Annual report 2003-2004 - India Foundation for the Arts

JANAKI ABRAHAM, NEW DELHIRS 5,00,000 OVER TWO YEARSCollaborative research on the visual cultureof the Thiyyas, a matrilineal toddy-tapping communityfrom north Kerala. An installationartist/set designer and an anthropologist willexplore the ways in which identity is visuallyexpressed and understood by the Thiyyasthrough their meticulous documentation ofphotographs, paintings, letters, family trees,marriage albums and videos, genealogies andmyths of creation, and seek to re-present itthrough a multimedia installation/exhibition.ANJALI PANJABI, MUMBAIRS 5,00,000 OVER EIGHTEEN MONTHSProduction of a documentary film on theoral legends of Mirabai as narrated and sung bythe lower castes of Rajasthan. The film will mapthe alternative texts and performance spacesthat refigure a mainstream cultural icon, openingup issues of caste and transgression toscrutiny.NIHARIKA DINKAR, NEW YORKRS 1,94,899 OVER FOUR MONTHSDissertation research on Ravi Varma’sPauranik paintings, investigating the visualculture of early modernity in India with specificreference to the feminine icon in his mythologicalpaintings. The researcher will also explorecross-currents between theatre, photography,cinematic imagery, the newly emerging industryfor oleographs and popular prints in RaviVarma’s time.VIMOR HANDLOOM FOUNDATION, BANGALOREPRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: PAVITHRA MUDDAYARS 4,41,150 OVER NINE MONTHSResearch into and documentation of the historyand weaving technique of the Molkalmurusari from the Chitradurga district of northKarnataka, unique for its combination of thePaithani and Ikkat techniques. With the assistanceof a weaver from Molkalmuru, theresearcher will oversee the production ofsamples. The documentation is expected tofacilitate the revival and marketing of simplifiedversions of the saris.VEENA NAREGAL, NEW DELHIRS 3,50,000 OVER TWO YEARSResearch into traditions of performance andchanging structures of patronage inMaharashtra. Investigating a variety of Marathitheatrical practices that emerged in the 1840s,the study seeks to document and understandthe reconstitution of elite and popular performativeforms in the second half of the 19thcentury. The resulting papers will contribute toscholarly research on the vernacular culturaland intellectual history of Maharashtra.MALAVIKA KARLEKAR, NEW DELHIRS 2,35,500 OVER ONE YEAR AND NINE MONTHSSupport for the publication of a book onthe use of photography as a social tool by theBengali upper class in the late 19th and early20th century. The book will be published by theOxford University Press and made available at asubsidised price.KALAI FOUNDATION, CHENNAIRS 5,00,000 OVER NINE MONTHSCreation of a platform for shadow puppetrythrough a festival of performances and workshopsacross Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. Thetour will help shadow puppetry to gain widerrecognition and facilitate the development ofsupport systems for the puppeteers. It will alsogenerate an audience for R V Ramani’s ‘NeeEngey’, a feature-length documentary film thatchronicles the undervalued art of the shadowpuppeteer in south India.27Facing page: Kumkum Jain’s tapestry ‘Mother and Child’ produced as part of her collaboration with Kristine Michael to developclay and textile installations.