India Foundation for the Arts Annual Report 2008-09

Mission

IFA enriches the practice and knowledge of, widens public access to, and strengthens capacitiesand infrastructure in the arts in India, by supporting innovative projects, commissioning researchand creating public platforms.

Vision

To ensure that the arts, in all their diversity, are nurtured and valued because they enrichindividual and community life and are critical to envisioning the future of our society.

Beliefs and Values

The arts are indispensable to individual and community well being. Support for the artsshould be widely accessible without prejudice to class, language, religion or gender. It is vital toencourage reflection on the arts as well as reflective arts practices. Transparency, mutual trust andgive-and-take must characterise the business of arts philanthropy.

About IFA

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is one of the country’s leading independent arts funders,championing the cause of arts philanthropy and advocating the importance of the arts in public life. Inthe last decade and a half we have substantially enriched India’s cultural landscape and infused passionand professionalism into the business of arts philanthropy.

IFA was set up in 1993 to focus on urgent but unattended needs in specific areas of the arts.Since we began we have committed more than 13 crore rupees (approximately 3 million USdollars) to projects located in almost every corner of the country. Our support has gone out toindependent research and teaching institutions, cultural and development organisations, scholarsand artists.

Today we fund cutting edge artistic practice, support initiatives to bring the arts into theclassroom, assist in institution development and infrastructure creation, fund research in the arts,help in the preservation and transmission of valuable cultural knowledge, and create publicplatforms for the dissemination and advocacy of the arts. We also act as a source of informationand expertise to those in the arts community and beyond.

Shreyas Karle and Chandrakala M N’s installations at a multidisciplinary residency’s final

exhibition in an old abandoned bungalow in Bangalore in 2008. The residency was organised

and hosted by Bengaluru Artist Residency One.

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If an archive is not made available to thepeople, then it not only remains unused butmore importantly, it remains ‘unenriched’.

We are living in an era where knowledge isincreased through sharing.” These were thewords with which Moinak Biswas, Head of theDepartment of Film Studies, JadavpurUniversity, Kolkata, kicked off a day-longworkshop on digital archiving, jointly organisedby IFA and the Media Lab of the University’sDepartment of Film Studies. The workshopemerged from our Bengali Language Initiativeunder which we fund research, writing andarchiving in that language. One of the leadingobjectives of our arts research anddocumentation programme, of which thisinitiative is a part, is making documentedmaterials accessible through public archives.

While digital technology and the Internethave phenomenally increased access to archives,many questions remain about the best way inwhich to create, use and share archives as wellas their ideological basis. In Vadodara, an IFA-funded conference in February broughttogether academics, archivists, students andartists to theorise the relationship between theproduction of art, art historical practices andthe archive. Reporting on the conference, arthistorian Prof. Shivaji K Panikkar noted that“most presentations put in use radical newframeworks in interpreting the collections ofold or new objects of study, thus arguing thatthe archive is a dynamic and ever changingentity, rather than as a final inert set ofactivities involving […] already establishedobjects.”

In other ways too we sought during the yearto trigger public discussion on the arts and sharethe work we have supported widely. TheBangalore, Kolkata and Mumbai launch of ourTheatre Infrastructure Cell, which IFAestablished in partnership with the NavajbaiRatan Tata Trust, saw guests from both theperforming arts and architecture engage indiscussions on the potential and shortcomings ofperformance infrastructure in India. Sevenartists who were selected to live and worktogether under the aegis of the Bengaluru ArtistResidency One, interacted with the public andpresented their work through a series of publicsalons. And several of our grantees madepresentations of their work to invited audiencesin Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.

Our arts education programme—which wasreviewed during the year—will also have amore prominent public face in the years tocome. The review panel recommended greateradvocacy for arts education by, for instance, thepublication of relevant material, support forseminars and conferences, and conferringawards on teachers who meaningfullyincorporate the arts in education.

IFA’s increasing public visibility also helpsus to interest potential donors in our work.The Big Picture, our largest fundraiser ever, isproof of this. The fundraiser saw 62 artistscontribute artworks towards the exhibition inBangalore. Significantly, it was an IFA donor,Mr Abhishek Poddar, who conceptualised andsuccessfully pulled off this exhibition despitethese financially uncertain times.

Anmol VellaniExecutive Director

INTRODUCTION

From Giselle: a dance and puppetry performance by Varun Narain and Rea Krishnatraye.

Photograph on facing page and p. 13, 14, 23 and 30 by Mohanjeet Kukreja.

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August 2009

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ARTS RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION

In 2006, we decided to narrow the focus ofthis programme and, in our revisedRequest for Proposals (RFP), called for

proposals that critically investigate the makingof cultural traditions or, alternatively, developor use new methodologies for studyingcontemporary arts practices.

After two rounds of grant making, it is clearthat there is a tension between IFA’s urge togenerate research and documentation informedby these approaches and our constituency’sreadiness to embrace them. Nevertheless, a fewproposals did respond to the first of thesecategories in interesting ways.

Gargi Gangopadhyay, for instance, who isstudying 19th century Bengali literature forchildren, touches upon the notion of‘construction of tradition’ when she points out

how this literature, developed in consciousopposition to British models, was seen as a‘reclaimed’ tradition. “What were the potentingredients for etching an indigenous cultureand how were fictional/ artistic/generic devicesand strategies used in the construction of amyth?” she asks in her proposal.

Filmmaker Sashikanth Ananthachari isexploring the dynamic potential of ‘constructingtradition’. Sashikanth is making a film on aMahabharata-inspired performance festivalheld in some 200 villages of Tamil Nadu.Because this festival celebrates the provisionalnature of identity, the myths it upholds arecrucial to sustaining the secular texture of thesecommunities. ‘Myth’ here becomes an activesocial force rather than an ideological deviceused to create historical narratives.

‘Every archive needs counter-archiving—insurgent archiving or guerrillaarchiving. Artists and curators of ourtimes must learn covert and overtmethods of dealing with their materialsand presenting works as public secretsrather than as proclamation.’Theorist Shuddhabrata Sengupta speaking at the ACUAconference on Art, Archive and Art History in Vadodara.

Meanwhile, Shirley Abraham and AmitMadheshiya are photographing and writingabout tambu talkies, Maharashtra’s touring tentcinemas—a project we value because of itsfocus on intensive documentation. Madheshiyarecently received several prestigious awards,including The Sony World PhotographyAward in the category Arts and Entertainmentfor his photographs of the tambu talkies.

In our recent RFP we have elaborated onthe different ways in which it is possible tocritically approach ‘tradition’, thereby hoping toencourage applicants to respond morespecifically to this theme. We have alsobroadened the RFP’s second category toinclude the study of new developments incontemporary arts practice.

For our Bengali Language Initiative, whichfunds research, writing and archiving in that

language, we have appointed an advisory panelto provide guidance to grantees, evaluateprojects and recommend future directions forthis initiative. The panel emphasised theimportance of making research findings andmaterials accessible in the public domain,especially through publication and archiving.

Since several grantees aim to or will beencouraged to create digital archives, IFAorganised a workshop on digital archivingjointly with the Media Lab of the Departmentof Film Studies, Jadavpur University. Asregards the future of the initiative, the panel feltthat research in and about rural and semi-urban areas of West Bengal should besupported. It also identified travelogues,emerging cultures of communication, andhandicrafts as areas in which writing andresearch need to be encouraged

Niranjan and Chinmoyee Banerjea. From the collection of Sibaji

Bandyopadhyay. Documented by Hardik Biswas who is archiving

photographs of Bengali urban middle-class women

from the 1880s to the 1970s.

1. Association of Academics, Artistsand Citizens for UniversityAutonomy, VadodaraRs 6,80,000 over nine months

For a three-day international conference titledArchiving the Art Histories: Exigencies andChallenges in Pedagogy and Research. Theconference will survey the history of archiving,research and teaching practices of art history inIndian art schools. The conference will alsothink through and devise ways of improvingthe present state of visual archives in artteaching institutions in the country.

2. Gargi Gangopadhyay, Kolkata Rs 2,93,000 over eighteen months

For research into indigenous children’sliterature in 19th century Bengal thatburgeoned in opposition to the Britisheducation system and reclaimed displacedpopular culture to establish an importantswadeshi tradition. The research will culminatein an encyclopaedia and a website onindigenous children’s literature in 19th centuryBengal.

3. Makarand Sathe, PuneRs 3,00,000 over eighteen months

For research on the socio-political history ofmodern Marathi theatre. The research willfocus on the different political trends inMarathi theatre from the time of the firstmodern playwrights in Marathi to thepresent. The resulting manuscript will serve asa source for three plays that will bring the

political history of modern Marathi theatre to alarger theatre-going audience.

4. Merajur Rahman Baruah, DelhiRs 4,99,500 over one year

For the production of a film on the history,form, style and aesthetics of the mobile theatresof Assam. The film will record thetransformation in themes and repertoire of thisgenre of performance, capture the experienceand perspectives of its promoters, directors,actors, technicians and stagehands, anddocument the impact of globalisation on itspractice.

5. Sashikanth Ananthachari, ChennaiRs 4,98,500 over nine months

For the making of a two-part film on theDraupadi Amman Mahabharata Koothufestival that is celebrated in 200 villages inTamil Nadu every year. Draupadi is thepresiding deity of the festival and theMahabharata is narrated as a story, re-createdas theatre and performed as a ritual for her.The first part of the film will explore themythology of the Draupadi cult and the historyof the region, while the second part willdocument the villagers reciting, performing andliving the Mahabharata for the duration of thefestival.

6. Shirley Abraham, MumbaiRs 3,00,000 over one year

For researching and photo-documenting thetambu talkies (tent cinemas) that follow the

ARTS RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION: GRANTS

route of the religious jatras (fairs) inMaharashtra. The history of the tambu talkieswill be constructed by mapping the filmdistribution cycle and exhibition patterns,gathering old photographs and documents, andrecording oral histories of the proprietors anddistributors of the tambu talkies. Photo-documentation will capture the current state ofthe touring tent cinemas, covering such aspectsas the audience profile, the ingenious projectionsystems and the innovative advertisingstrategies.

BENGALI LANGUAGE INITIATIVE

7. Bangla Natyakosh Parisad, KolkataRs 9,86,750 over two years

For the publication of a two-volumeencyclopaedia and creation of an Internetarchive of Bengali theatre from 1795 to 2008.The encyclopaedia will include entries ontheatre personalities, plays and productionhouses. A CD accompanying each volume willcontain photographs, reviews and othermaterial on plays and productions companies.

Tambu talkies—Maharashtra’s touring tent

cinemas. Photograph by Amit Madheshiya who,

together with Shirley Abraham, is documenting

the tambus. See also centrespread.

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Researcher, singer and recipient of two IFA grants, MoushumiBhowmik has been travelling extensively for five years on her birahaproject—searching and recording expressions of loss and longing in thefolk music of Bengal. Central to her project is the idea of returning thesong to the singer. Among the many artists she has met and recordedare Sufi singer and songwriter Abdul Hamid and his family in Sylhet,Bangladesh.

On one of her trips to Sylhet, she learnt to her great sadness thatone of Hamidbhai’s daughters had died on the operation table during aseemingly simple appendix operation. “He asked me if I had arecording of his daughter’s voice and I reminded him that it was on theCD I had given him last time. Hamidbhai had a major stroke last year.When I met him, he asked me again, this time his speech more slurredthan before: “Do you have a copy of my daughter’s songs?””

Ambarish Datta—a banker and music lover in Sylhet town—hasaccompanied Moushumi on her trips into the interior and helped toset up interviews for her. On her advice, he has bought a digitalrecorder so that he can do his own recordings as well as share thesewith her. Ambarish with his wife and some friends has formed anorganisation called ‘Sahajiya’. In collaboration with ‘Sahajiya’, Moushumihopes to release a series of albums containing selections from her fieldrecordings in Sylhet. Somewhere among these will be the voice ofHamidbhai’s daughter singing wedding songs.

Moushumi Bhowmik: Returning the Song to the Singer

The late Gulam Shah Fakir in Sashpur, Birbhum, West Bengal in

Januaury 2005: one of the many singers whose songs Moushumi

Bhowmik has documented.

It is possible to promote a notion of art assomething not just tied down to personalcareers and physical art pieces, but directly

related to the testing and celebrating of artisticprocesses and their contextualisation.” This isthe vision behind the Bengaluru ArtistResidency One or BAR1—an artists’ collectivethat hosted a multidisciplinary arts residency inBangalore in mid-2008.

IFA’s support for the BAR1 residency wasthe highlight of our grant making under thisprogramme during the year. BAR1 broughttogether artists from multiple practices so thatthey could be exposed to what BAR1 memberChristoph Storz calls “the friction of diversity”.The residency emphasised collaborations andcollective exchange rather than solitary effortstowards pre-determined outcomes. Ofadditional value was the fact that the collectiveconsists of artists who consider the fostering ofsuch exchanges personally enriching.

Seven artists from across the country werepart of the first edition of BAR1. Some createdartwork that responded to the experience ofbeing in Bangalore. Atul Mahajan’s installation,for example, commented on the vanishing ofmany of the city’s water reservoirs. Otherartists reflected on the singular experience ofsharing space offered by a residency, such asNilanjan Bhattacharya and Shreyas Karle, whocollaborated on Men in Kitchen—afictionalised, comic take on cooking and forgingnew friendships.

Meanwhile, 12 artists funded under thisprogramme came together in Bangalore inSeptember 2008 to share their work anddiscuss attempts to extend their practices.While participants felt that the meetingprovided a very useful opportunity to presentand invite feedback on their projects, many of

which are of an exploratory and experimentalnature, the meeting also helped IFA to furtherclarify the kinds of extensions of artisticpractice that we would like to support.

The grants described on page 11 have goneto artists whose projects have emerged fromtheir reflections on the larger contexts of theirpractice. For instance, Jyoti Dogra, who iscreating a performance that values thelanguage of the body over an externalnarrative, considers this as her response to thecurrent theatre scene which is “either a coldlyintellectual activity, at one extreme, or else aspectacle, at the other.” By using gestures,mumblings, sounds and body images, she seeks“to cultivate more intuitive acts ofunderstanding [in theatre] instead of simplyand continually privileging rational processesof engagement and assessment.”

Painter-photographer-filmmaker K MMadhusudhanan has consistently sought tohighlight the forgotten continuities betweenpainting, photography and cinema and itsprecursors. In making a film on the late 19thcentury innovation of the Indian magiclantern, which was used to project movingimages before the arrival of cinema, he is bothdrawing attention to a forgotten technique andreminding us about the overlaps between whatare often considered distinct visual genres.

Finally, filmmaker Vaibhav Abnave isexploring the history of experimentation inMarathi theatre with special reference to theplaywright Mahesh Elkunchwar. He isinterested in how experimentation itself cancreate orthodoxies and how Elkunchwarconsistently challenged these. Vaibhav’s filmwill itself challenge the ‘real’ by mergingenacted scenes from Elkunchwar’s plays withdepictions of the playwright’s inner life.

EXTENDING ARTS PRACTICE

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From Chandrakala M N’s untitled installation that plays with light and shade. Created during

the multidisciplinary arts residency hosted by the Bengaluru Artist Residency One in 2008.

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Jyoti Dogra performing The Doorway.

‘The truly alternative, experimental experience is a rareevent in the performing arts space across the country.

Too often, such self-labelled performances end up beingeither self-consciously trite and belaboured or simplywork too hard at being novel. That’s why this new and

unusual performance... proved to be a gratifyingexperience.’

Devina Dutt in the Deccan Herald, May 16, 2009 on

Jyoti Dogra’s solo performance, The Doorway.

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1. Bengaluru Artist Residency One, BangaloreRs 5,57,600 over six months

For a three-month residency programme for emerging Indian artists from anextended field of arts practice, towards nurturing collaborations andcollective exchange. Six artists from diverse cultural backgrounds andregions will spend between six weeks and three months at the BAR1 studiosin Bangalore, developing individual pieces of artwork and interacting withfellow artists. A public event showcasing the artists’ work in progress will beheld at the end of the residency.

2. Jyoti Dogra, MumbaiRs 5,95,000 over one year

For the creation of The Doorway, an exploration of real and imagined storiesin the tradition of Grotowski’s Theatre Laboratory, for presentation anddiscussion in art galleries, theatre institutions and alternative spaces acrossthe country. This evolving performance will deconstruct the craft of actingwith minimal spoken text and design support, making it stronglyexperiential in nature and challenging the actor-spectator equation.

3. K M Madhusudhanan, New DelhiRs 6,00,000 over one year

For the making of a fictional film on the Indian magic lantern or Shambharik Kharolika, the late 19th century cinema projections made with painted images on glass. The film will recreate the performance ofShambharik Kharolika and navigate through the lives of its practitioners.Stylistically, the film will reference the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma and the painted curtains of the Parsi theatre, which influenced the practitionersof the Indian magic lantern.

4. Vaibhav Abnave, New DelhiRs 6,00,000 over one year

For the making of an innovative biographical film on the path-breakingMarathi playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar, which will also explore the historyand notions of experimentation in Marathi theatre. The film’s narrative willbe driven by multiple voices and move seamlessly across Elkunchwar’s lifeand ideas in a non-linear manner, juxtaposing ‘real’ situations, people andspaces with the playwright’s ‘theatrical’ characters, situations and locales.

EXTENDING ARTS PRACTICE: GRANTS

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While our grants under this programmehave so far funded the development andstaging of productions, we recognise that

a period of research prior to the production stage canenrich new and experimental work.

Accordingly, we supported two research projectsduring the year. Sunil Shanbag is researching thehistory of censorship in Indian theatre, especially thebanning of several Marathi plays during the 1970s.Since the research is to result in a play script, theatrewill, interestingly, become the subject of theatre.Shanbag’s historical approach is also likely to providean interesting perspective on today’s theatre practices.

For Shanbag, research is the starting point in ajourney towards a performance, while for dancerPreeti Sunderajan, the idea of research emerged fromattempts to develop a performance on Bangalore.Dissatisfied with the material ways in which she andher colleagues were interpreting Bangalore, the groupdecided to step back and probe deeper into theirpersonal connections with the city, as well asinterview people who have differing relationships

with it.

Two recent grants have gone to performanceartists who are using the medium of puppetry inradical ways. Puppeteer Varun Narain anddancer Rea Krishnatraye took on the challengeof meaningfully combining dance and puppetrytowards a production of Giselle ki Kahani,based on a 19th century French ballet. Forinstance, Varun discovered that with the entry

of a dancer onto the stage, hisinteractions with his puppetshad perforce to change. Sincedance drew attention to all

NEW PERFORMANCE

physical movements, Varun found that he had to “either concealmyself completely, or acknowledge beforehand my presence as anomnipresent storyteller.”

Anurupa Roy faces a different set of challenges since she isusing puppetry to represent a historical figure—Gulbadan, theMughal-era princess who was an official chronicler. Anurupa andher team intend to focus on visual storytelling and use wordssparingly. They are excited about the difficult task of getting apuppet to portray a historical character who has never beenwritten about or visually represented.

Two grants went to groups who have been workingconsistently in children’s theatre. Santanil Ganguly of Jhalpala, aKolkata-based theatre group, observes that the large majority ofchildren in rural, suburban and small town schools, orthose outside the schooling system, seldom getopportunities to engage in theatre. His projectbrings children into collaboration with patuas(performers who sing stories with the aid ofpainted scrolls). Children will draw on this art formas well as develop their own interpretation of theshort story on which this performance is based.

Jaimini Pathak of the Mumbai-based groupWorking Title feels that hardly any theatricalexpression in India is directed specifically towardschildren and that the little that exists tends to beeither preachy or escapist. He is attempting tosteer clear of both these pitfalls with Day I Metthe Prince, based on Kuo Pao Kun’s play of thesame name. The play, performed by adults, willaim to get young audiences to reflect on issuesof life and self that may have escapedtheir notice. At the same time,the infusion of magic, music,songs and dance will provide forlaughter and enjoyment.

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NEW PERFORMANCE: GRANTS

1. Anurupa Roy, New Delhi Rs 5,23,000 over one year

For the transformation of the Humayun-nama,a 16th century chronicle of the Mughalemperor Humayun’s life, into a performancecalled Gulbadan, which will combine shadowpuppetry and live acting with cinematictechniques and other visual media. Amongother things, Gulbadan will portray the rarelyrecounted lives of Mughal women, their role inthe Mughal court and the politics of the harem,which the chronicle documents in great detail.

2. Jaimini Pathak, Mumbai Rs 2,04,250 over two months

For the development and staging of anadaptation of Kuo Pao Kun’s play for children,Day I Met the Prince based on Antoine SaintExupery’s classic Le Petit Prince. Thisinteractive performance, featuring dance, musicand magic, will encourage the young to exploretheir own concerns and become more keenlyaware of to the world around them.

3. Jyotish M G, ThiruvananthapuramRs 5,40,000 over three months

For the development and staging of anadaptation of Macbeth in Malayalam. Usingmobile scenic designs, choreography,multimedia images, ritual and a chorus, theproduction will explore the psychologicalcomplexities of the central characters andattempt to lay bare the emotions and thoughtsthat work at the level of the subconscious.

4. Mangangsana Meitei, Imphal Rs 5,59,000 over five months

For the creation of a performance based on thetraditional Manipuri ballad Phou-Oibi. Telling alegendary story in a non-traditional, open-airsetting, the performance will explore themusicality of the string instrument pena, aswell as draw from the Manipuri performanceforms of Moirang Sai, Moirang Parva,Sankirtana, Wari Liba and Lai Haraoba.

5. Padmini Chettur, Chennai Rs 6,00,000 over five months

For the production of a new choreographicwork titled Beautiful Thing 1. This performancewill investigate the interplay of sound, word,movement and meaning, and attempt to bridgethe gaps between our historical memories andour contemporary selves.

6. Sunil Shanbag, Mumbai Rs 1,50,000 over four months

For research into theatre censorship towards a multi-media stage production. Using thebanning of Vijay Tendulkar’s play SakharamBinder as a point of reference, the research willfocus as much on state censorship as the actionsof non-state agencies to suppress theatricalexpression. Artists and theatre activists will beinterviewed, newspaper archives perused, andtextual, photographic and audio-visual materialsgathered from various sources. A performancescript incorporating some of the acquired audio-visual elements will be the outcome of theproject.

7. Preeti Sunderajan, Bangalore Rs 1,17,000 over five months

For preparatory research and documentationtowards a dance production titled Dance andthe City. Four dancers will share their personalexperiences of Bangalore with one another,record interviews with other city residents, andundertake photo and video documentation.This material will be used to generatenarratives and movement ideas that will formthe basis of the proposed production.

8. Santanil Ganguly, Kolkata Rs 1,76,000 over seven months

For the development and staging of aperformance by and for children in Bengalibased on a story written by Upendra KishoreRoychowdhury. The children will visualise thestory and develop the script for theperformance through constant improvisationsand experiments with the patua community inWest Bengal.

9. Varun Narain, New DelhiRs 5,31,000 over six months

For the development of a production that willinterpret the story of Giselle from multipleperspectives. A contemporary puppeteer and adancer will re-imagine Giselle as a peasant girlin small-town India whose dreams areshattered by social norms and pressures. Theproduction is expected to push the limits ofboth puppetry and dance.

Abhinaya’s production of Macbeth in

Malayalam. See also p. 33.

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1. Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi, BangaloreRs 12,91,250 over three years

For training teachers in using the visual arts to enhance thequality of elementary education in several districts of Karnataka.This project will upscale the Art-in-Education component of theearlier District Quality Education Programme in Chamrajnagardistrict and simultaneously extend it to select blocks in severalother districts.

ARTS EDUCATION: GRANTS

In July 2008 we invited a panel ofexperts to help us articulate anarrower but more robust version of

the arts education programme, keeping inmind that IFA cannot successfully make adifference in all arts education-related areas.

After two days of deliberation, the panelrecommended that we strategically focus on 1)initiatives that expand classroom arts capacitiesamong teachers and 2) advocacy for artseducation. The panel’s recommendations weremade in the light of the increasingvocationalisation of the education system. It wasfelt that only the arts can balance the moremechanical aspects of a vocational education bydrawing out all the potentialities contained inyoung people.

IFA will execute this new strategy by workingin four different but interconnected areas. We willsupport the teaching community by institutingannual awards for teachers, conducting artseducation workshops for them, and strengtheningthe resources available to them. We will fundresearch into the state of arts education in Indiaand collect data on institutions and persons thatcan serve as resources for the field. We willorganise seminars and public forums inpartnership with organisations involved ineducational research, advocacy and training, andstart a publication series based on IFA-commissioned research. And finally, all grants willbe extensively documented and actively used foradvocacy, and the materials made availablethrough various dissemination channels.

The above initiatives fall under twoumbrellas—expansion of the knowledge andresource base; and outreach to target

constituencies. It is important for us to ensure thatthese two rubrics develop into a symbioticrelationship over the next five years of grantmaking under this programme.

The first grant under the revised programmewent to Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi (BGVS),which is dedicated to promoting primaryeducation in Karnataka. The Arts-in-Educationcomponent of the District Quality EducationProgramme which BGVS takes over from theNational Institute of Advanced Studies, a previousIFA grantee, is firmly focused on teachers. Overthe next three years, BGVS proposes to trainteachers using the visual arts in Karnataka’sChamrajnagar district, where the project wasoriginally based, as well as expand into 12 otherdistricts in interior Karnataka.

Also the result of our revised strategy is KaliKalisu, a joint initiative between IFA and theGoethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore.The project, which will be launched in 2009-10,consists of a series of 20 arts workshops for schoolteachers and teacher trainees across the state ofKarnataka. The workshops will encompass music,dance, puppetry, theatre, visual arts and the widesweep of cultural knowledge. These teachers willtake their new-found knowledge into their day-to-day classes, enriching the learning experience inmany schools across the state. The workshops willbe conducted by five IFA grantees, all major artsinstitutions in Karnataka: Ananya, AttakkalariCentre for Movement Arts, Bharat Gyan VigyanSamithi, Gombe Mane (Puppet House) andNinasam.

ARTS EDUCATION

From Shine P Shivan’s installation created as part of the young artist’s residency PEERS,

hosted by the artists’ collective Khoj in 2009.

From Sandeep Pisalkar’s installation created as part of the young

artist’s residency PEERS, hosted by the artists’ collective Khoj in 2008.

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SPECIAL GRANTS GRANTS

1. Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, New DelhiRs 3,00,000 over one year

For the editing and design of a monograph on Bengali artist Jamini Roy, with images from someof his finest paintings found in the collection of the Rajya Charukala Parishad.

2. Nathu Khan Bagadwa, Bikaner, RajasthanRs 3,67,600 over eighteen months

For teaching the fundamentals of folk singing and instruments, particularly the Maand, to 15youngsters belonging to the musician community of Jamsar village in Rajasthan. Performances by30 senior musicians of the region will be recorded and used as a resource in the teaching sessions.Senior musicians will also conduct workshops with the students on the nuances of the musicevery quarter.

3. Prayog, New DelhiRs 9,12,000 over two years

For the intensive education of 12 youngboys in the Kashmiri theatre form, BhandPather, with a special focus on its musicalaspects. The project builds on an earliergrant for a 35-day workshop, which initiateda large group of youngsters into the theatreform. This two-year programme will turnout a cadre of proficient Bhand Patherpractitioners, while also creating breathingspace for cultural expression in the strife-ridden Kashmir Valley.

4. Vasudha Thozhur, VadodaraRs 5,00,000 over one year

For exhibiting artwork created during theHimmat workshops with the womensurvivors of the Gujarat violence in 2002.The exhibitions will take place in majorgalleries in Mumbai and Delhi and atravelling module will also be created forfurther dissemination to non-metropolitanvenues.

Our special grantssupport theinterface between

the arts and community, andusing the arts in situations ofconflict is an importantaspect of this interface. In2004 we made a grant toartist Vasudha Thozhur todesign and conduct a seriesof art workshops for womensurvivors of the 2002communal riots in Gujarat,

and we recently made her another grant to finishand exhibit the artworks created during thoseworkshops. Significantly, Vasudha does not seeher work with this community of women asseparate from her individual creativity, and theseexhibitions will attempt to demonstrate thecontinuities between the two.

Theatre director M K Raina is, similarly,exploring the potential of the arts in conflictsituations. Building on an earlier IFA-supportedworkshop to revitalise the traditional theatre ofKashmir, Bhand Pather, he has now embarked ona two-year project to train the younger generationin different aspects of this form. Mr Raina hastaken up the challenge of not just reviving an artform that has suffered during the two decades ofunrest in Kashmir, but also of engaging withyoung people whose bodies and minds have beendeeply affected by the stresses of theirenvironment.

We have also made a number of special grantsover the last four years focused on strengtheningthe community-based art forms of Rajasthan.These have converged around the documentationand reinvigoration of traditions of folk music, andthe enhancement of the material welfare and

dignity of the communities who practice them.For instance, a grant made in 2007-08 to theMarudhar Lok Kala Kendra, enabled 80 folkmusicians to come together in a workshop-conference to discuss their art and its future.

Two important learnings emerged from theconference. Development consultant Rahul Ghaireports that the gathered musicians asked thatfolk music be recognised as a viable livelihoodstrategy and called for measures to make it so—such as creating institutions to teach it formallyand increasing the number and nature of theplatforms where it can be performed. Secondly,they felt that “‘documentation’ and ‘preservation’(in the manner in which they have beenconducted so far) are processes that need to befurther developed with a perspective ondissemination among a wider audience andtransmission of traditions to the newergenerations.”

Our grant in 2006-07 to Rupayan Sansthan,Jodhpur, anticipated this need: the project did notjust record and archive the repertoire ofManganiar musicians but also offered trainingcamps for children and young musicians in orderto feed the repertoire back into the community.Programme staff who attended one such campreported that while “conventionally, children‘absorb’ the music as elders in the family practiseand perform, the workshop atmosphere gavethem an opportunity to learn from elders andmasters outside their immediate family. Itnaturally exposed them to different masters,various styles and a diversity of songs.”

A recent grant to Bikaner musician NathuKhan Bagadwa—who is also working to inculcatea traditional musical form among the young—is afurther step in the same direction.

Details from Nari (this page) and Dui Biral (facing page) by Jamini Roy, whose paintings are

being inventoried and documented at the Rajya Charukala Parishad, Kolkata.

23 24

IFA, in partnership with the Navajbai RatanTata Trust, set up the TheatreInfrastructure Cell (TIC) in April 2008

with the overall objective of developing afacilitative environment for the practice of theperforming arts in India. TIC is specificallyconcerned to build knowledge in the area ofperformance infrastructure and practices;support projects that seek to build and enhanceperformance infrastructure; and provideadvisory support.

In the first year, TIC conducted interviewsand commissioned articles towards a booktentatively titled The Imagined Stage on ideas,issues and experiments relating to space andperformance. The book considers how dancerand choreographer Astad Deboo and theatredirectors Bansi Kaul and Lokendra Arambamhave explored and approached performance andperformance spaces. It also includes essays onspecific experiments with spaceundertaken in theatre anddance. Documentation ofnon-formal spaces inand around

Bangalore wasalso commissioned

so as to encourageperformance artists and

groups in the city to explorethem regularly and innovatively.

Additionally, TIC commissioned a‘Theatre Infrastructure Baseline Study’supported by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust(SRTT). The objective of this study was toestablish the nature of the gaps in the area ofperformance infrastructure, how best toaddress them, and how to measure the impactof any interventions we make in this area. Thisstudy was conducted in Karnataka,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Manipur.

Researchers explored issues such as the growthand decline of groups and performances overthe last ten years; infrastructure-related needsand problems faced by groups; and the nature ofperformance spaces in these states.

It was clear from this study that the work ofperformance groups suffers as much due to thelack of appropriate and adequate infrastructure astheir inability to make full and proper use ofavailable infrastructure. The study showed that toimprove performance infrastructure, it isnecessary to address a set of interlinked issues.For example, the availability of better sound andlighting equipment will not help unless sound and

light technicians and designersare trained to use

equipment effectively.TIC concluded that itneeded to focus onselected cities/towns

to address performanceinfrastructure issues in an

integrated way, rather thanprovide support for stand-alone infrastructuralprojects in different cities.

TIC staff interacted with 11 organisationsthat approached us for support to create andupgrade performance infrastructure. Of theprojects that were investigated, TIC has decidedto pursue Ninasam’s request for support toupgrade and modernise its infrastructure.Ninasam, based in Heggodu, Karnataka, is oneof the state’s pivotal cultural organisations, itswork spanning culture, activism, arts education,literature and film, and theatre training andpractice. Another reason for supportingNinasam’s proposal is related to TIC’s decisionto focus its work in the immediate future in keylocations in Karnataka in keeping with thefindings of the baseline study.

THEATRE INFRASTRUCTURECELL

25 26

In February 2003, artist Vasudha Thozhur visited Ahmedabad’s Faizal Parkwhere victims of the Gujarat riots had been relocated. “There was a terribledespondency about the place, lightened by the few children who were there,” writesVasudha. “There was a light-eyed child of three, very bright and active. He had seenhis mother being burnt to death and had repeated the story so many times, tocurious visitors and insistent reporters, that the horror of it was reduced, even in hisown mind to a spectacle, a tamasha.”

Three years later, four girls are moving before a background of hanging scrollsand enacting the stories they have painted on these scrolls—about water shortagesand the importance of learning how to read and write. All these girls—TaheraPathan, Shahjehan Shaikh, Tasleem Qureshi and Rabia Shaikh—are from familieswho lost relatives in the riots. They have been part of art workshops conducted orfacilitated by Vasudha, travelled with their performances, and visited institutionssuch as the Kanoria Art Centre and National Institute of Design to share and talkabout their work. Their artwork will soon be part of an exhibition that will travelacross the country.

Vasudha received three IFA grants to conduct these workshops and explore howart can become a form of activism. Going beyond the media emphasis on the deathand disaster associated with the riots, she has encouraged the girls to use art as amirror to their lives, and as a way of telling their stories and engaging with the largerworld. As Tasleem Qureshi says, “We’ve learnt how to paint. Now we can go as faras we want.”

Vasudha Thozhur: Art as a Form of Activism

Drawings that emerged from workshops that Vasudha Thozhur has been

conducting with some of the women survivors of the 2002 Gujarat riots.

27 28

From Atul Mahajan’s

installation Ooru Neeru:

Hesaraghatta—Once Upon a

Time for Bangalore, who

participated in the

multidisciplinary arts residency

hosted by Bengaluru Artist

Residency One in 2008.

This installation comments on

the vanishing of many of

Bangalore’s water

reservoirs.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLATFORMS

We organised a range of public eventsand programmes during the year,apart from supporting projects with

a prominent public face. Additionally, wepublished two issues of ArtConnect, which is fastturning into a platform for serious writing onthe arts.

ArtConnect has come to offer a sharedspace—rarely provided by arts journals—topresent artwork, talk about the artistic process,review infrastructure and policies, anddisseminate research. Most contributors toArtConnect are IFA grantees, but we have alsofeatured the work of leading artists and writerssuch as Gieve Patel, Manjula Padmanabhan andVijay Nambisan.

Some of the grants we made had a publicaspect built into them, such as the India-Indiaresidency offered by Bengaluru Artist ResidencyOne, which brought together seven artists fromacross the country to Bangalore to live, work andexchange ideas. The artists presented workthrough four public salons, which invitedfeedback and responses on work-in-progress andstimulated conversations on practice. The turnoutat these salons was exceptionally high.

We also supported a conference and aworkshop on the subject of archiving,generating both theoretical perspectives andhands-on knowledge regarding this importantfield. The conference was organised by theAssociation of Academics, Artists and Citizensfor University Autonomy in Vadodara. About50 papers were presented by academics,archivists, students and artists from India, theUK and USA on topics ranging from theconstruction of the colonial archive to thenature of specific archives.

To enrich the work being done under ourBengali Language Initiative, IFA and the MediaLab of the Department of Film Studies,Jadavpur University, Kolkata, jointly organised aworkshop on digital archiving. Subjects coveredincluded the role of digital archives, how tocreate them, and ethics involved in the use ofthese archives. Apart from the recipients of ourgrants, participants included students andfaculty of the University.

IFA grantees were, on different occasions,invited to present their work to select audiencesduring the past year—yet another way in whichwe sought to engage with the public. SabaDewan, director of The Other Song, a film onnorth India’s tawaif (courtesan) artistic legacy,was invited to make a presentation in Delhialong with one her subjects; puppeteers andperformance artists Anurupa Roy, Varun Narainand Rea Krishnatraye demonstrated their workin Bangalore; and in Mumbai we organised anexhibition and talks featuring the work ofVasudha Thozhur (who has conducted artworkshops with victims of the 2002 Gujaratriots), Amit Madheshiya and Shirley Abraham(who are documenting Maharashtra’s touringtent cinemas), Sunil Shanbag (director of a playabout the mill-workers of Mumbai andcurrently researching censorship in theatre), andHardik Biswas (who is building an archive ofphotographs of urban middle-class women ofBengal between the 1880s and 1970s).

And finally, to leverage existing opportunitiesfor grantees to disseminate their work, werecommended IFA-supported performances tofestivals around the country—such asAbhinaya’s Macbeth to the National School ofDrama’s Bharat Rang Mahotsav and AnurupaRoy’s …about Ram to The Park’s New Festival.

“It was my privilege to be part of a fundraising event forthe India Foundation for the Arts. IFA believes in the

power of creativity and the possibility of ideas becominglive projects and this faith deserves all our support.”

Atul Dodiya, who donated one of his paintings for the IFA fundraiser, ‘The Big Picture’.

29 30

REPORT ON FINANCES

Auditor’s Report to the Members of the Board of Trustees of India Foundation for the Arts

We have audited the attached Statement of Financial Position of India Foundation for the Arts asat 31st March, 2009, and the relative Income Statement for the year ended on that date, both ofwhich we have signed under reference to this report. These financial statements are theresponsibility of the management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financialstatements based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the Auditing Standards generally accepted in India.Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance aboutwhether the Financial Statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining,on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the Financial Statements. Anaudit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by themanagement, as well as evaluating the overall Financial Statement presentation. We believe thatour audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

We further report that:

We have obtained all the information and explanations, which to the best of our knowledge andbelief, were necessary for the purposes of our audit.In our opinion, proper books of account have been kept by the Foundation so far as appears fromour examination of those books.The Statement of Financial Position and the Income Statement dealt with by this report are inagreement with the books of account.In our opinion, the Statement of Financial Position and the Income Statement dealt with by thisreport have been prepared in all material respects in compliance with the applicable AccountingStandards.In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us,the Statement of Financial Position and the Income Statement together with the notes thereon andaccounting policies attached thereto, give the information required, and also give a true and fair view:

in the case of Statement of Financial Position, of the state of affairs of the Foundation as at31st March, 2009; andin the case of Income Statement, of the excess of Expenditure over Income for the year endedon that date.

for Thakur, Vaidyanath Aiyar & Co.Chartered Accountants

(V. Rajaraman)PartnerMembership No. 2705

(a)

(b)

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

(v)

Place: New DelhiDated: July 15, 2009

Many of us are patrons of the arts but thistime it is artists themselves who havecome forward to donate, in full or in

part, the sales proceeds of their work for the arts.”This is how IFA corpus donor and art collectorAbhishek Poddar, introduced The Big Picture—IFA’s single biggest fundraiser to date. 62 well-known as well as upcoming artists contributed ordonated 71 artworks towards a ten-day exhibitionin Bangalore, which was inaugurated by renownedartist Atul Dodiya, who donated one of his ownworks to the show. We are proud to have beenassociated with a show of this scale. It is alsosignificant that it was an IFA donor who,recognising the potential of art supporting art,conceptualised and successfully pulled off thisexhibition despite these financially uncertain times.

Offering support and advice to otherinstitutions and sectors is a crucial part of IFA’smission and public relations objectives. Wecollaborated with the Department of Kannada andCulture and the Alliance Francaise de Bangalore toorganise a series of music performances acrossKarnataka, thereby widening the ambit of ourpartnerships to include government agencies. Weproduced a report for the Korea Arts ManagementService on the state of the performing arts in India.We are also undertaking research on behalf of theBritish Council to produce an information bank onIndian artists and organisations with an interest incollaborative practice, as well as a ‘how to’ guide forinternational artists hoping to work in India.

Direct support for our grants and programmescame to us from various sources. The Axis BankFoundation partially underwrote our grant to theBharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi, which is using thevisual arts to enhance elementary education in ruralKarnataka, while the Infosys Foundation partiallysupported Merajur Rahman Baruah to make a filmon the mobile theatres of Assam. Meanwhile, the

Neemrana Hotels Pvt. Ltd supported a workshop-conference for Rajasthani folk musicians organisedby Marudhar Lok Kala Kendra; and KPLInternational Ltd partially underwrote our supportfor the theatre group Prayog, which is trainingyoung boys in the Kashmiri theatre form BhandPather. Among individual supporters, Kantic DasGupta contributed funds towards the BengaliLanguage Initiative

Our Friends of IFA initiative—which seekssmall annual contributions—was launched in theprevious year and as of March 31, 2009 we had129 Friends spread over 12 Indian cities as well as16 Friends abroad. We also received contributionsto our corpus from one individual, two trusts andtwo corporations during the year.

IFA organised a series of fundraising eventsthrough the year, which included performancesfeaturing senior artists such as Naseeruddin Shahand Lillette Dubey. Significantly, corporate housesalso came forward to support non-profit eventssuch as public presentations by IFA grantees. Thishelped us demonstrate that modest support fromcorporate houses—which enables us to showcaseour work to potential Friends of IFA and otherdonors—is as valuable to IFA as large-scalesponsorships.

In sum we raised Rs 88.96 lakh during the yearthrough fundraising events, donations fromfoundations, corporations and individuals, andreimbursements for offering advice and support tovarious organisations.

MARKETING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

“

INCOME STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 2009

INCOME

the investments are intended to be held on a long-term basis. However, if, in the opinion of the management, the diminution in value is likely to be permanent, the same is provided for.

(b) Premium paid and discount earned on investment of securities are apportioned over the term of such securities and adjusted in the interest income account.

(c) Income from mutual funds (growth schemes) are accounted for at the time of redemption. If such investments are shifted from one fund to another, the income realised thereon is accounted

for in proportion to the time the investment was held by the respective funds.

Retirement benefits to officers and staff in the form of superannuation and gratuity are funded by means of policies taken with the Life Insurance Corporation of India. Leave encashment is

accounted for on actual payment when leave is encashed since leave is not allowed to be accumulated beyond 60 days.

Notes

1. Differences between fund balances and respective investments are either lying in scheduled banks or awaiting withdrawal from the investments of the fund having surplus investments.

2. The recovery of advance of Rs 115 lakh given to IMCL shown under ‘Recoverables’ is intended to be referred to arbitration.

3. Grant amounts sanctioned awaiting disbursement is Rs 70,50,875.

4. Previous year’s figures have been regrouped where necessary.

CURRENT YEAR(Rs)

PREVIOUS YEAR(Rs)

TRANSFER FROM GRANTS FOR PROGRAMMES/EXPENSESDONATIONS & EVENTSINTEREST ON INVESTMENTSMEMBERSHIP & SUBSCRIPTIONREFUND OF UNUTILISED GRANTSMISCELLANEOUS INCOME

TOTALEXPENDITUREPROGRAMMESArts research and documentationArts collaboration/Extending arts practiceArts educationSpecial grantsNew performanceCuratorship grant expensesOther programme costs

NRTT Grant expensesSRTT Baseline Study Grant expensesInstitution development unit expensesArts education management expenses

Less: Programme expenditure met out of own funds

EXPENDITURE MET OUT OF OWN FUNDSPROGRAMMESOPERATING EXPENSESBOARD OF TRUSTEES & COMMITTEE MEETING EXPENSESFUNDRAISING, PROMOTIONAL & WORKSHOP EXPENSESFIXED ASSETS ACQUIRED

TOTALEXCESS OF INCOME/EXPENDITURE

ACCUMULATED SURPLUS: Opening balanceAdd: Excess of Income/Expenditure for the Year

Less: Amount transferred to corpus fundACCUMULATED SURPLUS: Closing balance TOTAL

INCOME APPROPRIATION STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 2009

7,290,3037,781,342

10,248,786374,205625,48752,282

26,372,405

4,009,8292,743,2891,949,7502,105,8002,906,750

181,16613,896,584

1,397,895314,757

15,609,2368,318,9337,290,303

8,318,93313,753,908

617,5393,679,915

214,02033,874,618(7,502,213)

15,979,326(7,502,213)8,477,1131,000,0007,477,113

13,196,7296,658,432

20,622,342135,940715,151152,945

41,481,540

4,931,4372,276,1933,062,200

869,2504,274,763

217,88260,364

15,692,089

604,375510,054

16,806,5183,609,789

13,196,729

3,609,78911,705,384

723,6593,029,279

382,07232,646,9128,834,627

8,144,6988,834,627

16,979,3261,000,000

15,979,326

CORPUS FUND

Opening balance 191,702,350

Add: Contribution/Transfer of Rs 1,000,000 during the year 2,784,714

SIR RATAN TATA TRUST – CORPUS FUND

Opening balance 6,130,417

Add: Interest income for the year 486,664

Less: Expenditure for the year 430,000

PERFORMING ARTS FUND

Opening balance 24,106,554

Add: Interest income for the year 1,271,851

Less: Expenditure for the year 2,906,750

NAVAJBAI RATAN TATA TRUST GRANT

Contribution for the year

Add: Interest income for the year 17,101

Less: Expenditure for the year 1,397,895

SIR RATAN TATA TRUST BASELINE STUDY GRANT

Contribution for the year 490,000

Less: Unutilised amount refunded 175,243

314,757

Less: Expenditure for the year 314,757

UNUTILISED GRANTS

Opening balance of SRTT Draw-Down Fund Grant Commitment 3,588,080

Less: Grant disbursement 2,240,901

CAPITAL ASSET FUND

ACCUMULATED SURPLUS

TOTAL

APPLICATION OF FUNDSFIXED ASSETS (AT COST)

INVESTMENTS (AT COST)

CURRENT ASSETS (NET)

Current assets 19,152,978

Less: Current liabilities 821,925

TOTAL

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT MARCH 31, 2009

PARTICULARS As at 31-03-2009(Rs)

As at 31-03-2008(Rs)

SOURCES OF FUNDS

191,702,350

6,130,417

24,106,554

3,588,080

2,775,644

15,979,326

244,282,371

2,775,644

221,836,287

19,670,440

244,282,371

194,487,064

6,187,081

22,471,655

619,206

1,347,179

2,980,184

7,477,113

235,569,482

2,980,184

214,258,245

18,331,053

235,569,482

Significant Accounting Policies and Notes to the Accounts

Accounting Policies

Expenditure and Income are recognised on accrual basis.

(a) Grants to the extent utilised for revenue purposes are taken as income.

(b) Grants disbursed are treated as expense and unutilised grants when refunded are treated as income.

(c) Assets acquired are treated as expenditure as these are met out of the current year’s income and the assets so acquired

are shown notionally as fixed assets at cost by contra credit to a Capital Asset Fund.

(d) Since the entire cost of fixed assets is met out of revenue, no further depreciation is charged.

(e) Assets disposed off or written off are deleted both from the gross fixed asset and the corresponding Fund Account.

Income from investment of dedicated grant funds is credited to the respective grant funds.

(a) Investments are shown at cost. The diminution in the value of investments, if any, is intended to be accounted for at the time of disposal, since in the normal course,

A.

1.

2.

3.4.

5.

B.

2,000,000

33 34

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Rashmi Poddar, Art History, AestheticsChairperson

Chiranjiv Singh, Civil ServiceFrancis Wacziarg, Commerce, Heritage

Conservation (From February 23, 2009)

Githa Hariharan, LiteratureIshaat Hussain, Finance and Industry

Jaithirth Rao, IndustryJitish Kallat, Visual Arts

Lalit Bhasin, LawPriya Paul, Industry (Till February 6, 2009)

Nandita Palchoudhuri, Arts and CraftsRavi Nedungadi, Finance and Industry

Romi Khosla, ArchitectureShyam Benegal, CinemaMV Subbiah, Industry

PATRONS

Amitav GhoshUstad Amjad Ali Khan

Ebrahim AlkaziLalgudi JayaramanMrinalini SarabhaiNaseeruddin Shah

Shekhar KapurSyed Haider Raza

Raja Syed Muzaffar Ali

STAFFAnmol VellaniExecutive Director

Arundhati GhoshDeputy Director

Tripti VyasHead – Programmes (Till June 30, 2008)

Sanjay IyerProgramme Executive

Shai HerediaProgramme Executive

Ashutosh Shyam PotdarProgramme Executive

Anuja GhosalkarProgramme Executive (From April 1, 2008)

Anish VictorProgramme Executive (From April 28, 2008)

Anindita SenguptaProgramme Executive (From May 6, 2008 to September 19, 2008)

Carol Faith Shatananda-RichardProgramme Executive (From October 7, 2008)

Anupama PrakashProject Officer – Arts Education (From March 23, 2009)

Natasha BaruahAssistant Programme Executive (Till June 5, 2008)

Sumana ChandrashekarAssistant Programme Executive

Menaka RodriguezManager – Individual Contribution Programme& Arts Services

Abhinaya’s production of Macbeth in Malayalam.

We acknowledge with gratitude the support of:

Navajbai Ratan Tata TrustSir Ratan Tata TrustThe Ford Foundation

We thank those who made contributions to our corpus:

A K Ravi NedungadiB P Poddar Charitable TrustJubilant Enpro Pvt. LtdNarotam Sekhsaria FoundationRoyal Orchid Hotels Ltd

We thank those who donated towards our grantprogrammes and projects:

Axis Bank FoundationInfosys FoundationKantic Das GuptaKPL International LtdNeemrana Hotels Pvt. Ltd

We thank those who supported our fundraising event,The Big Picture:

Abhishek PoddarAbstract Art Gallery Gallery Sumukha ITC Welcome Group of HotelsLalit BhasinA K Ravi NedungadiNeemrana Hotels Pvt. LtdSeagull Foundation for the Arts Sobha DevelopersUnited Spirits Ltd

We would also like to thank all the individuals,foundations and corporations who sponsoredfundraising events through the year as well asFriends of IFA for their support of our work.

VISUALS: Courtesy IFA grantees.

COVER: Tambu talkies—Maharashtra’s touringtent cinemas. Photograph by Amit Madheshiya.

DESIGN: Mishta Roy.

PRINTED AT: Manipal Press, Manipal.

Anjum HasanCommunications Editor (Till September 14,2008)

Geetha NavaleSenior Manager – Events (From June 18, 2008 to March 13, 2009)

Joyce GonsalvesManager – Events

Vindya Vausini SPublic Relations Officer

Vaishnavi Murthy K YGraphic Design and Website Manager (Till August 31, 2008)

T C JnanashekarManager – Management Services

C Suresh KumarCoordinator – Management Services

Pramila Bai K KFront Office Assistant

Thresa HelenOffice Assistant

From Shreyas Karle’s installation Bengaluru Watching, which he created while participating in

the multidisciplinary arts residency hosted by Bengaluru Artist Residency One in 2008.

India Foundation for the Arts

Apurva, Ground Floor, No. 2594th Cross, RMV, 2nd Stage, 2nd BlockBangalore - 560 094, India

Tele: +91 80 23414681/82Fax: +91 80 23414683E-mail: contactus@indiaifa.orgWebsite: www.indiaifa.org