For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will attempt to revisit the history of the documentary movement of India through the lens of gender, focusing on the first and, for a long time, the sole documentary producer, the Films Division of India. Through a feminist analysis of Films Division’s film praxis, it aims to foreground the invisibility of women’s work in the history of documentary film archives in India. The outcome of this project will be a feminist historiography of state-sponsored documentary film in early postcolonial India and an oral history resource focused on women’s film work in the Films Division (1948-80s). The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports, will be a written essay, recording of interviews, film DVDs, scanned copies of film posters, and other relevant para-texts obtained from Films Division and National Film Archive of India. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, hire of equipment, materials, purchase of books, and printing.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA titled Children as Citizens which will engage 35 students from the Kiddy Kingdom Academy Samiti, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, to explore the city they inhabit as a learning environment through its history, heritage, and culture. The project attempts to foster a sense of belonging among the children and equip and encourage them to participate in decision-making for their urban environment. The outcome of the project will be a public exhibition, performance, publication and a process document of the entire project. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be photographs, the copies of the publication, the process document and video documentation of the entire project. Project funds will pay for material, travel and living, contract fees, exhibition, purchase of books, and documentation.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA, which will create an interactive map of the alternative history of film as told by a location scout in Bombay in the 1970s. By situating itself along historical and present labour routes in the city, it will attempt to organise and record the myriad subcultures of the cinema as they exist in the city. The outcome of this project will be a virtual interactive map. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a copy of the map, a link to the virtual map online and audiovisual documentation from the field. Project funds will pay for travel and living, contract fees, production, books and library and printing and stationery.
For research on the soundscapes of the annual pilgrimage – Kanwar Yatra – where predominantly male devotees of Shiva undertake an arduous trek to ceremonially transport water from the Ganga at Haridwar to various Shiva shrines across North India. Through an ethnographic engagement with the Yatra, this project will focus on its auditory dimensions to explore the ecology of religiosity and popular culture. It is an attempt to understand religious practices and formation of identities in current times. The outcome will be an essay combining theoretical insights and ethnographic data. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA will be an essay, audiovisual documentation comprising interviews with the pilgrims and photographs of the Yatra. Grant funds will pay for an honorarium, travel and food costs, professional fees, library fees, photocopying, book purchase, stationery and an accountant’s fee.
For working with the Delhi Visual Archive housed in the Centre for Community Knowledge (CCK), Ambedkar University, Delhi. The Delhi Visual Archive is a repository of the visual history of Delhi, from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which includes a current holding of 4,500 digitised photographs. This fellowship supports research that will lead to a curated, online, visual exhibition which will use various vantage points in the city to explore life around it. The Fellow will also collect metadata for images/collections, which will become an important resource for future projects at the Delhi Visual Archive. The outcome of the project will include a virtual exhibition. The Grantee’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be images, audio recordings, texts, and a publication.
For research and documentation of the Bhagait folk ballad tradition, popular among marginalised and Dalit castes from the Indo- Nepal region bordering Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The project will investigate the additions, deletions and reinventions in this art form. The research will lead to two critical essays and audio-visual materials, which will be archived at the G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad, and other print materials such as posters, pamphlets and articles, which will be uploaded on the Institute’s website.
For an educational and child-centred intervention in an annual Ramlila in Varanasi with the objective of revitalising the traditional theatre form within a contemporary context and helping it to become an annual learning activity for children.
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 an exploration of the manifestation of Sufi thought in the lives of mofussil communities in Awadh and Punjab. The project, undertaken by a writer and a filmmaker, will enable them to approach Sufism through the filter of their different perspectives on contemporary Islam. The written texts, audio recordings and still photographs that emerge will generate material for a video film.
