For the creation of a dance-drama performance based on Jean Genet’s play, The Maids. Combining padams in Bharatanatyam and the dramatic narrative of the play, the performance will reflect on the lives of the devadasis. The maids will be performed by male dancers and multi-media images will be used to convey the devadasi’s experiences and the socio-cultural setting of the performance.
For a two-day national conference on contemporary Dalit/Adivasi theatre in India. The conference will review the historical development of the Dalit/Adivasi theatre movement, study its conceptual underpinnings, investigate its existing forms of expression and critically reflect on its relationship to other performance practices in India. The conference also aims to strengthen networks among Dalit/Adivasi theatre artists and outline possible actions to support their work.
For research towards a book on the impact of recording technology on South Indian classical music, especially the role played by women singers of the early twentieth century, who adapted an elaborate art form to the demands of a fledgling audio recording medium. The study will reconstruct the lives of these forgotten women and analyse how their refashioning of ragas and compositions for the three-minute recording format contributed to the subsequent development of Carnatic music.
For the collection, digitization and archiving of 78 rpm gramophone records of Bengali plays performed between 1900 and 1930. The project will document the plays performed on stage as well as those produced exclusively for gramophone recordings.
For the third edition of the India-India residency programme, which nurtures collaboration and exchange among emerging Indian artists. Four artists from diverse cultural backgrounds and regions will spend three months at the BAR1 studios in Bangalore, developing individual artworks. The artists’ work in progress will be exhibited at the end of the residency.
For an intensive and interdisciplinary residential workshop to train government school teachers to become Masters Resource Persons for arts education in Karnataka. This training will be followed by a series of one-day sessions to assist the teachers to translate their training into actual classroom practice. A two-day international arts education conference for discussing best practices and key themes in arts education have also been planned.
For training camps, meetings and a concluding music conference to address issues of livelihood among the Mir musicians of Rajasthan and reinvigorate their music traditions. The training of a group of young musicians will be strengthened and local centres for performance will be created and energised. Traditional patrons and the music community will be encouraged to take joint responsibility for keeping the tradition vibrant.
For preparatory research and workshops with the rammat artists towards the creation of a performance script based on the acclaimed Hindi poem, Rashmirathi. Theatre actors will study different forms of rammat performances and undertake a thorough analysis of the poem. The eventual vachika abhinaya performance will feature orchestrated speech, a chorus, recitation of the peom in the rammat syle, and musical compositions created with rammat instruments.
For three curatorial residencies, an art writing workshop and an international seminar addressing critical issues of curating Indian art in a global context. These projects will facilitate the development of a model for practice-based curatorial training and encourage cross-cultural dialogue on curating practices.
For mapping exhibition policy in India during the twentieth century; documenting select curatorial experiences over the last decade; and analysing the evolving relationship between curatorial practice and public culture. The research processes and outcomes will be captured in an illustrated report. This will be followed by meetings between representatives of museums, art institutions and relevant government ministries, and independent curators, artists and critics towards the preparation and distribution of advocacy materials and a policy-oriented document.
For a series of five workshops across the country, followed by a colloquium, to conceptualise and design an academic curriculum for curatorial studies. The workshops will be held in smaller towns and cities to ensure that the proposed curriculum accommodates regional discourses, issues and concerns.
For the creation of a solo performance based Shurpanakha in the Ramayana, incorporating different readings of this enigmatic character—as a shape shifting raksashi, a beautiful woman, and a victim of patriarchal norms—found in various versions of the epic. The performance will include new songs in Braj, a local dialect of Hindi and create a movement vocabulary extending beyond the traditional repertoire of Kathak.
For the ALTlab residency programme, which encourages photographers to experiment with alternative photography processes and materials. Four photographers concerned with form-based experimentation will come together for two months at the laboratory of the Goa Centre for Alternative Photography. Their image experiments will be exhibited at the end of the residency.
For three workshops to train young film enthusiasts and film and arts students in the theory and practice of film curation, each culminating in a film festival featuring curatorial packages developed by selected workshop participants. A reference library of film and books will be also created, and a website will offer access to the information and ideas generated at the workshops and festivals.
For research on the history of Bengali Cartoons starting from the late nineteenth century to post-Independence India. The resulting book will examine the development of cartoons from a discursive art form in early publications to a space for critical discourse on colonial domination, self- representation, and the process of modernisation.
