For research into Dastangoi, a sixteenth century performed art of storytelling in Urdu. The artist will explore the form by composing new and experimental dastaans (stories), training more dastangos, and performing in some of the older parts of North India where the form originated.
For the development of a production that will interpret the story of Giselle from multiple perspectives. A contemporary puppeteer and a dancer will re-imagine Giselle as a peasant girl in small-town in India whose dreams are shattered by social norms and pressures. The production is expected to push the limits of both puppetry and dance.
For research into and documentation of the Reshma-Chuharmal Nautanki, a popular Dalit folk theatre performance of Bihar. The project will explore how identities, caste and power are contested in and through this performance. Different versions of the Reshma-Chuharmal story, both in its performed and written form, will be collated, transcribed, translated and analysed to understand how they reflect a changing sense of identity among the Dalits.
For research towards a comparative study of Bengal scroll painting and Gond art from Madhya Pradesh. The researcher will travel to the Naya village in West Bengal, home of the Patuas who create the pata chitra paintings, and to Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, home of the Gonds. She will explore their visual landscape in light of the changes that their art has undergone due to state patronage and market forces.
For the making of a documentary film on the local Ladakhi film industry. The film will explore how and why the Ladakhi film industry emerged, how it sustains itself and where it wants to go.
For three editions of the annual summer artists’ residencies, PEERS. The grant will enable Khoj to offer ten residencies, and hold a one-time retrospective exhibition of art work emerging from PEERS. It is expected that this continued support for PEERS will expand the initiative’s reach and scale, and facilitate a greater engagement of contemporary artists with the public at large.
A 35-day theatre workshop in Akingam village in Kashmir, with the purpose of reviving and revitalising the Bhand Pather theatre form. Performed in open spaces, especially as part of community celebrations, this theatre form has experienced a setback over the last few decades due to the militancy and insurgency in Kashmir. The workshop will reacquaint younger Bhand Pather artists with their legacy.
For research towards a novel on the rise and fall of Carnatic music as a dynamic social form from the mid-1920s to the end of the 1960s. The researcher will consult archival material on the lives of Carnatic musicians and the technical innovations made within the music during this period; interview performers and critics who were associated with this phase of the music; and consult scholars working on Carnatic music. The project will also lead to English translations of selected memoirs written by Carnatic musicians, which will be useful for the novel but can also be more widely disseminated.
For the making of a film on Surabhi, a 120-year old travelling theatre company from Andhra Pradesh. Envisaged as a journey with the repertory company, the film, titled Mayabazar, will examine the everyday activities of these travelling actors and their families, rehearsals, exercises, the staging of the plays based on the epics and the puranas, the audience, sets, make-up and costume design. The film will also explore the traces of Parsi theatre, silent cinema from the Phalke era and the paintings of Ravi Verma in the design of the theatre company’s sets and costumes.
For post-production work on a film tentatively titled, In Search of Umrao, exploring the social and cultural history of the tawaifs of North India. The film focuses on the arts forms associated with them and the relationship between aesthetic expression and sexual identity. Through the story of a lost thumri sung by Rasoolan Bai, whose career as a performer overlapped with significant transitions in both the practice of music and public female sexualities, the film will examine the major shifts in the tradition’s history.
