For a wide-ranging engagement and workshops with fifth, sixth and seventh grade students of the Government Higher Primary School, Hulasogi, Haveri District to expose them to Kolata – a popular stick dance form of Karnataka. The outcome will be series of performances. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will include photographs from the workshops and audio video recording of the performance. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, exhibition costs, workshop costs, printing costs, professional fees, documentation costs, travel and living costs and an accountant’s fee.
For a series of workshops by a dance practitioner in five cities of India, pegged around the performance piece Queen-Size. The workshops are aimed at generating conversations around sexuality, desire and gender activism raising critical queries about Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code constituted in 1861 that criminalises homosexuality. The outcome of the project will be the five workshops. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be still photographs of the workshops, written comments of the audience, media reports and publicity material. Grant funds will pay for travel and living costs, professional fees, honorarium, production management cost, freight and local travel, workshop costs, and an accountant's fee.
For a practice-based study on the lives of the Lisus, an indigenous forest-dwelling community in the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve located on the Indo-Myanmar border of Arunachal Pradesh. Through the use of photography and video, the project will explore alternative aesthetic approaches to the depiction of tribal culture while consciously moving away from exoticised colonial and anthropological visual constructions of tribal communities. Further, it will examine the construction of stereotypes and the politics of representation of marginalised communities. The outcome of this project will be a photography and audio-visual installation with podcasts and videos. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be images, materials from the audio-visual documentation and an accompanying manuscript. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees, travel and living, labour, equipment rental and purchase, installation and an accountant’s fee.
For research to study the discourse of dissent in the Natua Naach form of Bihar. The project will explore ways in which Dalit folklore takes the form of political expression and resistance, challenging caste and social oppression and hierarchy. It will also look at transformations in the form over the last few years with the advent of technology and modernisation, and the role it plays in contemporary society as a platform for the marginalised. The outcome of this project will be a manuscript for a book. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the Final reports will be the manuscript, an audio-visual documentation of the Natua Nach performances and interviews conducted in the field. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, travel and living, equipment rental, stationery and books, typing and printing, and an accountant’s fee.
For research to study the life and work of Baburao Painter - producer, director and the founder of the Maharashtra Film Company. The project will explore the evolution of regional cinema in Kolhapur by situating Baburao’s work amidst literary and visual cultures of his time, tracing his influence on and connections with contemporary artists, thinkers, writers and political figures. The outcome of this project will be a biographical account of him, which will be subsequently published as a book. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be the manuscript of the book including images. The grant funds will cover honorarium, research assistance and translation costs, travel and living costs, professional fees, and an accountant’s fee.
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.
