For documenting the early recording industry and music culture in India. The study will identify the human, intellectual and material artefacts of early music culture and result in a series of essays on the gramophone as well as online sharing of documentation.
For field research into the oral ballads of the Mithila region of north Bihar. The research will result in a databank that would assist researchers by providing information on the content of the ballads and the social context in which they are performed.
For research towards a chronicle on the history of jazz in Goa, Bombay and Calcutta between 1930 and 1980. The study will trace the roots of this unique tradition through the lives of its best-known exponents and lead to a manuscript that blends true accounts with fictionalised narratives.
For preparatory research towards the development of highway performance circuits for contemporary dance. The outcome would be a strategic plan for a single performance circuit along highways across south Indian states with the aim of expanding opportunities for performance and establishing a sustainable infrastructure for contemporary dance.
For a comprehensive documentation of the writings of Pudumaippithan, the first modern Tamil writer. The project will bring together his numerous short stories, essays and works of criticism held in public and private collections across the country, and result in microfilm and digital copies of them.
For preparatory research towards a script and screenplay for a fiction film based in Goa and Brazil. While the study will focus on Goan life and culture in the second half of the twentieth century, the film will explore identity formation in the context of the Indian diaspora.
For dissertation research on the development of a ‘national’ theatre in India, analysing and evaluating post-independence cultural policy and the role of institutions like the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the National School of Drama. The study will explore the role of the state in creating and propagating aesthetic hierarchies.
For photo-documentation and study of the popular public sculpture of metropolitan Calcutta, covering the year-long calendar of image-making followed by the Kumartuli potters, and the use of the icons in ritual and festive contexts. A book, a CD-ROM and an exhibition are the expected outcomes of the project.
For a compilation and ethnographical study of the distinctive folk songs of industrial workers on the plantations, mines and factories of eastern India. Anticipated outcomes of the study include a published anthology and audio recordings of the songs for archival use.
For research into the history of early photography in Bengal. The study will investigate the use of photography as a social tool by the Bengali urban, upper class to record their changing lifestyles in the latter part of the nineteenth century. It is expected to result in a book that traces this socio-cultural narrative through photographs.
