For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will investigate the history and cultural significance of the Raibenshe martial dance form. It will critically assess the impact of the cultural intermediary, Gurusaday Datta, on the research and practice of Raibenshe dance, learn about the evolution of different styles, and examine how the practitioners of this caste-specific art form balance their artistic identity with their social, economic, and political realities. The outcomes of this project will be an illustrated manuscript, audio and video recordings of interviews and performances, a multimedia archive, and two public events at the School of Cultural Texts and Records, Jadavpur University, and Arthshila, Santiniketan. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports, will be the manuscript, audio and video recordings of interviews and performances, and the multimedia archive. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, hire of equipment, and transcriptions.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that aims to study the character of four seasonal fairs in Cooch Behar, West Bengal, as sites of intangible cultural heritage by looking into the customs, traditional medicines, and food systems that operate within these fairs. The outcome of the project will be four maps by local artists (including documentation of the mapmaking process) labelled in Bangla and English, seven 10-minute-long podcasts in Bangla and English, and a website that will house all the podcasts and documentation. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports, will be the four maps, seven podcast episodes, and a link to the website. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, domain and website charges, materials, purchase of books and stationery.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA that will investigate the cultural memory of exile and identity formation in Chhota Lucknow, situated in Metiaburuz, Kolkata. It will attempt to understand the narratives of displacement of a community that was the custodian of the Nawabi culture of Lucknow in Kolkata, and that underwent systematic marginalisation over several decades while clinging on to the fading cultural memory of Lucknow and Wajid Ali Shah. The outcomes of this project will be a multimedia exhibition, audiovisual documentation, a lecture demonstration and an essay. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final reports will be documentation from the multimedia exhibition and lecture demonstration, audiovisual documentation, and the essay. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, premiere of the exhibition, production, and documentation.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA which will facilitate research towards three to four scholarly essays and long form visual articles based on the materials available at the Queer Archive for Memory, Reflection and Activism (QAMRA) archival project at National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru. The project will critically examine the archival materials to historicise Section 377 and trace the cultural and socio-political struggle towards decriminalising homosexuality in India. The project will also explore the idea of community in the ways they are imagined and formed by queer persons. The outcome for the project will consist of the three to four essays and long-from articles, and a possible symposium. The Project Coordinator’s final deliverables will be the essays, long-from visual articles and the proceedings or recordings from the symposium if it happens. This is a collaboration with the QAMRA at NLSIU Bengaluru. Project funds will pay for contract fees and travel and living.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Workshops, Residencies, Seminars, which will create four residential workshops for movement artists from East and North East India to inspire critical thinking while nurturing choreographic practices. Four artists from diverse backgrounds will restage their earlier pieces as they work with the participants of the workshop as facilitators. The outcomes of the project are four intensive residencies and workshops for dance and movement artists, culminating in formal public presentations, along with analytical documentation of the process, and a blog. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be photographs, audio-visual documentation of the residencies and workshops, process documents, and the link to the blog along with an offline version of the blog. Project funds will pay for contract fees, travel and living, and production.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Workshops, Residencies, Seminars, that will create a residency for movement artists and filmmakers to collaboratively explore a language for the practice of the Indian dance-film, with a focus on non-classical and marginalised movement forms. The outcome of the project is the residency and the dance-films that will result from the collaborations. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be photographs, audio-visual documentation of the residency and the dance-films. Project funds will pay for travel and living, food, hire of equipment, contract fees, materials and hire of venue.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA, which will explore various methods of worship across different Sufi traditions in West Bengal. It will inquire into the religious and political conditions in which Sufi Dargahs and Majars in the region have flourished over time. The outcome of this project will be a manuscript for a book. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the manuscript for the book and audiovisual documentation from the field. Project funds will pay for travel and living, contract fees and stationery.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Explorations, which will critically examine the conflicting emotions of pleasure and guilt in the context of self-awakening as a homosexual, and investigate the ethical representation of love and sexuality on screen with the help of intimacy experts. Critiquing the lack of sex education, the project will also trace the challenges of growing up as a homosexual person in India. The outcome of the project will be the script for a short film. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the script of the short film, and process documentation. Project funds will pay for professional fees, honorarium and travel.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Productions, to create a series of artist books that investigate the history and evolution of printmaking technologies in Bengal. Focussed on five milestone methods of printmaking namely woodcut, block, offset, serigraph and digital technologies, the project will experiment with media, methods and book design formats to trace the history of printmaking to create new relationships between the reader and the book. The outcome of this project will be the series of five artist books, detailed process documentation and a physical and virtual exhibition on the evolution of print-technology in India. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the artist books, video documentation of the process, a download of the website containing the virtual exhibition along with the URL, and still and video documentation of the physical exhibition. Project funds will pay for professional fees, documentation, materials, transport, website creation and virtual exhibition, purchase of equipment (the scanner will be returned to IFA), physical exhibition and publicity.
For the implementation of a Foundation Project by IFA under Productions, to create a video game that investigates expressions of corporate culture and gendered labour as manifested on the computer interface. Created in the genre of a Fumblecore game, this project will explore the meaning of labour on the computer and create ways of subverting the hegemonic and gendered bodily relationships with the machine. The outcome of this project will be an online as well as a physical iteration of a Fumblecore game. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a download of the website comprising the game along with the URL, the process documentation of creating the game, and still and video documentation of the physical installation. Project funds will pay for professional fees, honorarium, physical installation of the game and purchase of software.
