Regaining a lost world

Bengaluru is all set to rediscover itself. India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) initiative Project 560 is giving an opportunity to artists to creatively engage themselves with the City’s ‘found spaces’ that are forgotten and lost due to urbanisation. The artists can recreate and bring these spaces to life once again with much creativity.

This project was launched in 2014 and is their second edition. The Project 560 is called so keeping in mind the postal code of the City. Last year, this project was open to only artists based in Bengaluru. In the second edition, IFA is involving artists from the entire country. “It’s open to not just Bengaluru artists but for artists, dancers, magicians, writers, photographers, filmmakers, painters, sculptors who can create extraordinary work with their creativity at found spaces or the public spaces across Bengaluru; a count of ten projects will be shortlisted and each one will be awarded Rs 1.5 lakh. The shortlisted people will have a period of three months from September to November 2015, to develop their artistic works in their chosen spaces, which will be showcased in the Project 560 festival in December in Bengaluru,” explains Samarpita Samaddar, Public Relations Officer of IFA.

Besides this project, IFA has been providing grants to many artists, scholars and researchers and one of them is Anitha Balachandran who has received appreciation for her series of short animation films based on the life and music of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. The project explores early sound recording technology and the artist's life within that techno-social moment in history.

“I am an experimental animator and enjoy working on non-fiction. I make short animated documentary films or 'animadocs'. Visually some of the techniques I use include stop-motion and drawing with sand and charcoal. IFA is funding my current project which is a biographical collection of animated works on the classical singer Abdul Karim Khan. I am using archival recordings, and creating animation using drawings, photographs, footage and miniature paintings,” says Anitha.

According to her, the grant has encouraged her to go ahead confidently with her works, she adds, “It has been a very enriching experience to interact with other grantees, the IFA Program Officer for Arts Practices and the other members of the IFA team.”

“Grants such as this allow emerging artists and researchers the time and the means to pursue and develop their practices. Getting a grant for a specific proposal also builds focus and gives you tangible creative goals to work towards,” Anitha adds.