Request for Proposals: IFA-VMH Creative and Scholarly Projects | Deadline Extended: January 05, 2021 (CLOSED)

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA)
in collaboration with
Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH), Kolkata
 invites applications for
IFA-VMH Creative Project
and
IFA-VMH Scholarly Project
Under its Archives and Museums programme which IFA will implement

Application deadline: Tuesday, January 05, 2021


India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) in collaboration with Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH), Kolkata invites applications for an IFA-VMH Creative Project and IFA-VMH Scholarly Project, under its Archives and Museums programme which IFA will implement.

The Archives and Museums programme of IFA has been initiated with a two-fold objective: to provide arts practitioners and researchers an opportunity to generate new, critical, and creative approaches for public engagement with archives and museum collections; and to energise these spaces as platforms for dialogue and discourse. For more information, click here.

About Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH)
In 2021, the Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata, will celebrate its centenary. The museum was the brainchild of Lord Curzon, the then viceroy of India, and was dedicated to Queen Victoria, whose demise in 1901 concluded a significant chapter of British Imperial Rule. The sprawling 64-acre museum complex and garden was built with the help of public donations and generous contributions from Indian princes, sought by the British within weeks following the Queen's death. Known as The Taj of the Raj the monument was immediately recognised as one of the finest examples of Indo-British art and architecture after it was completed and formally opened to the public in 1921. Situated in the heart of modern Kolkata (formerly Calcutta, the Capital of the British Empire in India), the VMH is a symbol of colonial domination in India, with its imperial splendour and imposing grandeur in white marble, with allegorical sculptures emphasising Victorian virtues/values.

About the Collection and Archives
The VMH boasts of a collection of 28,394 artefacts and rich textual archival material that encapsulates the history of the Indian subcontinent extending over three and a half centuries, beginning from 1650 A.D. For the Creative and Scholarly Projects, the Museum will open-up the following collections and textual material for research:

  • The entire collection of 430 oil paintings by the celebrated artists Thomas and William Daniell, Johann Zoffany, Tilly Kettle, William Hodges, among others.
  • About 200 watercolours by Abanindranath Tagore, including some of his most iconic paintings.
  • Photographic representations of Calcutta from the 1870s to the 1960s, including collections of the Bourne & Shepherd and Johnston and Hoffmann Studios, Sambhu Saha, and Jayant Patel of Bombay Photos.
  • European watercolours of Samuel Davis (1760-1819) and Emily Eden (1797-1869).
  • Material that relates to the architecture, symbolism, and gardens of the Victoria Memorial Hall.
  • A large volume of correspondence that deals with the selection of the site for the building. Maps and plans of the Victoria Memorial Hall. Engineering drawings and archival photographs.
  • Records relating to fundraising and the putting together of the initial collection.

Please visit http://victoriamemorial-cal.org/home/content/en for more information about the museum and the collection.

About the IFA-VMH Creative and Scholarly Projects
For the Creative Project, the project coordinator will have to curate exhibitions and present the collections through public programmes such as talks, workshops, etc both online and offline over the project period. For the Scholarly Project, the project coordinator will need to create content that will support the knowledge bank of the institution with tangible outcomes such as a monograph, essays, etc. and present their research through public programmes both online and offline. Project coordinators will have access to the specific material mentioned above over the project period. Please note that IFA will be implementing both projects.

For more information about the collection and archival material that is available for research, please contact Dr Jayanta Sengupta, Secretary and Curator, at curatorvmh@gmail.com

Applicant profile:
We seek applications from curators, visual artists, historians, researchers, scholars and other creative practitioners with a strong interest in research and working with museum collections. We also encourage applicants to think through interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches and methods.

Practitioners who are Indian nationals or have been residents of India consecutively for five years or more are eligible to apply. To know more about our eligibility criteria please click here. Applicants from West Bengal will be given preference as the project coordinators will need to spend a considerable amount of time at the museum during the project period.

Application Process:
Your application must include:

  • A proposal briefly describing a project (an exhibition, if it is a Creative Project or research questions, if it is a Scholarly Project) that could be developed from the visual and textual material mentioned above. The description should include the vision, approach and possible outcomes.
  • A brief note on other public programmes that could be developed from the material.
  • A detailed budget.
  • Your curriculum vitae with a brief description of a project you have been involved with as a curator, arts practitioner, or researcher. This description should comprise the vision, approach, processes, and outcomes that have resulted from that project. Please send us links and not attachments.

Project Budget:

  • The project costs should not exceed Rs 2,00,000/-.
  • You may budget for an honorarium of Rs 12,000/- per month subject to a limit of Rs 1,44,000/- for the entire duration of the project. Please note that the total amount is inclusive of the honorarium.
  • Our funds will cover only project-related costs and activities and will not pay for infrastructure costs or equipment purchase.
  • Please ensure that each budget category pertains to a specific item of project-related expenditure.
  • Please budget for an accountant’s fee of up to Rs 3,000/- only.
Please note that IFA will implement this project with you directly as project coordinator.

Key dates:
  • The deadline for receiving applications is Tuesday, January 05, 2021.
  • Interviews with shortlisted candidates are expected to take place in February 2021.
  • The project will commence in March 2021 for a period of one year.

Please note, considering the current situation, we only accept applications via email.
Email your application or any queries to Suman Gopinath at suman@indiaifa.org.

The Archives and Museums programme is part-supported by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi.