Thasil MA

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Explorations will involve traveling through the West Coast of India, to explore imperial fort debris, lagoon ecosystems, and people’s narratives of resistance against the onslaught of aggressive development, towards the making of a lecture performance. Thasil M A is the Coordinator for this project. 

Thasil MA aka Thasil Suhara Backer is a theatre-maker based in Kodungallur, near the erstwhile Muziris region, in the Thrissur District of Kerala. He was trained in theatre with a Master of Performing Arts (MPA) from the University of Hyderabad in 2016, and he completed two years of theatre training at the Intercultural Theatre Institute in Singapore in 2018. He was awarded the first rank for MPA at the University of Hyderabad in 2016 and the Young Artist Fellowship by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India in 2013. Given his experience, he is best placed to be the Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA

The project titled Muziris to Lakhpat will involve research travel across the coastal line of the Arabian Sea from the Muziris region in Kerala to Lakhpat in Gujarat to explore around 32 imperial fort remains, together with 45 estuaries and lagoons, along the coast of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. While the coastal regions have witnessed incursions from imperial and colonial trading forces, and subsequent cultural mixing in the ancient and medieval periods, these regions have also been facing the brunt of monstrous development initiatives from the governments in modern times. This makes the coastal regions significant sites of resistance. The purpose of the research travel is not to delve into the nostalgia of mapping the heritage of these places but to aggregate memories of resistance movements from personal archives that lead to the creation of a lecture performance.          

The outcome of the project will be the lecture performance. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be photographs and audio-visual documentation of the travels and the lecture performance. 

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Practice programme in the manner in which it attempts to find artistic expression in the everyday acts of walking, traveling and collecting stories, by highlighting the political edge of these actions that are otherwise relegated as vapid tourist routines by the consumerist society. 

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees. 

This project is made possible with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment Fund.