For research into the history of Marathi Farce in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The project will take into the account the social critique implicit in this form of theatre, as well as study female impersonation which was a characteristic of all Marathi theatre of this period. The research will lead to the writing of a monograph, translations of two Farces, and the creation of an archive of documents on the subject.
For the publication of a book that documents the history of print advertising in the Bengali language, analysing its various forms and modes, and the media through which it was displayed and printed. The book will also catalogue commercial artists and their contribution to text and visual, and the impact of advertising on the material culture of Bengali households and patterns of consumption. In addition, a visual archive of over 3,000 documents will be made available on the Internet to trigger further research in the area.
For updating and digitising a database on performance spaces in Karnataka. The updated database will contain information on the location of each space, the nature of its stage and auditorium, its seating capacity, rental details, spatial dimensions, the types of other spaces attached to it, and equipment available. The database will be available to theatre groups, students of theatre and research scholars on a CD and will eventually be uploaded onto a website.
For the production of a film on family photo-albums. The film will explore different elements of personal relationships to photo-albums by looking at how photographs can make for identification and a sense of continuity with the past, how they preserve memories, how albums are constructed based on an idealised notion of family, and how family albums can move from having purely personal to historical and archival relevance.
For research into the Bharuds––allegorical verses from the mid fifteenth century attributed to Sant Eknath. Compiled by the followers of the Bhakti saint, Bharuds exist in Maharashtra as written texts, apart from being recited as poems, sung as bhajans and kirtans, and dramatised during the pilgrimage of vari and other religious occasions. Combining ethnographic study of the vari with the social histories of the performers, the research will engage with the makings of this marginalised cultural tradition and examine the differences between its oral, written and performative forms.
For post-production work on a film tentatively titled, In Search of Umrao, exploring the social and cultural history of the tawaifs of North India. The film focuses on the arts forms associated with them and the relationship between aesthetic expression and sexual identity. Through the story of a lost thumri sung by Rasoolan Bai, whose career as a performer overlapped with significant transitions in both the practice of music and public female sexualities, the film will examine the major shifts in the tradition’s history.
For research towards the writing of a novelised history of Tiruchenkode in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu. A town with an ancient history, Tiruchenkode is today marked by its hill temple dedicated to Murugan and Ardhanareeswara but is also known for its vibrant modern industry. In the course of writing a historical account of Tiruchenkode, the author will document references to the town in literature, folklore and mythology, analyse the town’s design and study its ritual and religious life.
For identifying partner institutions, developing course books and film study capsules, and fixing a time schedule for a series of workshops to be conducted for students of film, design and creative writing. The eventual workshops will lead to the creation of a story-board on the life of Dadasaheb Phalke. By bringing together students of these various disciplines, the workshops will explore ‘the industrial mode of production’ in cinema—something which Phalke exemplified and which the current specialisation in the arts no longer allows for.
For creation of a series of public installations based on proto-typical electronic arrangements. The intention behind these pieces is to draw attention to the pervasively ‘wired’ nature of our environment. At the same time, by working with simple, almost every day arrangements and exhibiting outcomes in public spaces, the project will also form a critique of ‘hi-tech’ media art that operates in gallery or laboratory-like spaces alone. The installations will be documented and disseminated through an online archive.
For a writer and a filmmaker to make a documentary film on the significance of Sufism in the lives of mofussil communities in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh. The grandfather and granddaughter pair will begin by looking at the changing perceptions of Sufism within their own family and then branch out to explore the intersection of religious belief, cultural practice and social mores in the Awadh region.
For the design and execution of an ‘Art-from-Waste’ project in several Mumbai schools, bringing together the fields of arts education and environmental education. Individual ‘art-from-waste’ ideas will be researched, developed and tested, and then implemented in schools and evaluated. The project will culminate in the publication of a handbook that will be distributed widely and will be directed primarily at art teachers who work with middle school children.
For the development of teaching methods based on the visual arts to improve the character of classroom interactions and enhance the quality of elementary education in Chamarajnagar district, Karnataka. A team of educationists, researchers and art educators will build on the local community’s understanding of the arts and the crafts economy of neighbourhood villages to generate a curriculum and develop new learning and teaching practices. In collaboration with village school teachers, the team will produce a resource book and tool kit to enable teachers to use the visual arts in the classroom.
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 the making of a non-fiction film based on the Bengali text Hutom Pyanchar Naksa. The film seeks to use the text––which documents the excesses, decadence and cultural richness of the nineteenth century Bengali bhadralok––as an entry point to explore the silences in the narratives of colonialism and modernity. Envisaged as a dialogue between past and present, the film will involve extensive documentation and interpretation of public life in contemporary Kolkata and of various subaltern art forms like khisti, kheud, charak and sang, revisiting places and practices mentioned in the text.
For the further development of a new performance form called Versedance. Three short pieces of dance-theatre, based on poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, Amrita Preetam Singh and Jibonananda Das, will be created and performed in Kolkata. The pedagogical possibilities Versedance will also be explored with students at two universities in the city.
