About IFA

Over 25 Years of Celebrating the Arts

IFA is an independent, nationwide, not-for-profit, organisation that makes grants and implements projects across practice, research and education in the arts and culture in India. Set up as a Public Charitable Trust in 1993, IFA started making grants and implementing projects in 1995. Since then, we have supported and implemented over 850 projects, disbursing over Rs 38.65 crore (USD 4.64 million) across the country. The outcomes of these projects—as books, films, performances, exhibitions, games, websites, and archival materials—have been circulating in the public domain through showcases, presentations, seminars, screenings, lecture demonstrations, and festivals, helping widen access and encouraging broader participation in the arts. 

We believe that the arts and culture are essential to our individual and community lives, and for a more equitable and just world. It gives meaning to our existence and enables us to enquire into our past, critique our present and imagine collective futures. It connects us through shared experiences—to question, resist, and build. The arts make us human, make us more.

We support and implement critical work that challenges dominant narratives and speaks truth to power. We focus on journeys that seek unheard voices and untold stories, which are often ignored or erased. As a facilitator, catalyst and provocateur in the field, we embark on and enable investigations, explorations, and experiments that push the boundaries of knowledge and practice.

We support and implement projects under five key programmes—Arts Research, Arts Practice, Arts Education, Archives and Museums, and Project 560, especially encouraging work in Indian languages other than English.

  • Arts Research: To critically enquire into the various histories and artistic practices in India
  • Arts Practice: To challenge prevalent idioms and conventions of practice, counter market norms and push new boundaries in content, form and medium
  • Arts Education: To place the school teacher at the centre of its work and supports arts-based training and grants for teachers and artists at government schools across and beyond Karnataka
  • Archives and Museums: To energise museums and archives as platforms for dialogue and discourse
  • Project 560: To encourage artists, scholars, institutions, neighbourhoods, and citizens to engage creatively and critically in the city of Bangalore

Other than these programmes,

  • The physical and digital spaces of The IFA Archive are now open for consultation. The physical archive in Bangalore along with the digital archive make the work of our grantees and project coordinators accessible to the field and the public.
  • In collaboration with Junoon and the India Theatre Forum, IFA set up SMART—Strategic Management in the Art of Theatre. It is the first indigenous programme for supporting theatre professionals in the country.

Our work is made possible with the support we receive from national and international foundations, trusts, corporate houses, and individuals. All donations to IFA are tax-exempt under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act in India and under IRC501(c)(3), in the USA. We also organise fundraising activities and offer arts services to various stakeholders to mobilise resources.

IFA is recognised as a pioneering independent arts and culture organisation in the country and in the international arena. We participate in, debate, discuss and argue for the support towards arts and culture and its essential role in human lives, at forums across the world.