For researching the development and changes in the Lounda Nach performances in Bihar since the 1990s. The project aims to primarily explore the influence of CD culture and the film and cassette industries on Lounda Nach to understand how the aesthetics of this art form and its engagement with audiences have evolved. The outcome will be a book.
For a film exploring the subculture of B-boying and Breaking as an Indian form of contemporary street dance, that will focus on the performers at Khirki village, New Delhi, a volatile melting pot of Jats, Biharis, Nigerians, Afghanis, and struggling artists which is shaping the area’s youth in the unlikeliest of ways.
For exploring the contours of feminist street theatre as a genre, with its specificities and aims, its own language and methods, aesthetics and conceptual underpinnings as an integral part of the Indian women’s movement during the 1980s in Delhi. The outcomes will include a book and a CD.
For the design and editing of a monograph on Bengali artist Jamini Roy with images from some of his finest paintings. This builds on an earlier grant to inventory Indian modernist paintings and prints from the late eighteenth to the late twentieth century housed in the collection of Rajya Charukala Parishad, Kolkata.
For research and study of the art and science of daguerreotype photography in order to build and experiment with a daguerreotype camera and work towards a book on the form.Through training and exposure to the international contemporary daguerreotype community, the artist will extend his knowledge of image-making and attempt to expand the domain of Indian art photography.
For identifying and compiling critical writing on the visual arts published in the twentieth century in various Hindi magazines and journals. This will be followed by a critical evaluation of major twentieth century visual artists. The project will result in a published collection of articles and essays on individual visual artists.
For research into and documentation of the Reshma-Chuharmal Nautanki, a popular Dalit folk theatre performance of Bihar. The project will explore how identities, caste and power are contested in and through this performance. Different versions of the Reshma-Chuharmal story, both in its performed and written form, will be collated, transcribed, translated and analysed to understand how they reflect a changing sense of identity among the Dalits.
For three editions of the annual summer artists’ residencies, PEERS. The grant will enable Khoj to offer ten residencies, and hold a one-time retrospective exhibition of art work emerging from PEERS. It is expected that this continued support for PEERS will expand the initiative’s reach and scale, and facilitate a greater engagement of contemporary artists with the public at large.
For digitising the archive of a literary magazine in order to maximise its website’s potential to serve as an educational resource and be an avenue for revenue generation. Marketing initiatives that target Indian and foreign universities and institutions are expected to help the magazine to become self-sustainable.
For putting in place a multi-pronged process to reinvigorate the bhakti and sufi music of the Punjab. Systematic audio documentation bolstered by an innovative marketing strategy—direct sales by the performers in the rural market and online sales from a website—is expected to economically benefit the performers and expand their audience.
