For the fourth edition of a residency for six emerging choreographers from diverse dance backgrounds and regions. They will work with peers and mentors to develop individual pieces of work, which will be performed for the public at the conclusion of the residency.
For the third edition of a residency programme for six emerging choreographers from diverse dance backgrounds and regions. The resident artists will engage in intensive workshops and discussions with peers and mentors over ten weeks to create individual pieces of work, which will be shown to the public at the conclusion of the residency.
For research and the making of a film on the journey of a Genda Phool song, with its origins in Chhattisgarhi folk music, across varying musical, cultural and social contexts. The project will trace the various transformations and appropriations of the song and the different meanings it has acquired as a result.
For research into the archive of the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI) to shed light on how the State, as embodied by the CFSI, imagined and represented the child. The research will cover the period from 1955, when CFSI was established, to the early 1980s. The project will result in a monograph and a curated package of films from the CFSI archive.
For the creation of sequential visual storytelling techniques based on the study of three picture-based folk performance traditions. With the aim of enriching the contemporary comic book form, the project will focus on how Patachitra from Bengal, Kaavad from Rajasthan and Togalu Gombeyatta from Karnataka depict stories from the Mahabharata.
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 a three-day national conference bringing together performing artists, writers, educationists and teachers to discuss theatre for young audiences (TYA) in India and its relationship to other performance and pedagogical practices. The conference will strengthen existing networks among TYA stakeholders and outline possible actions to support their future endeavours.
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 the production of a film investigating the influence of politics and religion post-Partition evolution of classical dance forms like Kathak, Bharatnatyam and Odissi in Pakistan. The film will portray how Pakistani classical dancers have endured despite state censorship and the absence of critical audiences and institutional support, and how they have been received by their Indian counterparts.
For research towards a book on the production, distribution and design aesthetics of pamphlets and little magazines produced and sold from Battala and College Street in Kolkata. The researcher will analyse the distribution of these printed materials and how this is linked to the social class of the creator/designer as well as the intended viewer or consumer. A designer’s sensibility will inform the resulting book, which will contain photographs of the little magazines and pamphlets and of the printing presses and materials.
