Annual report 2003-2004 - India Foundation for the Arts

18teachers, however, who were burdened withanswer scripts and report cards. It also leftthem with no opportunity to undertake followupactivities with the same set of students. Theschool has now decided to accommodate theworkshops in the middle of the academic year,so that the teachers can connect what is beingtaught in the classroom to the workshop experience.Based on the learnings from the firstseries of workshops, Nilina is reworking theirstructure and content before beginning workwith the other two schools.The second grant is supporting Mr KanwarjitNagi to develop and write a manual in Marathiand English on bamboo toy-making for middleand high school children in Maharashtra. Evenin schools where bamboo craft is taught, thesyllabus merely lists articles that can be madefrom bamboo. It does little to enable studentsto source bamboo or grow their own, interactwith local craftspeople who work with bamboo,identify the tools that need to be used or learnhow to make many different things with thismaterial. Mr Nagi hopes that his manual will fillthese gaps.The ideas for the manual will emerge out ofa series of workshops that Mr Nagi will holdwith various schools in Pune district. These willinclude schools in Pune itself but more prominentlyzilla parishad schools in different villagesthat fall within the Rajgurunagar Taluka andalso Ashram Shala schools run by the TribalWelfare Department. Mr Nagi will begin by introducingbamboo craft via demonstrations,slides, posters and talks in 10 to 12 schools.This will be followed by intensive workshopsfor children and interested teachers in thoseschools that respond enthusiastically to theintroductory phase. Alongside he will alsoconduct workshops solely for teachers.Besides these three grants, which help toenlarge the role of the arts in secondary education,IFA extended further support to theCentre for the Study of Culture and Society(CSCS) in Bangalore for its programme tointroduce cultural studies in higher realms oflearning. With an earlier IFA grant, CSCSdesigned and conducted its EducationalInitiatives Programme (EIP). The core of the EIPis the Certificate Course in Cultural Analysis,which was offered in collaboration with ChristCollege, and makes CSCS’ research in culturalstudies available to undergraduate students inBangalore.While offering this course, CSCS facultycame to see that the lack of textual and otherresources in regional languages was likely toretard the growth of cultural studies in India.CSCS decided to begin grappling with thisproblem by addressing the Kannada languagecontext and to this end initiated a discussionwith the Kuvempu University, Dharwad. Thesediscussions took concrete shape when the EIP,assisted by Dr Shivarama Padikkal of theUniversity of Hyderabad, conducted a two-daycultural studies workshop in Kannada for some30 undergraduate and post-graduate studentsfrom constituent colleges and various departmentsof Kuvempu University. The workshoplaid the ground for a longer-term collaborationbetween CSCS and the University.In March 2004, with support from IFA, CSCSembarked on the development of an onlinegraduate-level programme in cultural studiesfor Kuvempu University. By designing newsyllabi and curricula, developing textbooks,organising workshops and offering a visitingfaculty programme and courses on an Internetbasedsystem, the Centre expects to build newforms of institutional linkages, especially withregional research and teaching institutions.IFA’s grant to Mr Mahendra Kumar last year,which supported animation workshops inKolkata, inaugurated our new interest in artseducation projects that benefit the public atlarge. Our Programme Committee welcomedthis new emphasis on public education projectsand suggested that we convene meetings toexplore how we might productively intervene inbringing alive the exhibits in public museums