For an engagement with students and staff of Utkarsh Vidhyalaya, run by The Community Development Centre (CDC) in Balaghat, to explore learning possibilities by integrating community knowledge and the local Gondi and Baiga languages into classroom pedagogies. The primary purpose of this project is to explore the significance of language documentation and to emphasise the impact of early learning through one’s own language on the cognitive abilities of children. The outcomes of this project will be a multilingual dictionary, an exhibition and performances. The deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be a copy of the dictionary, and photographs and video documentation of the exhibition and performances. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, workshop, publication, travel, documentation, stationery, communication and refreshments.
For research to investigate life in a visual artist’s studio. The project will explore how artists approach their work, overcome creative blocks, experience leisure, and source materials. It will also enquire into the significant roles played by their assistants. The project seeks to break new ground by constituting an inventive and imaginative form of art criticism drawing on history and memory, archive and experience, and studio and practice, with an emphasis on the multiplicity of artistic practices as a strategy to disrupt the notion of canon. 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 for the book and extensive audiovisual documentation of the interviews with visual artists from across India. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, travel, food and living costs, books, stationery and photocopying costs, professional fee, library fees, and an accountant’s fee.
This grant supports research that will critically examine the transmuted Loknatya form developed by Dalit writer, playwright, performer and activist Lok-Shaheer Anna Bhau Sathe during the 1940s to the 60s. Tracing the history and evolution of the form, this project will enquire into Loknatya’s legacy, and its strengths and limitations as a tool for political and cultural activism. It will probe into the reasons behind its marginalisation as well as explore the ways in which it inspired many theatre and student movements including other Shaheers after Anna Bhau. The outcome of this project will be a script for a documentary film. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be audiovisual documentation of interviews with artists and experts from the field and the final script for the documentary film. Grant funds will pay for travel, food and living costs, honorarium, equipment rental, books and stationery, professional fee, internet and phone bills and an accountant’s fee.
For research on the feminist interpretation of Oppana, a song-and-dance form practised by Muslim women in Kerala. The project will examine the presence of male fantasies and male-centric narratives in the songs of Oppana that reinforce the patriarchal notions about women in everyday life. It will also explore how different Islamic factions have influenced the acceptance of Oppana among Muslim communities in Kerala, and the ways in which a folk practice has become a popular art form. The outcome of this project will be an essay in Malayalam. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be an essay and audiovisual documentation of the Oppana performances. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, travel, food and living costs, professional fee, books, stationery and DVDs, and an accountant’s fee.
This Grant was amicably cancelled based on reasons mutually agreed upon by the Grantee and IFA due to unavoidable circumstances.
For an artistic and scholarly inquiry into the history of publishing in Darjeeling, with a focus on Nepali publications. Drawing on an earlier project supported by IFA that studied the design and editing practices of Bengali Little Magazines in the digital age, this dissemination grant seeks to cover the gap of scholarship in the nearly 100-year-old history of publishing in Nepali in West Bengal. The outcomes of the project will be an exhibition, a panel discussion and the publication of a booklet. Grant funds will pay for travel and living, honorarium, exhibition costs, professional fees, publication costs, material and stationery and an accountant’s fee.
For an engagement with the students and staff of the Vanavil School run by the Vanavil Trust in Keezhakaraiyiruppu village near Nagapattinam,Tamilnadu, to explore learning possibilities by integrating community knowledge and local art practices into classroom pedagogies. The primary purpose of this project is to enable year-long activities to encourage students to bring their lived experiences, identity and the cultural practices of their communities into the classroom. The outcomes of the project include an art integrated pedagogical activity book, audio recordings of the community songs of the Boom Boom Maatukarar people, an exhibition and performances. The deliverables from the project to IFA along with the final report will be a copy of the publication, photographs, audio recordings and video documentation of the entire project. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, travel and living expenses, performance, publication, honorarium, materials, equipment rental, workshop and documentation.
For the creation of a feature-length film to build a narrative image of the Mughal princess Zeb-un-Nissa, daughter of Aurangzeb, through her poetry, her depiction in Mughal miniatures, and the issues around the Deccan palace where she lived for some time — its current state and the need for its preservation in an increasingly polarised political environment. The film will record alternative accounts of history before they are obliterated forever and situate Zeb-un-Nissa’s poetry in the current environment of neglect, loss, and selective amnesia. The outcome of this project will be the film. The Grantee’s deliverable to IFA with the final reports will be the film and audiovisual documentation of interviews with historians as well as the English translation of Zeb-un-Nissa’s poems. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, travel, food and living costs, professional fees, equipment rental, and an accountant’s fee.
For the making of a film that will look into the lives of four vocal artists in Mizoram and Meghalaya, who are associated with the congregational and other types of choral traditions. Foregrounding ethnicities, gender, sexuality, citizenship, belief, friendship and art, the film will map their personal journeys vis-à-vis the ritualistic and performative elements of faith and the distinct expressivity of their creative processes. The outcome of this project will be a film. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will also be the film. Grant funds will pay for travel, food and living costs, professional fees, equipment rental, and an accountant’s fee.
For an exploration of the inscribed plaques in temples built in West Bengal between 16th and 19th centuries. The project will focus on the names of the artisans on the plaques and trace their social, cultural, religious, and economic histories. The outcome of this project will be an essay and a set of small exhibitions held in four districts of West Bengal. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be an essay, photographs from the exhibitions and photographs and documentation of two hundred temples across West Bengal. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, travel, food and living costs, exhibition costs, professional fee, documentation, books and an accountant’s fee.
For research into the community kitchen and the history of culinary engagements of 1Shanthiroad, a studio and artists’ space based in Bangalore. By collecting recipes from artists, residents, staff, patrons, and the extended family of the space, and interviewing key figures from its history, the project will frame the kitchen and food as integral to the site and function of the space as a collective. Screenings, lectures, cooking classes, potluck dinners etc will act as triggers to activate and expand the research enquiries. The outcome of this project will be a cookbook and an open archive of materials, resources, references and audiovisual documentation. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be the cookbook and audiovisual documentation of workshops, exhibitions and interviews with the resource people. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, local travel, exhibitions, film screenings, workshops, professional fee, equipment rental, design, printing, books and stationery purchase and an accountant’s fee.
