For examining the ways in which modern forms of storytelling such as animation and the graphic novel and their traditional counterparts in the folk and tribal arts, are turning to each other for new modes of expressions, subjects, and audiences to expand their practices. The researcher will focus on the works of the Chitrakar community of Medinipur, West Bengal and the Pradhan Gonds of Madhya Pradesh; and also study recent collaborations between graphic novelists and folk artists. The outcome of this project will be a monograph.
For examining the differences between the performances of prasangas in Yakshagana that are presented in shorter durations and those that continue through the night. The project will study how this variation in time affects pedagogy, the training of Bhagavatas and actors, and the conceptual and aesthetic concerns of the form as it is performed and viewed. The outcome of this project will be a monograph.
For research on press photography as an emerging artistic practice in Kashmir. He will work with a remarkable generation of contemporary photojournalists, in an excavation of this cultural phenomenon, as it chronicles twenty-five years of endemic conflict in the valley.
For the creation of a performance that explores the functioning body as contraposed to the performative and productive body. Primarily through the act of jumping, the project seeks to understand and engage with the body outside the frameworks of the performative, competitive, virtuosic or aesthetic. The performance will be created by a team of ten people from diverse backgrounds in the arts, fitness and sports.
For the installation of a structure similar to an old-fashioned telephone booth under the Yeshwantpur flyover that will function as a story-telling machine, which recaptures a rapidly transforming Malleswaram, through recorded interviews of its residents.
For the creation of a performance inspired by the life and works of theatre legend B V Karanth that will take place at Karanth’s house in Girinagar, where he spent the last years of his life. There will also be two other smaller performances as preludes to the final one.
For a group of artists and designers to make a series of multi-disciplinary artistic interventions, including performances and installations, in Chikpet’s 100-year old Mohan Building, through an engagement with the multi-layered narratives of the space and its inhabitants.
For a poetry performance, photo exhibition and installation tracing Bangalore's long history of coffee cafes and the collective intellectual and creative space it provided for citizens, on the site of one of city's old coffee shops, Kumara Bhavana, that is currently scheduled to be demolished.
For a dance and theatrical performance that engages with the psychological, sociological and political understandings of war and its diverse representations within the museum space. This performance will take place at the Government Museum, Bangalore.
For a multi-sensory artistic experience at one of Bangalore’s old restaurants, the Vidyarthi Bhavan, located in Gandhi Bazaar. This artistic intervention will involve theatre, music and visual installations that reflect on the history of Vidyarthi Bhavan, and attempt to make new meanings of the space in contemporary Bangalore.
For a graphic narrative and a series of performances, on the untold stories of migrant labourers and their tools, as they transform the history of the city of Delhi. These stories provide perspectives from those who have come from the outside to make this city their home, as the city grows in shape and size. A prototype of the graphic novel, performances and their documentation will be produced as outcomes.
For a production on the theme of the mobile phone and its impact on our lives, which is an extension of the theatre group’s endeavour of building theatre pieces based on objects. It questions the effect of technology on our individual and community lives, while simultaneously using the object and its social practices as material for the performance. While the production will be the main outcome of the grant, a detailed documentation of the processes including rehearsal notes, photographs and audio-video recordings, will also be delivered.
For a foundation-administered project, supporting an initiative in Rajasthan, which will bring together the families of Mir musicians and their patrons scattered across the Bikaner region, in an attempt to reinvigorate their musical tradition. A core team of senior as well as young artists along with patrons will undertake a yatra across the ten far flung Mir strongholds in the Bikaner region; towards facilitating musical interchanges, community interactions and mapping of musical opportunities within cultural festivals and events.
For a puppetry workshop, over eighteen days, for eight participants from diverse artistic backgrounds, with a traditional master Kathputli practitioner from Rajasthan – Puran Bhatt. The third in a series of IFA funded workshops, this is another step towards addressing the need for building a robust discourse and pedagogy for puppetry in India, through intensive training, discussions and artistic exchanges, between traditional and contemporary puppeteers and other arts practitioners who draw from puppetry in form, content or aesthetics.
For the development of a game-art environment, by a moving image artist, based on the speculations around the remains of Queen Ketevan of Georgia in Goa. Using archival materials, the project aims to question the legitimacy of proof in the reading of history, while experimenting with the limits of film, games and the digital media. The outcome of the project will be an installation that will allow interaction between traditional board games and interactive screen games, ideally, situated in a gallery.
