For the study and documentation of the threatened musical traditions of the Adivasi communities of Junglemahal in West Bengal. The project is expected to reacquaint younger members of the community with their own music and create income generating avenues for instrument makers, besides contributing to government literacy programmes in the region.
For the completion of Kumar Talkies, a documentary film highlighting the relationship between the crisis facing the small town of Kalpi in Uttar Pradesh and the decline of its oldest surviving cinema theatre. The film will explore the impact of the Mumbai film industry and popular culture on the town’s social and economic life, collective imagination and identity.
For the study and documentation of Ganjifa, an indigenous card game, and the artists who paint the cards in various parts of the country. The research is expected to result in publications intended to introduce children to the game and its culture, booklets to help NGOs popularise and market Ganjifa card games, and material for use in multimedia.
For the study and documentation of the almost extinct pottery traditions of the women of the Kota community in the Nilgiris. The study will focus on the myth and lore linked to the tradition, which is kept alive only in yearly and secret ritual, and lead to a revival of the Kota women’s occupation and a market for their products.
For preparatory research towards a travelling exhibition on the life and work of Nirode Mazumdar, considered by many to be an important and unfairly ignored figure in modern Indian painting. The study will also result in catalogues and publications for use in galleries and art schools, and the marketing of an audio-visual package.
For a feminist study of women photographers in the country, exploring their role and their distinct approach to photography. The study will help formulate a media course on women and photography; form part of the investigator’s dissertation on women and technology; and eventually feed into a film. The acquired material will be placed with a Delhi-based women’s media organisation and a school of communications.
For developing a shadow play repertoire by contemporary theatre artists, visual artists, traditional leather puppeteers, folk musicians and children. Besides working on possible technical and performative innovations the collaborators will explore how shadow puppetry may be used in Karnataka’s schools and lead to the inclusion of the arts in school curricula.
