For research that will bring forth alternative narratives from the Darjeeling Himalayas through stories of people, their lived experiences, and cultural spaces. Looking beyond the dominant imagery and narratives that continue to reinforce colonial tropes, this project aims to explore the realities of people through extensive archival research, contemporary photography and oral narratives. The outcome of this project will be a photobook and two exhibitions of photographs by young contemporary photographers from the region in Kalimpong and Darjeeling. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be the photobook and audiovisual documentation generated during the fieldwork. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, travel, food and living costs, equipment rental, honorarium, printing and stationery, books and references, space rental and an accountant’s fee.
For research to trace the history of the music labels of audio cassette in Kashmir and explore the articulations they fostered. The research will focus on marginalised sections and communities of Kashmir, whose interventions challenged the existing social and cultural norms, cultivating a new and popular music scene. It will also put into perspective how these forms impacted the production of media and continue to influence the contemporary music culture in the Valley. The outcome of this project will be an essay. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be the essay and audiovisual documentation of the interviews. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, travel, copyright acquisition, stationery, audiovisual documentation and an accountant’s fee.
This Grant was amicably cancelled based on reasons mutually agreed upon by the Grantee and IFA due to unavoidable circumstances.
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 research to explore the history and chart the boundaries of Qawwalis in Hindi cinema as a genre of music different from others. The project aims to analyse how the industry used these songs to narrate different stories as well entertain, often subverting this traditional form beyond its norms. It will also attempt to understand ways in which cinema has influenced the performance of traditional Sufi Qawwalis. The outcomes of this project will be an essay and multimedia audiovisual documentation on a digital platform. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be the essay, audiovisual documentation generated during the fieldwork and a link to the digital platform. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, professional fees, reference material, stationery and consumables, communication, internet and website domain charges, travel, food and living costs and an accountant’s fee.
For research to study the contributions of courtesans in the shaping of Hindi cinema during the first half of the twentieth century. The project will explore how courtesans became not only some of the first singers, dancers and actors but also directors, producers, lyricists and music composers, thus highlighting their entrepreneurial roles that built the foundation of the industry. It will also study the creative and economic labour of courtesans and Kathak dancers whose narratives are absent in the mainstream discourse on cinema histories in India. The outcome of this project will be a multimedia exhibition with audiovisual interviews, podcasts, short narrative films and graphic illustrations. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be multimedia material generated for the exhibition and a link to the website that will host this content. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, equipment, professional fees, travel and living costs, exhibition costs, books, stationery and website domain costs, consumables and an accountant’s fee.
For creating a series of participatory art events around a few industrial campuses in the city, to trace the unacknowledged story of life in the surrounding villages of these institutions that were a part of the formation of Bangalore as a metropolis. The outcomes of this project will be a digital archive of the collected stories, curated walks, and performances led by the members of the community and a travelling exhibition to showcase cartographic representations reflecting personal experiences of the community members. The grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a detailed textual and illustrated document of the curatorial process and outcomes, photo and video documentation of curated walks and performances, soft copy of the digital archive, soft copies of exhibition panels, and cartographic visualisation, short films and photo essays. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, honorarium, exhibition costs, equipment hire, venue hire, local conveyance and hospitality, digital archives costs, and an accountant’s fee.
This Grant was amicably cancelled based on reasons mutually agreed upon by the Grantee and IFA due to unavoidable circumstances.
For the implementation of a Foundation project by IFA, which will result in an essay titled Indian Commodities and Commodified Indians in Late Eighteenth Century Portraiture based on the paintings at the Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH) Kolkata. The paintings by European artists, commissioned by the European administrators in India, present Europeans amidst their dazzling material objects and the ‘natives’ who were ever present to serve them. While the essay will focus on the biography of the exotic objects and the lived reality of the native labourers in the paintings, it will also offer insights into larger questions around the ‘Orient’, transcontinental trade and the material culture of colonial India in the eighteenth century. The outcome will be the essay, an online exhibition or a website, an interactive social media platform, as well as talks at the Victoria Memorial Hall. The Principal Investigator's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the essay, the exhibition or website, and recordings of the talks. This is a collaboration with the Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata. Project funds will pay for honorarium, website, travel, books and resources, and stationery.
For the implementation of a Foundation project by IFA, which will result in an audio-visual documentation titled Influential Shahirs: Narratives from Marathwada, an archive of eight shahirs – poet performers - four men and four women in Maharashtra. These shahirs inspired by Dr B R Ambedkar’s ideals of social revolution, have been a source of great inspiration for the masses and their songs have helped to sustain the Dalit movement in the rural areas of the region. Yet little is known about the poets or the compositions, as their work has been completely ignored by the mainstream establishment. This project seeks to recognise, acknowledge and archive their work and their role in the promotion and sustenance of a long socio-political movement. The outcome will be a series of eight articles and eight audio/video recordings of live performances. The Principal Investigator's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the eight articles, the audio/video recordings and transcripts of the songs. This is a collaboration with the People’s Archive of Rural India - PARI. Project funds will pay for honorarium, travel, stationery and books and resources.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA, to create Jol-a-bhumi r Golpo Katha / Stories of the Wetland that will document and disseminate the stories of the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) as experienced by the community, created by young people of the community. The EKW - the largest stretch of sewage-fed wetlands in the world that sustains a population of over a lakh, and a diverse species of flora and fauna - is under threat today. This project will empower children from the EKW community to tell their own stories to the world through the PARI (People’s Archive of Rural India) platform. The outcome will be a series of research and workshop-based narratives that will take multiple forms such as podcasts, paintings, photo-stories, comics, and so on. The Principal Investigator's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the narratives, together with video recordings of the workshops. This is a collaboration with PARI. Project funds will pay for honorarium, professional fees, travel, stationery, and equipment rental.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA, to create an audio-visual archive of the lives of 10 ‘stateless people’ who have served in detention centres in Assam. The project titled Facing History and Ourselves, will attempt to problematise the official narratives of the state in the public domain, with a series of open-ended conversations of a more personal nature around the ideas of home, kinship, friendship, work, and experiences in the detention centres. It will also address the larger questions which the artist has been engaged with over the years around memory, citizenship, and the location of the nation-state in the state of Assam. The outcome will be a series of audio/video recordings, each accompanied by a descriptive text about the person being interviewed and their family. The Principal Investigator's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the audio/video recordings and text. This is a collaboration with the People’s Archive of Rural India - PARI. Project funds will pay for honorarium, travel, and post-production expenses.
