For creation of a theatre production that will bring to light the suppressed history, subculture and marginalised lives of the mill workers of Mumbai, who lost their jobs en masse as a result of the textile strike in the 1980s. The mill workers once exercised a very strong influence on Mumbai’s culture but their plight has largely been ignored in the raging public debate and legal battles over the future development of the mill lands. The production will be shown to mainstream audiences as well as working class communities in the mill lands area and elsewhere.
For an interdisciplinary workshop, led by an organisation researching Mumbai’s urban culture, to initiate multi-disciplinary collaborations on Mumbai’s industrial history and the Mill Lands in particular. The workshop is expected to catalyse a series of Industrial Museum Workshops and culminate in the setting up of an Industrial Museum Archive.
For identifying indigenous documentation methodologies and translating Malayalam folklore into English. An art historian working closely with a folk group will study the pernicious implications of the caste system on the future of ritual performance. The group will also interact with a similar community based in Chattisgarh.
This Grant was amicably cancelled based on reasons mutually agreed upon by the Grantee and IFA due to unavoidable circumstances.
For documenting heritage buildings in Solapur, which exhibit architectural influences that span 1,000 years of successive rule by the Deccan Sultanates, the Mughals, the Marathas and the British. The documentation, which will include measure-drawings and photographs, is expected to lead to an exhibition and aid conservation efforts.
For documenting literary practices in nine languages spoken in Mumbai as well as translating selected texts among these languages. The resulting database will facilitate further translations among these languages.
For completing an illustrated manuscript provisionally titled ‘Include by Design: Architecture for the Inclusive Artplace’. The grant will enable the recasting of the manuscript for publication through the use of new photographs and illustrations, and will underwrite the book’s production costs.
For making a film on studio portraiture in India, which will explore the human and social dimensions that inform photographs, as also the experience of being photographed. The proposed film will seek to deconstruct the photographs in terms of cultural influences, social aspirations and individual fantasies.
For making a documentary film on the oral legends of Mirabai narrated and sung by the lower castes of Rajasthan. The film will map the alternative texts and performance spaces that refigure the mainstream cultural icon Mira, laying open issues of caste and transgression to scrutiny.
For research towards a manual on bamboo toy-making for middle- and high-school children, to be published in Marathi and English. Another component of the research would be workshops and teacher training programmes for schools in Pune district.
For the installation of public sculptures created by four ceramic artists at the Kalaghoda Festival, Mumbai. The project will be disseminated through a pamphlet describing the process, a poster exhibition and a slide show.
