For research to study the significance and interrelationship of cultural heritage and conflict in Kashmir. The project aims to understand how heritage impacts the identities and values of communities in times of conflict. The outcome will be an essay and an interactive installation with audiovisual recordings from the field and stills of the mapped heritage sites. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be an essay and an audiovisual documentation from the installation. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, travel, food and living costs, exhibition costs, professional fees, book purchase, library fees, stationery and photocopy costs, equipment rental and an accountant’s fee.
For research to study the ways in which poets and rebels contemplate the question of the self through idioms of ‘love’, in the current sociocultural and political context in Kashmir. By exploring the plurality of love depicted through images and literary expressions, the project will focus on the works of two poets—Agha Shahid Ali and Rahman Rahi—and visuals of a rebel leader. It will attempt to delve into the ways in which the discourse on love in literary sources and political practices could be employed in writing the cultural history of contemporary Kashmir. The outcome will be an essay and a photo-essay. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be an essay and a photoessay. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, travel, food and living costs, stationery, book purchase, photocopying, professional fees, internet subscription charges and an accountant’s fee.
For research into the lives of Indian courtesans and their families, tracking their journey from their roots in history to the present times. The Grantee will draw on his personal experiences as well as those of women and children who were raised in kothas. With a focus on their music, performance culture, patronage and the circumstances that transformed a traditional cultural practice into sex work, the project will record the struggles and aspirations of people from various communities and trace the erosion of the Kotha culture over time. The outcome will be a manuscript for a book. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the manuscript and an audiovisual documentation from the field. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, travel, food and living costs, stationery, book purchase, library fee, photocopying, internet and phone bills, professional fees, equipment rental and an accountant’s fee.
For working with the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore, founded by Nobel Laureate Sir CV Raman which houses more than 5,000 historical photographs, handwritten letters, artefacts and instruments that Prof Raman used in his lifetime. This fellowship supports research that will lead to a permanent display of archival material at the Raman Research Institute. The outcome will involve the designing and curating of this permanent display that will both accommodate and showcase the material from the past, together with current research that is underway in the Institute. The Fellow’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be process images, images of the exhibition, texts and publication if any.
For working with the Barpeta District Museum in Assam, which was established in 1987 and houses more than 450 artefacts including a number of objects from the satras – the neo-vaishnavite monasteries that also served as important sociocultural centres for the Assamese society. This fellowship supports research that will lead to a permanent exhibition at the Barpeta District Museum. The outcome will be an inventory of the objects in the collection, a catalogue with brief descriptions, and a permanent exhibition that will be designed and curated to showcase the objects in an engaging and informative manner. The Fellow’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be process images, images of the exhibition, texts and publication, if any.
For workshop expeditions with students to three archaeological sites. These workshops will attempt to disseminate the knowledge of archaeoacoustics tested successfully in an earlier project supported by IFA. The outcome will be three workshops. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be data collected from the field recordings, report of the process, audio-video documentation and photographs of the workshops. Grant funds will pay for workshop costs, honorarium, professional fees and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a performance piece that explores the idea of the ‘black hole’ in the realms of science, philosophy and the personal. Exploring connections between consciousness and astrophysics, and the objective nature of science and the subjective nature of being, this work seeks to blur the boundaries and link the outer and the inner cosmos, by interweaving personal narratives and scientific theories. The outcome will be 14 shows of the performance, including the premiere. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be still and video documentation of the performances. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, travel and living costs, space hire, equipment hire, local conveyance, documentation costs, material costs and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a book on a series of fictional mythologies based in the Polar Regions with Ice as its protagonist. Addressing the politics of ecology, language, and perspectives from the global south, the project will present Ice as an agent of resistance against European colonialism and techno-capitalist greed for natural resources from the poles. The outcome will be a book and a series of performances. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be copy of the manuscript, publication excerpts and audio-video documentation of the performances. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, printing cost, performance cost, research assistance, professional fees, research books and maps, travel and living cost and an accountant’s fee.
For a foundation course in puppetry that seeks to train professional puppeteers in India. The course comes as the culmination of a series of workshops held with traditional and contemporary puppet masters over the past five years. Drawing upon and building on existing discourse around puppetry, this first-of-its-kind course seeks to create a pedagogic model that contextualises Indian puppetry traditions while offering an overview of puppetry from other parts of the world. The course will be implemented between October 2018 and April 2019. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be still and video documentation from the sessions, video documentation of the performances of the students, journals of the students, evaluation reports by facilitators and external evaluators, and a handbook on the course. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees, project coordinator’s fee, local conveyance, travel, material and an accountant’s fee.
For working with the cluster of three museums - Goa Chitra, Goa Chakra and Goa Cruti - which narrates the history of Goa through objects, texts and oral histories. This fellowship supports research that will unravel stories about 15 iconic objects from the museum’s collections. Using objects as the point of departure, the project attempts to make visible the many layers of narratives around them through engagements with a diverse range of people that includes experts in the field, artists, anthropologists and children. These stories hope to reveal not only the historic and contemporary significance of the objects but also the material, aesthetic and human histories around them. The outcome will be mobile exhibitions where select objects can be exhibited outside the museum space, gallery walks, children’s workshops, repair cafes, sound and light projections, performances, talks, and demonstrations by craftspersons. The Fellow’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be process images, audio recordings, texts and publication, if any.
For working with the cluster of three museums - Goa Chitra, Goa Chakra and Goa Cruti - which narrates the history of Goa through objects, texts and oral histories. This fellowship supports research that will document, disseminate and make accessible, knowledge about objects in the collections through digital and immersive media. Mobile applications created around the collection attempt to not only extend the reach of the museum, but also engage and educate a younger generation steeped in technology and social media. The outcome will be augmented reality workshops, mobile apps and an exhibition of the content created during the workshops. The Fellow’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be process images, audio recordings, images of the exhibition, the apps and a publication, if any.
For the creation of an experimental film that explores the lives of a group of performers of the Chhau form from Purulia, West Bengal, going beyond their much studied practice of using elaborate masks in their performances. The project attempts to study their transformation into mythical characters for the performance as well as trace the shifts and changes in the dance form in recent times. Evocative and slow in nature, the film will be an experiment in cinematic storytelling through folk narratives. The outcome will be a film. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the film, final script, rush footage, production notes and stills. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, equipment hire, professional fees, production and post-production costs and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a mixed-media animation film based on an essay by Steven B Gerrard, titled Wittgenstein Plays Chess with Duchamp or How Not to Do Philosophy: Wittgenstein on Mistakes of Surface and Depth. The project attempts to push the boundaries of cinema by juxtaposing it with ideas from philosophy, visual art, chess, mathematics, geometry, linguistics and psychology. The outcome will be a 15-minute animation film.The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the film, process documentation stills and photo-documentation of the artworks created for the animation. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, equipment and software hire, professional fees, art materials, travel, research and permissions and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a feature length fiction film titled Lorni—The Flaneur. The project attempts to question the formation of Khasi identity, challenges the aesthetics and language of mainstream commercial cinema and poses an alternative to the industrial model of revenue in favour of indigenous experimental filmmakers. The outcome will be a film. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the film, a music video, final script, scanned soft copies of story boards, rush footage, productions stills and publicity material. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, post-production, professional fees, sound mixing, publicity and material, studio hire, and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of an experimental video art piece to be included in an installation. Drawing from experiences of women from Kerala in the nuptial chamber, the video will try to address the psychic significance of the ‘wedding night’ in their lives. It will push the boundaries between the academic and artistic realms of cinema, art and psychology. The outcome will be a 15-to-20-minute experimental video. The deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the video, rush footage, production stills, art works, interviews generated as part of the project and media reports. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees, hire of studio and equipment, travel, materials and publicity, refreshments, and an accountant’s fee.
