Bangalore

For an artistic engagement to explore the Raithara Santhe or farmers market in the Shivanahalli neighbourhood of Bangalore. Drawing from detailed interviews with residents, shop owners and push-cart sellers, the project seeks to identify stories, memories and experiences of the community to this neighbourhood’s unique food culture through artistic interventions. The outcome of the project will be artwork/s evoking the santhe at a central location in Shivanahalli. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be photo-documentation of the interviews and the process, and the artwork. Grant funds will pay for materials, research and documentation, conveyance and design fee.

For research into the community kitchen and the history of culinary engagements of 1Shanthiroad, a studio and artists’ space based in Bangalore. By collecting recipes from artists, residents, staff, patrons, and the extended family of the space, and interviewing key figures from its history, the project will frame the kitchen and food as integral to the site and function of the space as a collective. Screenings, lectures, cooking classes, potluck dinners etc will act as triggers to activate and expand the research enquiries. The outcome of this project will be a cookbook and an open archive of materials, resources, references and audiovisual documentation. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be the cookbook and audiovisual documentation of workshops, exhibitions and interviews with the resource people. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, local travel, exhibitions, film screenings, workshops, professional fee, equipment rental, design, printing, books and stationery purchase and an accountant’s fee.  

For a series of gaming interventions as a theatrical strategy to examine and reimagine the issues related to the urban commons in Bangalore, with a specific focus on lakes, in the face of rapid and brutal development. Using the tools and elements from Live Action Role Playing games (LARP), participatory art, and storytelling, the audience will be invited to take on roles to play the game. The outcome of the project will be this interactive game theatre performance played over ten engagements in the Sarjapur/ Bellandur neighbourhoods. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a detailed textual illustrated document outlining the game design process, interview records and transcripts, and photographic and video documentation of game-testing, final production, and the subsequent ten engagements with audience. Grant funds will pay for game productions,professional fees, fabrication costs, honorarium, travel and conveyance, printing, materials, books, venue, refreshments and an accountant’s fee. 

For a series of curated artistic engagements in Bangalore which will explore the different aspects of the city through the experiences of its various inhabitants. The events will include an art exhibition on the city, a comic zine-making workshop, a contemporary retake on Bangalore picture postcards, a city mapping project, an event of children drawing their favourite trees in the city, a photography project of portraits of the city-dwellers, a walk in a garden with a botanist and a curatorial mentoring for an exhibition of a landscape artist in the city. The outcomes of the project will be art exhibitions, comic books, postcards, maps, drawings, photographic portraits and a guide on trees. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a detailed textual and illustrated document of the curatorial process and outcomes, photo and video documentation of the events, comics, maps, botanical guides and exhibition catalogues. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, honorarium, materials, space hire and other rentals, design and printing, refreshment and workshop expenses, documentation costs and transport. 

For a photography-based exploration of the phenomenon of ‘Random Amit’ in Bangalore, which reinforces the stereotype of the brash North Indian male who has migrated into the city. Using the medium of photography and text, propagated in a participatory mode through social media and offline encounters, the project will interrogate the popular, humorous and pejorative nickname Amit. It will explore the subjects’ sense of inhabiting this idea of a monolithic, homogeneous North Indian identity in a fast-changing Bangalore. The outcome of the project will be a photo exhibition. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be the photographs and texts from the exhibition, still and video documentation of the exhibition, the crowd-sourced materials, and recordings of the interviews. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, printing, equipment hire, local conveyance, professional fees, venue hire, exhibition costs, stationery and materials, software purchase and an accountant’s fee.

For an artistic engagement involving the children of Richards Town, Bangalore, including students of the Clarence School on Pottery Road and the children of the Pourakarmikas who work in the ward, led by a local artist and a design firm.  The children will be encouraged to explore the environs surrounding Richards Park and their connections to the neighbourhood. The outcome of the project will be a three-day artistic intervention culminating in the creation of artworks on the walls along the railway track on Pottery Road. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be photo documentation of the three-day event and digital copies of the artworks. Grant funds will pay for refreshment, material, digitising and printing, and communication and outreach. 

For a series of arts-based exploratory learning modules at the Government Model Primary School, Hongasandra, Bangalore. The project will enable fifth-grade students to explore the world of matchboxes: their design and the reasons behind it, their typography, and their geographical journeys. The outcome will be a matchbox museum set up in the school. Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be photographs and video documentation of the project. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, workshop and material, professional fees, documentation and printing, travel, exhibition and an accountant’s fee.

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 a performance exploring the history of the ‘Egyptian’ neighbourhood in Jayanagar Third Block. Through in-depth personal interviews of the residents, this project attempts to elicit their memories and current relationship with the locality. The outcome of this project will be an event that will include a theatre and music performance, and storytelling. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be photo documentation of the performance and audio recordings of the interviews. Grant funds will pay for research and recording, conveyance, refreshments, performance fees and performance costs.

For a creative workshop over two days that seeks to build a collective identity for the neighbourhood of Malleswaram through the memory mapping technique. Using visual story-telling, drawing, writing, and recording oral histories, participants will examine ideas of ownership, identity and belonging as well as their relationship with change. The outcome of the project will be a set of memory maps on Malleswaram. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be photo-documentation of the workshop and a digital copy of the book. Grant funds will pay for materials, workshop, honorarium, facilitators’ fees and book design.