For working with the cultural history archive at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta (CSSSC) which contains a wide variety of visual materials from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Bengal that includes books, journals, popular paintings, prints, posters, hoardings, advertisements and commercial art productions. Afrah’s research will culminate in a series of short videos that will portray stories of resistance of women in the nineteenth century, loosely themed around ‘Women and Impudence/Cheeky Girls’.
For the creation of a theatrical production that explores the position of women, roles of women characters and streevesha (female impersonation) within the male-dominated practice of Yakshagana. Drawing from research and personal experience, the performance imagines a reversal of roles in the popular Yakshagana plot of Draupadi Vastrapaharana, thereby exploring the conflicts around tradition, gender, power and morality inherent in the form. The performance is scheduled to premiere in Udupi in November 2015.
For a series of workshop processes conducted by a theatre group to explore and create a methodology of physical alphabets for theatre. The workshops will experiment with nonverbal explorations of textual themes and integrate them in the process of theatre-making. The outcome will be a detailed documentation of the processes that includes everyday rehearsal notes, photographs and audio-visual material.
For a series of workshops with the multiethnic communities of the eastern Himalayan regions of Sikkim and northern parts of West Bengal. It is a collaborative and multidisciplinary project that involves local music, myths and traditions dealt with in a manner that pushes the artistic boundaries of cinema. Described as an ‘interdependent cinema project’, the workshops will lead to a film, a graphic novel, a music album and finally a documentary installation exhibition.
For working with students at the Kuvempu Centenary Government Higher Primary School in Chikkaballapur District to create a local integrated workbook on language and mathematics drawing from the children’s everyday life experiences.
For a series of workshops culminating in a two-day public art festival in the Chitpur locality of old Kolkata. These workshops are designed to re-energise and activate this locality which has a rich history and heritage, through various cultural activities, innovative audience engagement and archiving with the help of local residents, businessmen, artists, craftsmen, teachers and students. Outcomes of the project will include a website, an exhibition and a DVD documenting the process.
For research into the field recordings, texts and photographs of the Dutch ethnomusicologist Arnold Bake, during his time in Bengal from 1925 to 1934. Based on this archival material gathered from various archives in India and abroad, she will construct histories of music and portraits of people and places, thus adding to and energising the existing archive for folk music, 'The Travelling Archive'. The outcomes will be an exhibition and a book.
For engaging with the Decorative Arts Department of the National Museum, New Delhi for re-staging their collection of brocade saris to make the museum a dynamic space for both research and practice. Suchitra and Abeer’s project aims to ascertain the pedagogic and public value of our national cultural resources through research and exhibition, thus establishing a live link between the collection, the classroom and the exhibition that will be curated at the National Museum in February 2016.
For engaging with the Decorative Arts Department of the National Museum, New Delhi for re-staging their collection of brocade saris to make the museum a dynamic space for both research and practice. Bessie’s project will primarily research the effect that the river has on the textile industry with special focus on the Ganges and its influence on the weaving of the brocade sari, and culminate in an exhibition at the National Museum in February 2016.
This Grant was Terminated by IFA and the Grantee is ineligible to apply to IFA in the future.
For engaging with the Painting Department of the National Museum, New Delhi for re-staging their collection of the Pahari Ragamala paintings to make the museum a dynamic space for both research and practice. Preeti will present the Ragamala paintings in its historical context and explore the relationship these miniatures have with other fields of arts such as literature and music. The project will culminate in an exhibition at the National Museum in February 2016.
This Grant was Terminated by IFA and the Grantee is ineligible to apply to IFA in the future.
For engaging with the Painting Department of the National Museum, New Delhi for re-staging their collection of the Pahari Ragamala paintings to make the museum a dynamic space for both research and practice. Deeksha will curate a series of contemporary ‘performances’ in response to the textual, visual and aural nature of the Ragamala paintings. It will culminate in an exhibition at the National Museum in February 2016.
This Grant was Terminated by IFA and the Grantee is ineligible to apply to IFA in the future.
For a graphic novel, an exhibition and an animation film, each conceived from a different perspective, developed on the concept of a futuristic city that embodies a perfect marriage between religion, politics and big business serving the consumerist dream. Instead of panels, the graphic novel will have single-page illustrations with no text.
For an inter-disciplinary collaborative work towards creating a musical cartography of Mumbai. Tracing the emergence of a distinct pedagogy and public engagement with music, the project seeks to understand the trajectory of Hindustani music in Mumbai through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, especially through a study of the city’s built spaces and neighbourhoods. The outcome will include a workshop, an exhibition and a few performances.
For the creation of a production based on a Marathi script titled ‘Flat Number F-1/105’. Through active collaborations among the director, actors and the playwright, the performance seeks to address issues around identity through a reflection on the aesthetic and political perceptions of ‘colour’.
For research into the diverse constructions and reinventions of the Ramayana epic with specific focus on seven performance traditions and two contemporary reinterpretations. The project seeks to provide a textured and contextual study of the various manifestations of the epic within specific ritual, social and performative contexts. The outcomes will include a series of presentations and an essay.
