Request for Proposals: Archives and Museums programme | IFA in collaboration with The Cinema Resource Centre | Deadline: Sunday, November 26, 2023 (CLOSED)

IFA, in collaboration with The Cinema Resource Centre (TCRC), Chennai invites applications for IFA-TCRC Scholarly Project and IFA-TCRC Creative Project, under its Archives and Museums programme. The programme has a twofold objective: to provide arts practitioners and researchers with an opportunity to generate new, critical and creative approaches for public engagement with archives and museum collections; and to energise these spaces as platforms for dialogue and discourse. Read about earlier projects under this programme.

Application Deadline: Sunday, November 26, 2023

Click here to read the call in Tamil/English.

About The Cinema Resource Centre (TCRC):

TCRC in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, is a not-for-profit public archive of Indian cinema designed to enable research on the visual and audio-visual cultural artefacts produced by Indian films, especially those made in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. They seek to promote film culture, from a historical, educational, and artistic perspective. 

The collection at TCRC pertains to various Indian films, mostly focusing on those made in the various south Indian languages released over the last 80 years. They have been sourced from collectors, film producers, technicians, artistes and fans. The materials range from film posters, lobby cards, song books, long-playing (LP) records, literature and review pieces on cinema, and thousands of film stills. 

About the IFA-TCRC Projects:

For this collaboration, we invite applications to work with two collections at TCRC:

  • Scholarly Projects on Lobby cards in Tamil Cinema from 1950s - 1990s: Lobby Cards, as the name suggests, were used in the lobby of cinema halls, often pinned there or distributed by the production house as publicity material to promote a film. Over  the years, film lobby cards have become the most sought after film memorabilia. The materials from this collection are from Tamil cinema from 1950s to 1990s.

    For the Scholarly Project, we encourage proposals that:
    - research and critically engage with this collection to produce research-based materials 
    - support the knowledge bank of the institution with tangible outcomes such as monographs, essays, long-form articles, descriptive catalogue etc.
    - present their research through public programmes both online and offline. 
  • Creative Projects on Tamil Cinema reviews in Periodical publications from 1930s - 1990s: This collection includes reviews of Tamil Cinema published in various magazines from the 1930s to the 1990s. Some of them are annual editions while a few are from the fortnightly or weekly periodicals. Some of the reviews were written by prominent writers of those times. This collection is an important resource to encourage and explore the discourse of writing on cinema.

    For the Creative Project, we seek proposals which:
    - demonstrate innovative curatorial and artistic intervention to reimagine this collection.
    - focus on creating creative outcomes such as physical or virtual exhibitions, film/s, podcasts and others for greater public outreach.  

We encourage projects that think through interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches and methodologies for their outcomes.

Both kinds of projects are envisioned for a period of one year.

Project Coordinators working on the projects will be required to visit, study and research the collections at the physical space of TCRC in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Project Coordinators will have access to the specific materials mentioned above, over the duration of the project. For more information about the collection and materials available for research, please contact VV Prasad, Archivist, at archives.tcrc@gmail.com

Applicant Profile:

  • We seek applications from curators, artists, researchers, writers, performers as well other creative practitioners, and from scholars with background in research and keen interest in working with archival and museum collections.
  • Applicants with knowledge of Tamil are encouraged to apply, since the familiarity with the language will be helpful to conduct research.
  • Only Indian nationals are eligible to apply. To know more about our eligibility criteria, click here. 

Application Guidelines: 

Send us the following in a single email:

  • A proposal briefly describing the project (as described in the call with outlines of creative outcomes that one can imagine, or research questions if it is a Scholarly project) that could be developed from the visual and textual materials mentioned above. The description should include the vision, approach and possible outcomes.
  • A brief note on other public programmes that could be developed from the material.
  • A detailed budget.
  • Your curriculum vitae with a brief description of a project you have been involved with as a curator, arts practitioner, or researcher. This description should comprise the vision, processes, and outcomes from that project. Please send us a document with links and not attachments. 
  • You can write your proposal in any Indian language, including English. IFA encourages projects in Indian languages other than English so as to contribute to the discourse in various language contexts.
  • Email your applications or any queries to Ritwika Misra at ritwika@indiaifa.org with the subject line: Application for IFA - TCRC

Project Budget:

  • The project cost should not exceed Rs 2,00,000/-
  • You can request for an honorarium not exceeding 35% of the proposed budget for the entire duration of the project. The total amount is inclusive of the honorarium.
  • Funds will cover only project-related costs and activities, and will not pay for infrastructure costs or equipment purchase. 

Key Dates:

  • The deadline for receiving applications is Sunday, November 26, 2023.
  • Interviews with shortlisted candidates are expected to take place in December, 2023.
  • The project will commence by January 2024 for a period of one year. 

IFA will implement this project with you directly as Project Coordinator. 

Images: From the collections at The Cinema Resource Centre (TCRC)

Please note that IFA is committed to creating a safe environment that supports, respects, and protects everyone, including children. The applicant must be aligned with this and must uphold it at all times.