of November 2018 for a period of nine months.

Application Process:
Your application must include:

  • A brief description of the design for the archival space. The description should include your vision and approach that you will pursue. The intention is to give us an idea of how you would like to work with the archive. The applicant is encouraged to visit the library at RRI where the archival space will be located.
  • A letter of interest explaining how you would benefit from this Archival Fellowship. Please identify aspects of your practice that you think will be honed and further developed during the course of the Fellowship.
  • A brief description of a project you have been involved with as an exhibition designer, curator or researcher. This description should comprise the vision, approach, processes, and outcomes that have resulted from that project. This will need to be accompanied by the documentation of the project, which should include six to eight scanned or printed images with titles and dates, DVD (maximum duration of four minutes), catalogues, artworks, performance videos, or reviews.
  • Your curriculum vitae.

Please email your application or any queries to Suman Gopinath at suman@indiaifa.org and post the required documents to IFA in an envelope marked 'IFA-RRI Archival Fellowship' by Friday, October 26, 2018.

'IFA-RRI Archival Fellowship'
India Foundation for the Arts
'Apurva', Ground Floor
No 259, 4th Cross
Raj Mahal Vilas, 2nd Stage, 2nd Block
Bangalore - 560 094