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 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 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.
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 an engagement with students and staff of Chandana English Medium School, run by The Malenadu Educational and Rural Development Society, in Narebailu, Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka to explore learning possibilities by integrating community knowledge and their art practices into classroom pedagogies. Under the guidance of Sukri Bommanagowda, an elder of the Halakki Vokkaliga community who is one of the custodians of their tradition, students will be encouraged to connect with and learn from the community through a series of activities such as documenting, discussions, field trips, and interviews. The outcome will be a series of exhibitions and performances, and a publication of creative writing by the students. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will include a copy of the publication and still and video documentation of the project. Grant funds will pay for travel and living costs, honorarium, workshop costs, printing costs, documentation costs and orientation costs.
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 series of art-based experiential learning modules at the Kuvempu Centenary Government Higher Primary School, in Cheemangala village in Chikkaballapura district. With many in this region having histories of migration, students will document and analyse their own families’ journeys through interviews with community elders. They will also be encouraged to make geographical maps of these journeys to understand their impact on local history. The outcome will be a workbook comprising these stories and maps. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a copy of the workbook and photographs and the video documentation of the entire project. Grant funds will pay for printing costs, documentation costs, professional fees, honorarium, stationery and photocopying costs and an accountant’s fee.
For an engagement with eighth grade students of the High School section of the Government Pre-University College in Hanumasagara village in Koppala district, to explore and document the traditional systems of water management of the region, as well as similar practices in the larger world outside. Students will also attempt to learn the stories of Gullava, the goddess of rainwater, and the associated rainwater harvesting practices that are predominant across these regions of Hyderabad-Karnataka. The outcome will be a series of performances and a publication. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a copy of the publication, and photographs and the video documentation of the entire project. Grant funds will pay for printing costs, honorarium, stationery costs, travel costs, documentation costs, professional fees and an accountant’s fee.
For an engagement with the first to fifth grade students of the Government Lower Primary School, as well as the other children in Sannakere village in Chikkamagaluru district, to better equip themselves to read and write in Kannada. Through explorations of ideas generated from the community, the children will learn stories related to their environment in different languages, community food practices and recipes, and personal stories from people’s past experiences, cultures and backgrounds. The outcome will be a publication of the children’s writing. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a copy of the publication, and photographs and video documentation of the entire project. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, workshop costs, honorarium, printing costs, travel costs, documentation costs, and an accountant’s fee.
For a community project which brings together children from the residential complex of Good Earth Malhar in Kengeri, the nearby labour camp that houses construction workers, and the neighbouring villages, to create maps from their understandings of the neighbourhood. The project will explore ways in which children see their surrounding environment and forge connections with it. The outcome will be a book-reading mela and an exhibition of children’s maps of the neighbourhood. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be audiovisual documentation of the activities. Grant funds will cover professional fees, materials and event costs, and refreshments.
For an engagement with eighth grade students of the Government Higher Primary School in Kalaburagi to study the paintings, architecture and administration of the Bahmani Sultanate in connection with their social science syllabus. Students will be involved in workshops on line drawing, Urdu calligraphy, and creative writing on the history of the Bahmani Sultanate. The outcome will be a compilation of artworks by students in the form of a book. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be still and video documentation of the entire project and an art book. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, professional fees, material costs, performance costs, publication costs, exhibition costs, travel costs, and an accountant’s fee.
For a series of art-based experiential learning modules at the Government Higher Primary School, in Anagoda village in Uttara Kannada district. The project will enable students to trace and document the migration of a wide variety of birds in the Uttara Kannada region. Students will also engage in birdwatching and relate it to their environmental studies curriculum. The outcome will be a publication of short stories, poems and folk songs. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be still and video documentation of the entire project. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, travel costs, printing costs, material costs, exhibition costs, documentation costs, professional fees, and an accountant’s fee.
