For the creation of a feature length fiction film titled Lorni—The Flaneur. The project attempts to question the formation of Khasi identity, challenges the aesthetics and language of mainstream commercial cinema and poses an alternative to the industrial model of revenue in favour of indigenous experimental filmmakers. The outcome will be a film. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the film, a music video, final script, scanned soft copies of story boards, rush footage, productions stills and publicity material. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, post-production, professional fees, sound mixing, publicity and material, studio hire, and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of an experimental video art piece to be included in an installation. Drawing from experiences of women from Kerala in the nuptial chamber, the video will try to address the psychic significance of the ‘wedding night’ in their lives. It will push the boundaries between the academic and artistic realms of cinema, art and psychology. The outcome will be a 15-to-20-minute experimental video. The deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the video, rush footage, production stills, art works, interviews generated as part of the project and media reports. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees, hire of studio and equipment, travel, materials and publicity, refreshments, and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a play based on Russian playwright Yevgeny Schwarz’s The Dragon, in multiple spoken Hindi languages. The play examines notions of human agency, gender, power, narrative, love and collective action in the context of self-determination and the individual’s relationship with the world. It is designed as a lightweight, durable and cost-effective mobile spectacle aimed at Hindi-speaking audiences. The outcome will be a performance. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be a translated script, a PDF document of the rehearsal process, publicity material, a media dossier and video recording of the performance. Grant funds will pay for costs towards professional fees, lights, music, costumes and material, equipment hire, refreshments, travel, documentation and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of an experimental prose-narrative in Bangla, in collaboration with a visual artist. The project tentatively titled Harilo Shaareer Kachhe Pajama Mohima (‘The Glory of The Pajama Loses to the Sari’) attempts to explore the travails of Bengal’s first women doctors in the early 19th century. It will study the complex dynamics between these women and the various stakeholders of the medical system at the time – practitioners of traditional medicine, male doctors of modern medicine, and lower caste midwives. The fictional work based on historical narratives will combine text with visual material from personal collections, libraries, and archives to form a framework for a book. The project will culminate in this book.The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the manuscript of the book and published copies of the same, and photographic and digital documentation of artworks created for the book. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, material, local travel, professional fees, and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a musical instrument named ‘Noori’. Exploring new dimensions in instrument design, materiality, and sound, this project aims to create an instrument which is both fretted and non-fretted, string and percussive, with monophonic, polyphonic and microtonal possibilities. The outcome will be two iterations of the instrument, interactive sessions of the work-in-progress, and performances. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be video and audio documentation of the instrument making process and the performances. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, materials, travel, professional fees, documentation and an accountant’s fee.
For the dissemination of Men of Pukar, an IFA-supported photographic project portraying the people and landscape of Poompuhar. Extending beyond Poompuhar, this project will constitute photo exhibitions in and around the regions of three ancient port cities—Tondi (Tyndis), Muchiri (Muziris), and Korkai—located in present day Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Drawing on descriptions of the inhabitants and terrain of these cities in the ancient Tamil epic Silappadikaram, this work seeks to revisit these sites in an attempt to initiate conversations around identity and territory, and rekindle collective social memory. The outcome of the project will be three photo exhibitions and interactive sessions. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be still documentation of the exhibitions and the discussions. Grant funds will pay for costs towards travel and living, exhibition, event, photo documentation and accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a collaborative performance work, exploring politics around notions of identity of the ‘refugee’. Anchored in a doctoral dissertation on Sudanese refugees, the performance will be built on the individual and collective explorations and experiences of marginalisation, exclusion, borders, statist politics, ‘refugee-ness’ and ‘other-ness’ by seven artists. It seeks to question dominant discourses on the refugee, challenging homogeneity, and aspires to build human connections and inclusion. The work will be scripted, devised, directed, and performed by a collective of seven artists who hail from theatre, movement, literary, and visual arts backgrounds. The outcome will be a series of work-in-progress performances across South India. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be photographs, video and textual documentation of the process, and performances. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees for resource persons, travel and living, rehearsal space rental, documentation, materials, and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a sound installation using information gathered on the usage, wastage, and pollution of water in India. Tentatively titled Water.org the work seeks to understand the politics around water resources in India and build awareness about it. The outcome will be an exhibition of the interactive installation and an e-book created from information gathered from multiple sources. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the material gathered for the work, an E-book, images of the graphical notation score, photographs of the process and media reports of the exhibition. Grant funds will pay for costs towards purchase of materials, professional fees, travel, and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a performance-work titled Shiva that explores queer identities. Based on personal experiences, it will trace the story of a young poet coming out to his mother, through a series of letters and poems that express fear, conviction, choice, and a deep longing for her acceptance. The performance also seeks to draw on and challenge the tenets of Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music, viewing them from a queer perspective. Imagined as an iterative, creative series of performances, this process seeks to emerge as a platform that will trigger dialogues on alternative identities, relationships, gender, sexuality, masculinity, peer pressure, and mob violence. The outcome will be a series of eight performances across Karnataka. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be photographs and video documentation of the process work and performance. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, travel and living, professional fees, rehearsal / performance space and studio hire, production, printing and publicity, documentation, and an accountant’s fee.
For a visual and written exploration of the idea of attachment through an engagement with the minority community of Armenians in Kolkata. Using alternative photographic processes involving unique materials, this project seeks to bring a forgotten and almost extinct Armenian community to the forefront of discussions through a researched body of work. The outcomes of this project will be an exhibition/ installation comprising documentary photographs of spaces and objects, negatives in the collections of the families and portraits of family members prepared using alternative photographic processes; and the draft of a book containing photographs and essays. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the photographs, the draft of the book and still and video documentation of the exhibition / installation. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, honorarium, material costs, travel and living costs, purchase of books, studio hire, stationery and printing, and an accountant’s fee.
