For an international seminar on K Venkatappa, a seminal figure in early modern Indian art. Through the study of various bodies of Venkatappa’s work, their aesthetic innovations, flaws and contradictions, the seminar attempts to create a rich tapestry of research, debate and discourse around the life and work of Venkatappa. Locating him in his contemporary context, the seminar is expected to explore early modernism in Karnataka, filling a lacuna in the history of Indian art. The seminar will take place in Bangalore in November 2016.
For a series of site-specific performance art interventions at the Vinayaka Kalyana Mantapa, an abandoned building on Bellary Road that used to be a marriage hall until it was sliced in half during the construction of the road to the airport.
For a series of performance art interventions across various spaces in Bangalore by ten artists belonging to the 080:30 Collective. Each intervention will consist of several site-specific performances in areas like K R Market, Nayandanahalli Junction and Commercial Street in Bangalore. Each of the ten artists will work with five different spaces and their projects will be chosen through a process of discussion and evaluation within the collective.
For a site-specific performance on an artificial climbing wall located within Phoenix Market City mall in Mahadevapura, Bangalore. The performance will be developed through a process of research into and experimentation with aerial movement, visual design, climbing techniques and urban art by the grantees who are actors and avid mountaineers.
For a series of six performance art interventions on the streets of Basavanagudi and Hanumantnagar. Each performance will engage with the characteristic features of the city – its history, its colours and its people – in an attempt to examine questions about the artist’s roots and identity.
For a performance around the life and works of eminent Kannada writer Masti Venkatesha Iyengar. The performance will begin with a walk starting on the road in Gavipuram that is named after the writer, continue into Gandhi Bazaar and culminate at Bugle Rock near the Basavanagudi Club with a play devised from short stories written by Masti.
For a theatre performance produced by the group ‘Rangasiri’ around the Kempegowda tower located in Mekhri Circle. The tower, constructed by Kempegowda II, the grandson of the city’s founder Kempegowda, is closely associated with the history of Bangalore. Through interviews with historians and an investigation of historical records, the theatrical piece will be scripted and consequently staged around the tower.
For support to aurally map two archaeological sites - Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh and Guruvayoor Temple, Kerala – by recording their ambisonic properties, as a pilot project for a much larger exercise in India. The attempt is to both challenge the dominant visual understanding of history of these sites, as well as study the effects of industrialisation on listening practices. The larger exercise will include recordings for five more sites to be archived on a web platform, enabling users to recreate the listening experience of those sites with any recorded sound. While the outcome of this project is a film on the process of this pilot project, an audio installation accompanied by lecture-demonstrations is hoped for at the end of the larger exercise.
For the creation of a supportive environment for the eighth and ninth grade Urdu speaking local students, to develop positive self-identity through studying their own histories, and cultures through the literary arts, music and visual arts. The non local students will also be encouraged to participate, in order to appreciate the culture within which the school functions.
For the creation of a performance themed around narratives of the hair. Titled ‘A Brief History of Your Hair’, the performance draws upon personal, historical, political and gender narratives of the hair and uses humour, playfulness and fantasy to unpack questions of identity, androgyny, gendered beauty and the way these ideas relate to each other across cultures. The performance is expected to premiere in March 2016. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, performance costs and production costs.
