For designing and conducting a series of workshops for women survivors of the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002. The workshops, which will build on the artist’s earlier attempts to integrate art, research and activism, are expected to be a model for how the arts might engage intimately with pertinent social concerns.
For research into performing traditions and changing structures of patronage in Maharashtra. By investigating Marathi theatrical practices that emerged in the 1840s, the study seeks to document how elite and popular performative forms were reconstituted in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
For making Recording Guiya, a documentary film that will explore the conditions that contributed to the unprecedented success of Guiya, an audio cassette released in the mid-1990s in Jharkhand. The film will examine the current state of popular music and the future of oral traditions.
For researching and documenting the history and unique weaving technique of the Molkalmuru sari from the Chitradurga district of Northern Karnataka. The documentation is expected to facilitate the revival and marketing of simplified versions of the sari.
For developing an innovative, online graduate-level programme in cultural studies in collaboration with Kuvempu University. By designing new curricula, developing textbooks, organising workshops and offering online courses, the Centre will build new links with research and teaching institutions.
For documenting heritage buildings in Solapur, which exhibit architectural influences that span 1,000 years of successive rule by the Deccan Sultanates, the Mughals, the Marathas and the British. The documentation, which will include measure-drawings and photographs, is expected to lead to an exhibition and aid conservation efforts.
For documenting literary practices in nine languages spoken in Mumbai as well as translating selected texts among these languages. The resulting database will facilitate further translations among these languages.
For a series of workshops by an architect for middle-school children in three schools in Kolkata towards creating awareness about built heritage, especially in relation to the history and culture of the city. Educational packages will be developed to aid the workshops and site visits.
For researching and documenting the repertoire of biraha (songs of separation) in the folk music of Bengal, towards a musical travelogue in Bengali and English. The project, to be carried out by a contemporary songwriter and performer, will yield an archive of songs and interviews.
For continued collaboration among a painter/puppeteer, a sculptor/puppeteer and a shoe designer/woodworker towards developing full-fledged productions in puppet theatre. The grant will also give shape to the new techniques and styles of presentation that have evolved out of the exploratory phase.
For completing an illustrated manuscript provisionally titled ‘Include by Design: Architecture for the Inclusive Artplace’. The grant will enable the recasting of the manuscript for publication through the use of new photographs and illustrations, and will underwrite the book’s production costs.
For the publication of a book on the use of photography as a social tool by the Bengali upper class in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The book, to be published by the Oxford University Press, will be made available at a subsidised price.
For developing and implementing a Dance-In-Education programme in Bangalore schools. The programme will introduce students from diverse economic and social backgrounds to contemporary dance and movement arts, train dance teachers and help develop a dance education curriculum.
For making a film on studio portraiture in India, which will explore the human and social dimensions that inform photographs, as also the experience of being photographed. The proposed film will seek to deconstruct the photographs in terms of cultural influences, social aspirations and individual fantasies.
