For a series of workshops for children in and around Bangalore by a storytelling team comprising a teacher, a craft specialist and an administrator. The project will connect storytelling to other creative activities, demonstrate alternative ways of looking at learning, and initiate a plan to establish a resource centre for storytelling and allied activities.
For an exploration of the manifestation of Sufi thought in the lives of mofussil communities in Awadh and Punjab. The project, undertaken by a writer and a filmmaker, will enable them to approach Sufism through the filter of their different perspectives on contemporary Islam. The written texts, audio recordings and still photographs that emerge will generate material for a video film.
For translating a theatre group’s production Brhannala into a film envisaged as a work that will explore the intrinsic differences between theatre and cinema in relation to ideas of space and time. Members of the theatre group, who are used to sharing a physical space with the audience, would be led to re-imagine their roles when they act in the film.
For an exploration, by two dancers, of the language of movement through the idioms of contemporary dance and ‘film dance’—dance seen in popular cinema—in order to understand where they intersect and how they differ. The process of collaborative creation of new work would be documented and shared in workshops and other teaching contexts.
For an interdisciplinary workshop, led by an organisation researching Mumbai’s urban culture, to initiate multi-disciplinary collaborations on Mumbai’s industrial history and the Mill Lands in particular. The workshop is expected to catalyse a series of Industrial Museum Workshops and culminate in the setting up of an Industrial Museum Archive.
For identifying indigenous documentation methodologies and translating Malayalam folklore into English. An art historian working closely with a folk group will study the pernicious implications of the caste system on the future of ritual performance. The group will also interact with a similar community based in Chattisgarh.
This Grant was amicably cancelled based on reasons mutually agreed upon by the Grantee and IFA due to unavoidable circumstances.
For three annual editions of a residency programme for fresh graduates of visual art schools across India, to culminate in three annual exhibitions. Each year, five artists will spend four weeks with an art critic at the Khoj studios in New Delhi, exploring their creativity and engaging with their peers and with senior artists.
For continued collaboration among a painter/puppeteer, a sculptor/puppeteer and a shoe designer/woodworker towards developing full-fledged productions in puppet theatre. The grant will also give shape to the new techniques and styles of presentation that have evolved out of the exploratory phase.
For preparatory work on a video film, by a filmmaker and a journalist/writer, on marginalised aspects of Punjab’s cultural landscape. They will explore their relationship to contemporary Punjab by documenting particular celebrations, individuals, memorials and encounters that together embody a syncretic understanding of the region.
For a preparatory phase of collaboration among a painter/puppeteer, a sculptor/puppeteer and a shoe designer/woodworker to develop new styles and techniques of presentation in puppetry. The collaborators will attempt to create contemporary scripts, evolve new soundscapes and re-think traditional structures.
