For working with the cultural history archive at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (CSSSC) which contains a wide variety of visual materials across genres from 19th and 20th century Bengal that includes books, journals, popular paintings, prints, posters, hoardings, advertisements, and commercial art productions. This fellowship supports research that will explore the relationship between the city of Kolkata and its citizens, and the many different registers through which the city is experienced. The project will locate Kolkata as a site of both colonial encounter and colonial modernity, and investigate the many mechanisms through which an ‘authentic’ experience of the city is constructed, distributed and negotiated in the everyday. The outcomes will include an exhibition, and other public events around the archive. The Fellow’s deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be process images, audio recordings, texts and a publication, if any.
For the creation of an experimental prose-narrative in Bangla, in collaboration with a visual artist. The project tentatively titled Harilo Shaareer Kachhe Pajama Mohima (‘The Glory of The Pajama Loses to the Sari’) attempts to explore the travails of Bengal’s first women doctors in the early 19th century. It will study the complex dynamics between these women and the various stakeholders of the medical system at the time – practitioners of traditional medicine, male doctors of modern medicine, and lower caste midwives. The fictional work based on historical narratives will combine text with visual material from personal collections, libraries, and archives to form a framework for a book. The project will culminate in this book.The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the manuscript of the book and published copies of the same, and photographic and digital documentation of artworks created for the book. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, material, local travel, professional fees, and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a musical instrument named ‘Noori’. Exploring new dimensions in instrument design, materiality, and sound, this project aims to create an instrument which is both fretted and non-fretted, string and percussive, with monophonic, polyphonic and microtonal possibilities. The outcome will be two iterations of the instrument, interactive sessions of the work-in-progress, and performances. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be video and audio documentation of the instrument making process and the performances. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, materials, travel, professional fees, documentation 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 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.
For a wide-ranging engagement with students of the Government Primary School, Sulthanpet village, Devanahalli Taluk, Chikkaballapura District to explore how the school can become a centre for reflections on local traditions, through activities such as plays, storytelling and performances at the Kalyani or sacred pond of the temple. This project, in collaboration with Jayant Gopal, is an extension of Meeta’s earlier project titled Sense of Placeness, also supported by IFA. The outcome will be an exhibition and a public performance.The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be audio-visual documentation of the workshops, images, and a 10-12 minute video documentation. Grants funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees for resource persons, a workshop, travel, an exhibition, 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 a wide-ranging engagement with students from grades one to five of the Government High School in Pethsirur, Chitapur Taluk, Kalaburgi District. These children will be introduced to the cultivation process of tuver dal and will trace its journey from ‘seed to market’ under the project titled Togariya Kanaja Kalaburgi (‘Tuver Dal Warehouse of Kalaburgi’). This year-long project will include a series of workshops that will see students visiting farmlands at the various stages of cultivation and illustrating their experiences through drawings and stories. The outcome will be an exhibition. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be audio-visual documentation of the workshops, images, and a 10-12 minute video documentation. Grants funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, documentation, material, travel, stationery, a closing ceremony, and an accountant’s fee.
For a wide-ranging engagement with fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students of the Government Higher Primary School, Mugali, Ron Taluk, Gadag District to learn the original folk songs of Lavani and Geegi Pada, the content of which features subjects such as earth, water, health, freedom fighters, and national leaders. The students will also be encouraged to engage in writing and singing select poems and stories from their textbooks in the style of these folk songs. The outcome will be a series of performances. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be audio-visual documentation of the workshops, images, and a 10-12 minute video documentation. Grants funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees for resource persons, an exhibition, documentation, and an accountant’s fee.
For a wide-ranging engagement with eighth grade students of the Government Higher Primary School, Kukkarahalli, Mysuru, Mysuru District to connect them with the public library. Students will be encouraged to read and discover the library and their syllabus by accessing and exploring the short stories, novels, and poetry by writers listed in the ‘Further References’ section in their textbooks. They will be encouraged to develop a culture of reading by making the library a familiar and friendly space for gaining knowledge. The outcome will be a series of performances. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be audio-visual documentation of the workshops, images, and a 10-12 minute video documentation. Grants funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees for resource persons, travel, documentation, stationery and an exhibition, and an accountant’s fee.
For a wide-ranging engagement with students across grades of the Government Higher Primary School, Malkapura, Maski Taluk, Raichur District to explore texts from the school syllabus through an interpretation of folks songs of the region. This engagement will also work towards documentation, a publication, and a folk theatre performance titled Janapada Sambhrama. The outcome will be a stage performance at two or three schools in the neighbourhood. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will include photographs of the performance, a copy of the publication, and a 10-12 minute audio-visual documentation. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees for resource persons, a publication, a performance, documentation, and an accountant’s fee.
For support towards sixth grade students from the Government Higher Primary School, Kolcharu, Sullia Taluk, Dakshina Kannada District to explore texts from the school syllabus and interpreting it through theater plays in Kannada and English Language. The outcome will be a stage performance which will be presented at two to three school venues in the neighbourhood. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will include photographs from the workshops, and audio video recording of the performance. Grant funds will pay for honorarium, workshop costs, performance costs, professional fees, documentation costs, and an accountant’s fee.
For a wide-ranging engagement with 18 students of the Government Lower Primary School, Yelagudige, Chikkamagalur Taluk, Chikkamagalur District, to introduce them to Kolata and Kasuti Kale—two art forms of the Banjara community. The children will learn to relate and connect these forms with their curriculum subjects, primarily Mathematics and Science. The outcome will be stage performances and an exhibition.The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will include photographs and a 10-12 minute video documentation. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees for resource persons, workshops, a performance, documentation, and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a sound installation using information gathered on the usage, wastage, and pollution of water in India. Tentatively titled Water.org the work seeks to understand the politics around water resources in India and build awareness about it. The outcome will be an exhibition of the interactive installation and an e-book created from information gathered from multiple sources. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the material gathered for the work, an E-book, images of the graphical notation score, photographs of the process and media reports of the exhibition. Grant funds will pay for costs towards purchase of materials, professional fees, travel, and an accountant’s fee.
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.
