Request For Proposals: Explorations (Arts Practice) | Deadline: April 19, 2024 (CLOSED)

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) invites applications for
Explorations
Under its Arts Practice programme

Deadline: April 19, 2024

Click here to read the call in other Indian languages

The Arts Practice programme seeks to implement projects where artists expand their present range of practices in new directions. These could question accepted conventions, push new frontiers in content, form and medium, explore new modes of engagement with space, audience and communities, foregrounding a spirit of experimentation.

A filmmaker creates a speculative fiction graphic narrative on the memories of an old town
A choreographer collaborates with his community to create a ‘folk dance’ as a way of recovering folktales
A contemporary artist creates a virtual museum to treasure the everyday objects collected by a family member
A social design practitioner brings together a group of rural women to collectively reflect on their outdoor experiences and create artwork

As artists, we sometimes stumble upon an idea or feel an urge to venture into a direction that is new and exciting. However, given the context and location of our practice, the foray into these ideas may seem tentative and uncertain. We might at the time know nothing about where it will lead us. Even so, we realise the necessity of following through. A little support at these times may be of help.

Under the Arts Practice programme, we invite proposals for such Explorations that seek to probe, test and play around with ideas nascent, risky or unprecedented. These may not necessarily lead to an outcome. Such explorations could include researching, script-writing, location scouting, animatics, jamming, storyboarding, rehearsing, sampling, robotics, lab explorations and other forms of exploratory work that are used to examine ideas.

Programme Officer John Xaviers invites applications
under the Explorations category ​of the Arts Practice programme

Duration of the project: Up to six months

Budget: Up to a maximum of Rs 1,00,000/-

Deadline: April 19, 2024

Who can Apply?

We invite proposals from practitioners working within as well as across disciplines. These could include:

  • Performing artists working in music, sound, text, dance, movement, theatre, puppetry, storytelling, magic, circus and other performance arts
  • Visual artists working across all forms including film (documentary and fiction), animation, photography, installation, new media, Artificial Intelligence, robotics, interactive arts, gaming, painting, sculpture, printmaking, comic book, graphic narrative, artist book and other visual arts
  • Curators, especially those working outside of the gallery context
  • Poets, novelists, playwrights working with literary arts
  • Practitioners engaged in interdisciplinary work

Eligibility:

You are eligible to send project proposals if you are an Indian national. Your collaborators too must be Indian nationals. For details, please click here.

Proposal Submission:

You can write your proposal in any Indian language, including English. IFA encourages projects in Indian languages other than English.

Send us your application with the following:

  • Your existing arts practice, concerns and interests as a practitioner
  • Details of the Exploration you want to pursue and the reason why
  • Detailed timeline and budget
  • Examples of earlier work
  • Your CV with address, phone number and email ID
  • You can send us your queries and draft ideas in written, audio or video formats for response from IFA staff till April 12, 2024. 
  • Send your final application in a single email not more than 25 MB to John Xaviers, Programme Officer, Arts Practice at john@indiaifa.org with the Subject Line: Project Proposal for Explorations (Arts Practice) on or before April 19, 2024.

For any queries and clarifications regarding your proposal, please write to john@indiaifa.org

Selection Process:

Shortlisted proposals will be evaluated by an external panel and applicants will be required to present their project ideas to the panel. Projects selected for implementation will be announced in July 2024.

All selected projects will be implemented by IFA.

Please note that IFA is committed to creating a safe environment that supports, respects, and protects everyone, including children. The applicant must be aligned with this and must uphold it at all times.