Bangalore

Ekta Mittal


Grant Period: One year

For a series of curated artistic and cultural engagements in Bangalore to make subterranean and invisible labour in the city visible again in discourse and practice. Through Maraa, a media and arts collective, the projects aims to facilitate opportunities for labourers to engage with the arts and culture in the city.  The outcome will be 8 to 10 engagements across the city that will include talks, walks, film screenings, musical performances, an art exhibition, games and two editions of a zine through the year. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be audio clips, video documentation, photographs, exhibition design, copies of the zines, and publicity materials produced for the engagements. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, travel, space and equipment hire, printing costs, materials, and an accountant's fee.

Lekshmi Mohan R (aka Sunil Mohan)


Grant Period: Six months

For the creation of a performance based on the life and times of ‘Begum’ who lived in a prime locality in Bangalore in the 1980s. Drawing on a collection of oral narratives and through a series of workshops, the play will theatrically imagine and reconstruct the character of Begum and her space which nurtured various working class communities. In the larger context, the play seeks to explore the hitherto undocumented and neglected history of transgender people in Bangalore. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the play script and still and video documentation of the workshops and performance. Grant funds will pay for workshop costs, space hire, documentation, stationery and an accountant’s fee.

Poornima Sukumar


Grant Period: One year

For a series of curated artistic and cultural engagements in Bangalore that explore the city through the lives and perspectives of the transgender community, which has formed the Aravani Arts Project collective. The grant enables the community to delve into the history of trans culture in the city and represent their relationships with their neighbours and neighbourhood spaces to trace their journeys through acceptance, understanding, building families and finding love. The outcome will be 10 to 12 engagements across the city that will include music and dance performances, a photography exhibition, painting, storytelling, theatre, games, installation, walks and talks through the year. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be audio clips, video documentation, photographs, an illustrated book, publicity materials and art work produced during the engagements. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, professional fees, materials, travel and food, space and equipment rental and an accountant's fee.

Gayathri Iyer


Grant Period: One year

For research on the life and times of devadasi Venkata Sundara Sani who lived in the early 20th century in Bangalore and is associated with the Halasuru Someshwara temple. Through an in-depth study of her life and work, this project seeks to acknowledge and engage with the largely ignored temple and devadasi traditions of Bangalore and their rich contributions to the fields of music, dance and other arts. The outcome will be a research paper and a performance. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the research paper and still and video documentation from the performances. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, costumes, travel and living costs, honorarium, venue hire, stage design costs, printing and publicity, documentation, purchase of books and an accountant’s fee.

Umashankar Manthravadi


Grant Period: One year and six months

For workshop expeditions with students to three archaeological sites. These workshops will attempt to disseminate the knowledge of archaeoacoustics tested successfully in an earlier project supported by IFA. The outcome will be three workshops. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be data collected from the field recordings, report of the process, audio-video documentation and photographs of the workshops. Grant funds will pay for workshop costs, honorarium, professional fees and an accountant’s fee.

Radhika Joshi Ray


Grant Period: One year

For working with the Saptak Archives in Ahmedabad, which has over 20,000 recordings of exponents from various gharanas, traditions, and styles within Hindustani Music, both vocal and instrumental.  This fellowship supports research towards documenting the journey of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, one of the ‘newer’ gharanas of Hindustani Music founded by Ustad Alladiya Khan. Despite being a recently developed style of singing, there is no written record of the lyrics or notation of these musical pieces. The outcome will be a compilation of ragas including the notations, lyrics and technical details of raga-swaroop that are a specialty of this gharana, presented as a book, CD or website. And an exhibition on the emergence of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana; audio-visual presentations on the life and music of select musicians; guided listening sessions on ragas and compositions of this gharana; and a live concert by the Fellow herself displaying the gayaki of the gharana. The Fellow’s deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be a book, CD or website, together with images of the exhibition and audio-visual sessions, audio recordings of 'listening sessions' if possible and process images if any.

David Farris


Grant Period: One year and six months

For a research-based study on the collapse of the infrastructure of celluloid film distribution in India, in the wake of digital distribution. The project aims to capture the dynamic and complex histories across multiple film industries in India, in a rapidly changing environment. The outcome of the project will be an essay and a detailed set of notes on the current film distribution system. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the audio-visual recording of interviews, photographs, the essay and notes. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium,  travel and living, materials, professional fees for resource persons, 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.

Anupama Gowda and Pavan Kumar


Grant Period: One year

For working with the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum (VITM) in Bangalore, which has a rich collection of science and technology objects. For the creation of a programme titled ‘The Mystery-Gen Gadgets’, which will constitute the history and technological development of early gadgets. Their study will focus on the design history of these gadgets and the cross-cultural perspectives connected with their design, production, use, and disposal. The outcome will include an exhibition, workshops, and talks that explore the role and future of contemporary gadgets. The Fellows’ deliverables to IFA with the final report will be images documenting the process, video recordings, texts, and a publication, if any.

Hansa Thapliyal and Jayachandra Varma


Grant Period: One year

For working with the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum (VITM) in Bangalore, which has a rich collection of science and technology objects. For the creation of a short theatrical performance with young members of the Hyderabad-based theatre-family group Surabhi, that will make visible the scientific processes that are at work in their theatrical productions, especially in their stagecraft. The outcome will include a mini lecture-demonstration production in VITM, Bangalore followed by a workshop led by young members of Surabhi for an audience in Bangalore; and short YouTube videos made with the children about science in their theatre. The Fellows’ deliverables to IFA with the final report will be process images, audio/video recordings, and texts and publication, if any.

Dayasindhu Sakrepatna


Grant Period: Eight months

For the creation of a performance-work titled Shiva that explores queer identities. Based on personal experiences, it will trace the story of a young poet coming out to his mother, through a series of letters and poems that express fear, conviction, choice, and a deep longing for her acceptance. The performance also seeks to draw on and challenge the tenets of Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music, viewing them from a queer perspective. Imagined as an iterative, creative series of performances, this process seeks to emerge as a platform that will trigger dialogues on alternative identities, relationships, gender, sexuality, masculinity, peer pressure, and mob violence. The outcome will be a series of eight performances across Karnataka. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be photographs and video documentation of the process work and performance.  Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, travel and living, professional fees, rehearsal / performance space and studio hire, production, printing and publicity, documentation, and an accountant’s fee.  

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