Grant & Projects

Muhammed Anees TA


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that delves into the material culture linked to the ritualistic practices of Muslims in hinterland Malabar. It also examines the significant contribution made by Mamburam Thangal to the formation of different ritualistic complexes in the region and the evolution of Mappila subjectivity during the 18th and 19th centuries. The outcomes of this project will be a seminar on the evolution of 18th and 19th-century Mappila Muslims, a documentary film, an exhibition of project findings, a manuscript in Malayalam, and publications in online and print media. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports, will be the documentary film, the items from the exhibition, including videos, photos, and graphic designs, as well as a digital archive of project findings. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, hire of equipment, printing, purchase of books, exhibition, hire of venue, archive fees, stationery and materials.

BVN Sai Sagar


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will explore the role played by Telugu-language journals and magazines, particularly Bharati and Gruhalakshmi, in shaping the discourse on art and nationalism within the context of the New Andhra School of art from the 1920s to the 1940s. The outcomes of this project will be a monograph. Alongside the text, it will contain images of the artworks, photographs, drawings and paintings. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA along with the final reports will be the monograph, rare publications purchased during the project term and a digital repository of collected images. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, printing, communication, hire of equipment, archives and library fees, purchase of books and stationery.

Manas Kumar Ghosh


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that aims to study the character of four seasonal fairs in Cooch Behar, West Bengal, as sites of intangible cultural heritage by looking into the customs, traditional medicines, and food systems that operate within these fairs. The outcome of the project will be four maps by local artists (including documentation of the mapmaking process) labelled in Bangla and English, seven 10-minute-long podcasts in Bangla and English, and a website that will house all the podcasts and documentation. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports, will be the four maps, seven podcast episodes, and a link to the website. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, domain and website charges, materials, purchase of books and stationery.

Tanvi Jadwani


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will look into the performances of women during the Mahila Kabir Yatra. The research will involve a feminist point of view to understand the performer's journey on stage and trace how the stage transforms an artist while looking at the sacrifices that a female artist has to undertake. It will also look at how the Kabir Vaani is transformed based on the gender of the artist and if these performative spaces are also acting as safe spaces for women. The outcome of this project will be a short documentary film of about 20-25 minutes. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports, will be the documentary film and audiovisual documentation from the field, including stories and songs of resistance. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, materials, and hire of equipment.

Subhendu Bhandari


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Productions that will enable the development and creation of a series of theatrical productions in government schools and districts of West Bengal. Centred on a story developed around the fraught relationship between young adults, social media and the internet, this theatrical production seeks to move beyond the conventional practices and frameworks of proscenium theatre to find a new language of performance that would enable the performance to reach new audiences in the interior districts of West Bengal. The outcome of the project will be the series of performances. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA along with the final reports will be a copy of the final script, photographs and video documentation of the rehearsals and the final performance. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, hire of equipment, printing and stationery, materials, documentation, costumes and sets, hire of venue, purchase of books, and library fees. 

Asif Abbas Rayama


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that seeks to rediscover the lost songs of Sindhi Sufi saint Shah Latif Bhitai in order to fill the gaps in the reception, recognition, and performance of his poetry. Through a rigorous process of sharing, teaching, and learning, the project aims to bring together scholars and musicians in order to study this Sufi tradition of singing and its role in community life across Kutch. The outcomes of this project will be a workshop between older and younger musicians to learn about Shah Latif’s missing surs, a booklet on the artists who perform Shah Latif, audiovisual documentation from the field, and a series of community shows, mehfils, and baithaks. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports, will be the booklet and audiovisual documentation of the workshop, baithaks, performances, and artists’ profiles. Project funds will pay for contract fees, workshop, printing, documentation, travel and living, communication, and stationery.

Yaoreipam Makang


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will attempt to understand the evolving cultural identity of the Tangkhul Naga community through an ethnographic and performative exploration of the Luira Festival and its iterations in four diasporic sites - Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Shillong, further drawing up a comparative analysis with Luira celebrations at Ukhrul in Manipur. The outcome of this research will be a monograph and audio-visual documentation of the festival events. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports, will be the monograph, audio-visual recording of the festival from five different geographical spaces, excerpts of the interviews from the field, copies of brochures, photographs, and lyrics of songs. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, documentation, hire of equipment and stationery.

Pankti Bharatbhai Desai


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will delve into the undocumented aspects of the Dalit Panther Movement in Gujarat, shedding light on its historical significance and the crucial role played by the Panther magazine in disseminating its ideologies. The outcomes of this project will be a comprehensive research article on the Dalit Panther Movement in Gujarat, in English and Gujarati, a multimedia exhibition complemented by a digital archive of the magazine, and audio documentation of field interviews. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports, will be the research article on the Dalit Panther Movement in Gujarat, in English and Gujarati, the digital archive for the Panther magazine, and audio documentation of field interviews, capturing firsthand perspectives. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, printing, hire of venue, documentation, hire of equipment, library and archive fees, purchase of books and stationery.

Garima Gupta


Project Period: Eight months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Explorations that will experiment with the making of an artist book in the form of a dragon-scale scroll, containing the micro-narratives of the Mahakali River, as a site of spirituality, and cross-border trade. The outcome of the project will be an artist book experimenting with the form of a dragon-scale scroll. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the soft copy of the artist book, and photographs of the artistic process. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, and materials. 

Manjappa PA


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that aims to explore the inner world of actors through the medium of theatre. By focusing on the actor’s body, it seeks to investigate aspects of physical memory and the possibility of expansion of the acting processes through a theatrical experiment that will involve an actor and a dancer. The outcomes of this project will be audiovisual documentation of the process and a theatre production. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA along with the final reports will be the audiovisual documentation, including photographs, video, brochures and show reports, and a series of performances of the theatre production. Project funds will pay for contract fees, production, travel and living, hire of equipment, and printing.

Poorvi Gaur


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will attempt to revisit the history of the documentary movement of India through the lens of gender, focusing on the first and, for a long time, the sole documentary producer, the Films Division of India. Through a feminist analysis of Films Division’s film praxis, it aims to foreground the invisibility of women’s work in the history of documentary film archives in India. The outcome of this project will be a feminist historiography of state-sponsored documentary film in early postcolonial India and an oral history resource focused on women’s film work in the Films Division (1948-80s). The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports, will be a written essay, recording of interviews, film DVDs, scanned copies of film posters, and other relevant para-texts obtained from Films Division and National Film Archive of India. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, hire of equipment, materials, purchase of books, and printing.

Shrikant Navalagiri


Project Period: One year and six months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that aims to bring together professional backstage theatre artists from the villages across North Karnataka to share their skills and weave the stories of their lives into stage texts and performances. The outcome of this project will be a theatre performance based on the lives of backstage theatre art and artists of North Karnataka. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA along with the final reports will be a handbook of documented interviews of the backstage artists. Project funds will pay for contract fees, production, documentation, travel and living, hire of equipment, consumables and purchase of books.

Millo Ankha


Project Period: Eight months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Explorations that will delve into the mythological world of nature worship in the ancestral land of Ziro valley, Arunachal Pradesh. In collaboration with the elders, women and girls of Apatani community, a speculative visual archive will be staged through performance, drawing, and photography. The outcome of the project will be a visual archive created as a zine. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a zine, and selected images from the visual archive. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, materials, hire of equipment, communications, and printing. 

Aadithya S


Project Period: One year

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will facilitate research and analysis to uncover the historical significance of lobby cards and explore the broader discourse on intersection of cinema, design, and spatial dynamics based on the collection of Tamil film lobby cards at The Cinema Resource Centre. The outcomes of the project will be a series of scholarly essays, an online catalogue, zines, lecture performances and heritage walks. The Project Coordinator’s final deliverables to IFA along with the final reports will be soft copies of the writings and essays, hard and soft copies of the printable zines, audio and video recordings of lecture performances, and photo and video documentation of the heritage walk. This is a collaboration with The Cinema Resource Centre in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Project funds will pay for travel and living, printing, contract fees, documentation, hire of equipment, website building, hire of venue, and materials.

Prithiraj Borah


Project Period: Eight months

For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Neighbourhood Engagements that will examine notions of ‘belongingness’ and ‘neighbourhood’ through an understanding of food habits of the ‘indigenous’ and ‘tribal’ communities from the northeast in Kalyan Nagar. Through collaborative ethnography, this project will interrogate the constructs of caste, gender and race, as well as identity formations and negotiations through the lens of food. The outcomes of this project will be a photo exhibition that will capture narratives around northeast food in Kalyan Nagar, and a short video documenting northeast food stalls in that neighbourhood. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA along with the final reports will be photo and video documentation of the process and the final photo exhibition, a copy of the documentary video, and any writings / articles that might emerge from this project. Project funds will pay for hire of equipment, hire of venue, printing and travel.  

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