CFPs: IFA-NCBS Creative and Scholarly Projects (India)

The purpose of the Archives and Museums (AMP) programme, launched in April 2019 is to energise institutions like museums and archives as platforms for dialogue and discourse. It will provide the institution, as well as scholars and practitioners, the opportunity to generate new, critical and creative approaches to engage the public, based on materials in selected archives and museums. The focus of the programme is on both institutions and individuals, encouraging them to become co-producers of knowledge and expertise, and prioritises processes as well as outcomes.

The Archives at NCBS is a public centre for the history of science in contemporary India. Over 350,000 processed objects across 50+ collections are in various forms, ranging from paper-based manuscripts to negatives to photographs, books, fine art, audio recordings, scientific equipment, letters, and field and lab notes.

Objectives

• To provide arts practitioners and researchers with an opportunity to generate new, critical and creative approaches for public engagement with archives and museum collections and
• To energize these spaces as platforms for dialogue and discourse.

Funding Information

• The project cost should not exceed ₹ 3,00,000/-
• You can request for an honorarium not exceeding 30% of the proposed budget for the entire duration of the project. The total amount is inclusive of the honorarium.
• Funds will cover only project-related costs and activities, and will not pay for infrastructure costs or equipment purchase.

Scope of Scholarly and Creative Projects

• For the Scholarly Project they encourage proposals that:
  • Deeply engage with at least 1-2 collections and develop ways to connect their histories and situate the history of science/ecology in a larger frame of societal changes in India.
  • Can propose and create outcomes in the form of a written paper, or an audio lecture (or both), and in a form that can be displayed on the websites of Archives at NCBS.
  • Apply with ideas and outcomes from which an excerpt (or the whole) can be kept in the Archives at NCBS for long-term preservation. For instance, a scholarly project could have a written paper, monograph/essays or audio lecture that can be preserved for long-term access.
• For the Creative Project they encourage proposals that:
  • Engage with one or more than one collection and curate an exhibition/installation that has a few of the archival objects embedded either directly in the space or in an interpretive way.
  • Ideate and create outcomes in the form of performances, installations, films, websites, and more, in both the physical and digital spaces.
  • In a creative project, even if it is a site-specific installation, they would appreciate it if NCBS could choose to keep an excerpt from the installation that serves as a characteristic of the whole exhibition.
• Budget for each kind of Project:  A maximum of ₹ 3 lakh which will cover both research and final outcomes over 15 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Only Indian nationals can apply. This does not include PIO (Persons of Indian Origin) and OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) Card Holders.
• Applicants must have PAN card and one of the following for proof of identity and citizenship – Indian Passport or Aadhar Card or Voter’s ID in India.
• Only individuals can apply. Organisations of any kind cannot apply (except for non-profit schools, who can only apply under the Arts-Integrated Projects in Schools category of the Arts Education programme).
• If there are collaborators in the projects, they must also be Indian nationals.
• Persons who have a past history of financial delinquency with IFA are not eligible.
• Persons who have failed to deposit at IFA agreed deliverables from an earlier IFA grant are not eligible.
• Persons who have previously received a letter from IFA disallowing them from applying in the future for any reason are not eligible.
• Persons currently working on a project implemented by IFA are not eligible to apply.
• More than one individual can apply if they have a joint account. If they do not, then only one among them should apply with the others as collaborators.

For more information, visit IFA.