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 the creation of a film that will explore the overlapping relationships among memory, place, and personal archive. Located in Amritsar and anchored on the life, memories and archive of Charandas Bangia, a refugee of the Partition, the project is a cinematic exploration of ways in which personal history overlaps with the larger political narratives. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be the film and video recordings of the interviews. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, honorarium, equipment hire, materials, travel and living, communication and stationery, library and archive fees and accountant’s fee.
For the creation and dissemination of a theatrical production titled Olangana, a Kannada adaptation of the play Interior written by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck. Involving a guest director and 15 alumni of Ninasam, the play aims to dislodge the centrality of text and bring in a new performance vocabulary into contemporary Kannada theatre. The performance is scheduled to open at Ninasam in February 2020 and will subsequently be performed in 15 to 20 cities and small towns across Karnataka. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be still and video documentation of the rehearsal process and the performance. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, dissemination, sets and costumes, rehearsal and living space, documentation and travel.
For research into the narratives of Indian seafarers who left home as labour aboard British ships in the early part of the 20th century. Engaging with these stories of sailors and with a focus on the underrepresented maritime history of South India, the research will investigate into notions of home, belonging and identity for the seafarers. The outcome of the project will be a script towards a performance. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be an essay on the methodological approach and process, and a copy of the script. Grant funds will pay for travel and living, purchase of books, materials, stationery, research assistant’s fee, honorarium, library and archive fees and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of an interactive technology with projection and lighting, towards formulating a new language of scenography for dance and theatre performances in India. The technology being responsive to the performer’s movements on stage will bring elements of unpredictability and spontaneity into performances, making lights a ‘co-performer’. The outcomes of this project will be the interactive technology apparatus and a dance performance that employs this mechanism. Grant funds will pay for equipment hire, professional fees, venue hire and an accountant’s fee.
For a residential workshop over six days that will enable an exchange of knowledge and experiences between shadow puppeteers representing six traditional puppetry forms and contemporary projective shadow theatre practitioners. The artists will collaboratively explore contemporary approaches to conceptualising, devising and performing shadow puppetry through an in-depth inquiry into the narratives, aesthetics, techniques, and social contexts of puppetry. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be still and video documentation from the workshop and notes from the session on reflection and evaluation. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, venue hire, travel and living costs, honorarium, local conveyance, material costs, equipment hire, stationery and an accountant’s fee.
For the dissemination of a musical performance where the songs explore notions of Manipuri identity embedded in the lives, literature and folklore of the Meitei diaspora. This performance is an outcome of an earlier project supported by IFA and seeks to take the music to six locations across Assam and Bangladesh in an attempt to reconnect with the places and the people whose stories the songs embody. The project also attempts to enliven traditional performance spaces, generate further conversations around Manipuri identity and thereby become a bridge between Manipur and its diaspora. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be photos and videos of the performances and discussions. Grant funds will pay for travel and living costs, professional fees, equipment hire, honorarium and accountant’s fee.
For the making of a photo-book, on the memories of the massacre of Marichjhapi, 1979. The project aims to question the boundaries between documentary and staged photographs, while creating awareness about a historical event, the traces of which have been systematically erased. The outcome will be a book containing staged photographs, eyewitness portraits, archival materials and three essays. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be final draft of the book, photographs and audio-video interviews of eye witnesses, and staged images. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, honorarium, travel costs, materials costs, equipment hire and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of an audio installation, following research on Indian classical music and geometrical principles. Borrowing on Michel Foucault’s theory of Heterotopology, the project aims to challenge the listening practices of Indian classical music based on performance and improvisation, by spatialising recorded and composed sounds. The outcome will be two installations, one live performance and one final presentation on the installations and the research. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be photo and video documentation, research materials along with detailed methodologies, the multi-channel audio files created for the installation pieces, exhibition design and other details about the installations. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, honorarium, material costs, travel costs, communication and outreach, space and equipment hire, and an accountant’s fee.
For a film on the experiences of women police officers from the batch inducted in 1976 from Delhi. The project focuses on questions around the power of the state, gender, body and empowerment, while presenting an intimate portrait of the undocumented history of labour and empathy within the police force during Emergency. The outcome will be a film. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the film, production stills, audio interviews and their transcripts. Grant funds will pay for equipment hire, honorarium, travel, and an accountant’s fee.
