[Reader-list] Call for proposals under the Arts and Research Documentation programme at IFA

[rohitrellan at aol.in]

INDIA FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS
 
Arts Research and Documentation

 
 
Are you a researcher or an artist interested in: 1) Exploring how 
artistic practices are constructed and come to be regarded as 
‘tradition’? Or 2) Studying the changing practices in the contemporary 
arts?
 
Scope
 
This grant programme supports scholars/researchers and artists to 
undertake research and documentation projects falling under the 
following themes:  
 
 
1) Research and documentation that critically examines how artistic 
traditions are constructed or reinvented.
 
The word ‘tradition’ comes from the Latin word traditionem, which 
literally means ‘handing over’. What is handed over from one generation 
to the next may be knowledge, beliefs, legends, practices and so on. 
Tradition can also refer to long established ways of thinking or acting 
within a continuing pattern of cultural beliefs or practices.
 
However, because tradition provides a powerful source of endorsement 
and sanction for certain practices, beliefs, values and norms of 
behaviour, it is often invented or reconstructed, as against simply 
inherited. Many practices which are seen as tradition are in fact quite 
recent inventions, often deliberately constructed for a variety of 
reasons, such as to legitimize certain actions, power equations or 
social hierarchies, to foster group cohesion and cement collective 
identities, or to support political ideologies, agendas or interests. 
Artistic traditions are also deliberately re-described and reinvented 
to create new audiences and markets for them. 
 
Support under this theme is available for researchers or artists who 
are interested in studying why or how traditions are constructed. For 
example, you may be interested in examining the new meanings, values 
and symbols that are created when a tradition is invented or reinvented 
or what might be excluded, lost, concealed or suppressed in the 
process. You may be interested in how this phenomenon alters the 
relationship between the artist, the art form/practice and the context 
of its production and reception. Or you may be interested in looking at 
the influences and ideologies that underlie or determine such 
constructions of tradition.
 

 
2) Research and documentation that seeks to study new developments in 
contemporary arts practice.
 
As a researcher or artist, you may want to study new developments or 
changing practices in the contemporary arts. For instance, you may want 
to study the intersection of technology––television and the 
Internet––and contemporary art. You may want to investigate 
site-specific work that engages with local communities or the natural 
environment. Or you may want to examine democratic art practices that 
blur the boundary between the artist and the audience.
 
You might want to use existing methods of research and/or create new 
conceptual or technical tools that depart from existing disciplinary 
methodologies to illuminate and contribute to the study of contemporary 
arts practices.
 
Application

 
IFA staff would be glad to answer your questions regarding this grant 
programme. You are welcome to approach us to discuss your ideas or send 
us a draft proposal for our suggestions and comments by or before June 
15th, 2011.

 
Your final applications should be in hard copy and reach us no later 
than July 15th      2011. You can expect grant awards to be announced 
by October 2011.
 
You may choose to write your proposal in any Indian language including 
English.
 
Your project may have a minimum duration of twelve months and a maximum 
duration of eighteen months.
 
You can request for support up to Rs 3 lakh. If you are a filmmaker, 
you can request for support up to Rs 5 lakh.
You may budget for an honorarium not exceeding Rs 1,44,000 for the 
entire duration of the grant. Please note that the total grant amount 
is inclusive of the honorarium.
 
To apply, please send us a proposal describing:
 
a)      The specific artistic tradition(s) OR contemporary art practice 
that you seek to research and/or document.
b)      The research questions central to your project.
c)      The research methodology that you seek to follow and/or new 
methodologies that you wish to pursue in order to tackle your subject 
of inquiry.
d)     The anticipated duration of your project, as well as a work 
plan.
e)      The proposed outcomes of your project.
 
 
The proposal will be considered incomplete if you do not include the 
following:
 
a)      Supporting material, if any, which gives us a sense of your 
work.
b)      Your bio-data.
c)      A detailed budget breakdown that explains how funds will be 
used.  Please also mention funds anticipated from other sources, if any.
d)     Your address, telephone/fax numbers, and e-mail address.
e)      If you are applying on behalf of an institution, please include 
background information on the organization as well as the memorandum of 
association/trust deed, annual reports, and audited statements of 
accounts for the past three years.
 
 
General Information
 
 
1)      Our funds will cover only project-related personnel costs, 
activities and travel, and can provide for modest equipment and 
materials, if necessary. Please ensure that each budget category 
pertains to a specific item of project-related expenditure.
2)      If you are an individual, please budget for an accountant.
3)      Please do not budget for institutional overheads, building 
costs and infrastructural development.
4)      Please do not make your identity evident in the text of the 
proposal.
5)      You can send us your draft proposal by email but your final 
proposal, including your supporting material should be in hard copy 
only, and should reach us no later than July 15th 2011.
6)      You are responsible for the delivery of your proposal and 
supporting material to IFA by the closing date. Late applications will 
not be accepted for consideration.
7)      If your proposal is short-listed, you may be requested to 
respond to evaluations. 
8)      Your proposal will be assessed with the help of external 
evaluators, and IFA’s decision on grants will be final.
 
Eligibility
 
You are eligible to apply if you are an Indian national, a registered 
non-profit Indian organization, or have been resident in India for at 
least five years.
Please address your application and all other communication to:
 
Anuja Ghosalkar,
Programme Executive
India Foundation for the Arts,
‘Apurva’, Ground floor, No 259,
4th Cross, Raj Mahal Vilas, 2nd Stage, 2nd Block,
Bengaluru-560 094
Tel: 080 23414681/82
E-mail: anujaghosalkar at indiaifa.org
 
 
For more information visit 
http://www.indiaifa.org/article.asp?id=422&viewType=online