For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA, which will study the non-dominant Tamil narrative traditions that are replete with instances of disfigurements, associated with two deities, Sudalai Madan and Madurai Veeran. It will examine aesthetic features of embodiment and shape contained in these narratives, while documenting the visual, oral, ritual and performative accounts in accessible formats. A core objective of this project is to study disability access cultures in relation to the performance and reception of these narrative traditions. The outcomes of this project will be manuscript for a book, pedagogical videos, and a haptic exhibition. The Principal Investigator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the manuscript for the book, pedagogical videos, and audiovisual documentation from the exhibition. Project funds will pay for professional fee, honorarium, travel and living, and printing and stationery.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Explorations, which will experiment to create a form for Asunam, a non-Vedic mythical creature from Sangam Literature of the classical Tamil oeuvre. In a collaborative artistic process between a comics writer, an illustrator and a voice-over artist, this project will use motion and sound to imagine this mythical creature with surreal physical features and hypersensitivity to sound. The outcome of the project will be an audio-visual and a motion comic. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be process documentation of the collaboration, the audio-visual and the motion comic. Project funds will pay for professional fees and honorarium.
For research that will trace the articulations of the Ilangai Tamil - Sri Lankan Tamil refugee - community about their homeland through their cultural practices. It will study how the community in its interactions with the Indian nation-state and Tamil Nadu state machinery uses performative acts to negotiate their roles and identities in their present liminal status. The outcome of this project will be a series of essays. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be the essays and audiovisual documentation and interviews from two refugee camps in Tamil Nadu. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, professional fees, travel, food and living costs, equipment rental, consumables and an accountant’s fee.
For the making of a 25-panel non-fiction comic on the evolution of the internet in India, presented using the graphic narrative format. Following significant moments of using the internet in the lives of its makers who grew up in the 90s, the project will connect these personal memories to important milestones in the history of the internet in India. The outcome of the project will be a manuscript of the non-fiction comic. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be the digital files of the 25 comic panels, two copies of the manuscript of the comic and detailed documentation of the process. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, honorarium and materials.
For an engagement with the students and staff of the Vanavil School run by the Vanavil Trust in Keezhakaraiyiruppu village near Nagapattinam,Tamilnadu, to explore learning possibilities by integrating community knowledge and local art practices into classroom pedagogies. The primary purpose of this project is to enable year-long activities to encourage students to bring their lived experiences, identity and the cultural practices of their communities into the classroom. The outcomes of the project include an art integrated pedagogical activity book, audio recordings of the community songs of the Boom Boom Maatukarar people, an exhibition and performances. The deliverables from the project to IFA along with the final report will be a copy of the publication, photographs, audio recordings and video documentation of the entire project. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, travel and living expenses, performance, publication, honorarium, materials, equipment rental, workshop and documentation.
This grant supports a photography-based exploration of the history, architecture, and cultural memory of Building No. 37 that was opened to citizens in 1973, as the tallest built space in Bangalore. Delving into narratives of nostalgia, dismay, hope, and indifference, the project seeks to investigate into the conception of the building, the impact it has had on the city and imagine its possible futures. The outcomes of the project will be an on-site multimedia exhibition / installation comprising of audio, photographs and sketches, a photo essay, a personal essay and a website. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be photographs and sketches from the project, photographs of the exhibition, the photo essay, audio recordings of the interviews, the website and the personal essay on the building. Grant funds will pay for equipment and studio hire, professional fees, honorarium, printing, mounting and publicity, local conveyance, costumes and props, stationery and refreshments, and an accountant’s fee.
For the dissemination of Men of Pukar, an IFA-supported photographic project portraying the people and landscape of Poompuhar. Extending beyond Poompuhar, this project will constitute photo exhibitions in and around the regions of three ancient port cities—Tondi (Tyndis), Muchiri (Muziris), and Korkai—located in present day Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Drawing on descriptions of the inhabitants and terrain of these cities in the ancient Tamil epic Silappadikaram, this work seeks to revisit these sites in an attempt to initiate conversations around identity and territory, and rekindle collective social memory. The outcome of the project will be three photo exhibitions and interactive sessions. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be still documentation of the exhibitions and the discussions. Grant funds will pay for costs towards travel and living, exhibition, event, photo documentation and accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a collaborative performance work, exploring politics around notions of identity of the ‘refugee’. Anchored in a doctoral dissertation on Sudanese refugees, the performance will be built on the individual and collective explorations and experiences of marginalisation, exclusion, borders, statist politics, ‘refugee-ness’ and ‘other-ness’ by seven artists. It seeks to question dominant discourses on the refugee, challenging homogeneity, and aspires to build human connections and inclusion. The work will be scripted, devised, directed, and performed by a collective of seven artists who hail from theatre, movement, literary, and visual arts backgrounds. The outcome will be a series of work-in-progress performances across South India. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be photographs, video and textual documentation of the process, and performances. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees for resource persons, travel and living, rehearsal space rental, documentation, materials, and an accountant’s fee.
For research to write a critical history of Tamil theatre during the early 20th century, studying the writings of Pammal Sammadha Mudaliar, who is considered the founding father of modern Tamil theatre. The project will critically examine the categorisation of Tamil theatre into ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ forms, highlighting the struggles of theatre practitioners against the backdrop of anti-colonial and the emergent anti-Brahminical movements in the region. The outcome will be a manuscript for a book. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the Final reports will be the manuscript with images and excerpts of translations from the writings of Pammal and interviews conducted in the field. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, research assistance, travel and living, stationery and documentation, typing and printing, and an accountant’s fee.
For research into the evolution and development of the Gaana music culture in Chennai. A popular form of music, practiced among the marginalised people of urban Chennai, Gaana in the recent years has become a powerful medium of socio-cultural and political expression. Through extensive documentation of the Gaana songs and the lives of its performers, and an in-depth analysis of the content, this project attempts to study this form against the larger context of society, politics and culture of Chennai in particular and Tamil Nadu in general. The outcome of this project will be a series of essays / articles in little magazines in Tamil. The research will eventually lead to a book. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the essays and, video and still documentation from the project. Grant funds will cover honorarium, travel and living costs, documentation costs, local conveyance, resource materials, photocopy and stationeries, and an accountant’s fee.
