Arts Practice

For workshop expeditions with students to three archaeological sites. These workshops will attempt to disseminate the knowledge of archaeoacoustics tested successfully in an earlier project supported by IFA. The outcome will be three workshops. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be data collected from the field recordings, report of the process, audio-video documentation and photographs of the workshops. Grant funds will pay for workshop costs, honorarium, professional fees and an accountant’s fee.

For the creation of a performance piece that explores the idea of the ‘black hole’ in the realms of science, philosophy and the personal. Exploring connections between consciousness and astrophysics, and the objective nature of science and the subjective nature of being, this work seeks to blur the boundaries and link the outer and the inner cosmos, by interweaving personal narratives and scientific theories. The outcome will be 14 shows of the performance, including the premiere.  The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be still and video documentation of the performances. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, travel and living costs, space hire, equipment hire, local conveyance, documentation costs, material costs and an accountant’s fee. 

For the creation of a book on a series of fictional mythologies based in the Polar Regions with Ice as its protagonist. Addressing the politics of ecology, language, and perspectives from the global south, the project will present Ice as an agent of resistance against European colonialism and techno-capitalist greed for natural resources from the poles. The outcome will be a book and a series of performances. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the final report will be copy of the manuscript, publication excerpts and audio-video documentation of the performances. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, printing cost, performance cost, research assistance, professional fees, research books and maps, travel and living cost and an accountant’s fee.

For a foundation course in puppetry that seeks to train professional puppeteers in India. The course comes as the culmination of a series of workshops held with traditional and contemporary puppet masters over the past five years. Drawing upon and building on existing discourse around puppetry, this first-of-its-kind course seeks to create a pedagogic model that contextualises Indian puppetry traditions while offering an overview of puppetry from other parts of the world. The course will be implemented between October 2018 and April 2019. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be still and video documentation from the sessions, video documentation of the performances of the students, journals of the students, evaluation reports by facilitators and external evaluators, and a handbook on the course. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees, project coordinator’s fee, local conveyance, travel, material and an accountant’s fee.

For the creation of an experimental film that explores the lives of a group of performers of the Chhau form from Purulia, West Bengal, going beyond their much studied practice of using elaborate masks in their performances. The project attempts to study their transformation into mythical characters for the performance as well as trace the shifts and changes in the dance form in recent times. Evocative and slow in nature, the film will be an experiment in cinematic storytelling through folk narratives. The outcome will be a film. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the film, final script, rush footage, production notes and stills. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, equipment hire, professional fees, production and post-production costs and an accountant’s fee.

For the creation of a feature length fiction film titled Lorni—The Flaneur. The project attempts to question the formation of Khasi identity, challenges the aesthetics and language of mainstream commercial cinema and poses an alternative to the industrial model of revenue in favour of indigenous experimental filmmakers. The outcome will be a film. The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the film, a music video, final script, scanned soft copies of story boards, rush footage, productions stills and publicity material. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, post-production, professional fees, sound mixing, publicity and material, studio hire, and an accountant’s fee.

For the creation of an experimental video art piece to be included in an installation. Drawing from experiences of women from Kerala in the nuptial chamber, the video will try to address the psychic significance of the ‘wedding night’ in their lives. It will push the boundaries between the academic and artistic realms of cinema, art and psychology. The outcome will be a 15-to-20-minute experimental video. The deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be the video, rush footage, production stills, art works, interviews generated as part of the project and media reports. Grant funds will pay for costs towards an honorarium, professional fees, hire of studio and equipment, travel, materials and publicity, refreshments, and an accountant’s fee.

For the creation of a play based on Russian playwright Yevgeny Schwarz’s The Dragon, in multiple spoken Hindi languages. The play examines notions of human agency, gender, power, narrative, love and collective action in the context of self-determination and the individual’s relationship with the world. It is designed as a lightweight, durable and cost-effective mobile spectacle aimed at Hindi-speaking audiences. The outcome will be a performance.  The Grantee's deliverables to IFA with the Final Report will be a translated script, a PDF document of the rehearsal process, publicity material, a media dossier and video recording of the performance. Grant funds will pay for costs towards professional fees, lights, music, costumes and material, equipment hire, refreshments, travel, documentation and an accountant’s fee.

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.