Thematic Mapping

Save the Date for Past Forward: Celebrating Critical Practices, an arts festival over 3 days bringing together 40 diverse artistic expressions asking questions of our pasts, investigating the present, and imagining possible collective futures, through panel discussions, performances, film screenings, workshops and exhibitions.

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) in collaboration with Bangalore International Centre is delighted to announce our very own arts festival Past Forward: Celebrating Critical Practices on October 30, 31 and November 01, 2019 at Bangalore International Centre, Bangalore.

We are extremely proud that in the the past 5 years, IFA has supported over 60 projects under the Arts Practice programme across disciplines such as photography, visual arts, theatre, film, augmented reality, gaming, graphic work, sound, music, dance, puppetry etc. The outcomes in various formats include and are not limited to exhibitions, installations, performances, films, games, books. Crossing uncharted territories with form and content, these projects have challenged the artists and engaged the audience in multiple ways.

Be Present at Past Forward on October 30, 31 and November 01 at Bangalore International Centre as we celebrate these groundbreaking projects from across the country and disciplines.

Interrogating Pasts
The past is at once a legacy to treasure and a burden to bear. It is sometimes obstinate, sedimented and at others, free flowing in the way it shapes our present and future. In different ways, notions of the past have gripped the artist’s mind and informed her practice. The projects showcased here point to the multiple ways in which artists have conversed with the past. While finding inspiration, artists have also challenged, rejected, questioned, critiqued, reinterpreted and departed from the pasts. Engage with this theme through poetry, music, graphic work, film, theatre, photography and dance.
Works of the following grantees will be showcased:
Panel Discussion: Padmini Chettur, Pushpamala N, Sarbajit Sen, Sharanya Ramprakash, Susnato Chowdhury, Jonathan Barlow (Moderator)
Exhibition: Lakshmi Subramanian (CSSSC), Sarbajit Sen
Performance: Abhishek Majumdar, Shruthi Vishwanath
Film Screening: Wanphrang Diengdoh

Imagining Futures
The human race today finds itself irrevocably trapped between two conflicting emotions about its future - the anxiety and fear of slowly destroying this planet; the hope and desire that a better world is possible. Artists have always been at the forefront of imagining the diverse possibilities that our futures can bring upon us. The projects showcased under this theme bring together some of the ways in which they envisage, project and frame our imminent destinies. While some of the projects raise questions about our nature of occupying the planet, others explore new ways of experiencing and learning about the arts and its connection to life. Engage with this theme through puppetry, film and theatre.
Works of the following grantees will be showcased:
Panel Discussion: Anurupa Roy, Pallavi Paul, Rajiv Krishnan, Ranjana Pandey, Sahej Rahal, Sanjay Kak (Moderator)
Performance: Kavish Seth
Film Screening: Pallavi Paul, Sahej Rahal

Confluence of Forms
Art forms have always existed and thrived in each other's company. They have evolved through mutual influence and nurturing. Artists working in specific art forms often engage in others to challenge themselves, make experiments, learn new skills or get inspired with unusual possibilities of outcomes. The projects showcased under this theme were in part born out of the desire to see the results of two or more forms in conversation with each other. While some of these projects borrow and build through their respective techniques and methodologies, others provoke new ways of looking at making work. Engage with this theme through film, dance, art, theatre and music.
Works of the following grantees will be showcased:
Panel Discussion: Barun Chattopadhyay, Jyoti Dogra, Madhuja Mukherjee, Umashankar Mantravadi, Justin McCarthy (Moderator)
Exhibition: Dhruv Jani
Performance: Jyoti Dogra
Film Screening: Anitha Balachandran, Avik Mukhopadhayay, Prantik Basu
Workshop: Preethi Athreya

Thinking Audiences
Far from being passive consumers, the audiences have always played a powerful role in shaping the trajectory of arts practices. They have encouraged practitioners to chart new paths, discover new content and find new ways of communicating it to the larger world. Practitioners too, on their part, have tried in many ways to break boundaries with their audiences and make them integral to their work. Some of the projects showcased here have attempted to build new audiences, enabled wider public access to their work and embraced audiences as active participants in their work. Engage with this theme through dance, art, theatre and music.
Works of the following grantees will be showcased:
Panel Discussion: Bassu Khan, Bikram Ghosh, Deepa Rajkumar, Mandeep Singh Raikhy, Neelam Man Singh (Moderator)
Exhibition: Abul Kalam Azad
Performance: Bikram Ghosh
Workshop: Mandeep Singh Raikhy

Engaging Communities
Artistic and cultural practices of various communities, community knowledge systems, and traditional / contemporary political and social discourses embedded within specific communities, have been at the centre of many arts projects. Practitioners have often drawn strongly on community knowledge, attempted to address questions of community identity/ies and taken their work back into the community space after spending time working with them and making the work. The projects showcased here are representative of the diverse ways in which community engagement in the arts are prevalent today. Engage with this theme through theatre, music, art and film.
Works of the following grantees will be showcased:
Panel Discussion: Alakananda Nag, Ekta Mittal, Sumona Chakravarty, Soumya Sankar Bose, Sumana Chandrashekhar (Moderator)
Exhibition: Alakananda Nag, Soumya Sankar Bose
Performance: Ronidkumar Chingangbam (Akhu)

Making Meanings of Myths
Myths have played a significant role in helping humanity interpret their lives, understand their experiences and make meanings of their existence. They connect quotidian lived realities to larger concepts of power and truth. Artists have always used and borrowed from myths to make works that attempt to extend beyond the immediate struggles of living, to seek broader questions of life. The projects showcased under this theme represent some of these attempts. While some of the projects relook at myths of the past, others consider the possibility of constructing new ones. Engage with this theme through art, theatre and music.
Works of the following grantees will be showcased:
Panel Discussion: Deepika Arwind, George Mathen (Appupen), Ranjini Krishnan, S Murugaboopathy, Shena Gamat, Gitanjali Rao (Moderator)
Exhibition: Ranjini Krishnan
Performance: Shena Gamat