After the successful and eventful first three years,Kolkata Centre for Creativity is announcing its KCC Art Fellowship 2023-2024 with the aim to uplift and develop the discourse of various disciplines of art for young and emerging practitioners. KCC is offering a fellowship program to support specific research projects proposed by selected young and mid-career practitioners for a year to develop, explore and present a discourse of their choice.
Purpose of the Fellowship
Extend the support to the practitioners to own, publish research papers and projects that will develop new artistic language and uplift the particular discourse of art. Develop a group of alumni who will reach to the excellence to mentor the program under the umbrella of KCC for future generation of artists.
Who can apply
- This fellowship is exclusive for Indian, Bangladesh and Nepal Nationals only.
- Young practitioners from age 25 years to 40 years from the fields of Visual Arts,Theatre, Music and Dance. Applicants born after 1st January 1982 and before 1st January 1997 are eligible to apply.
- Minimum experience of practice needed: 5 years
Application limits
Registered research scholar, full time employees, any fellowship holders from other sources, KCC Art Fellows of the immediate two previous sessions, current or previous employees of Kolkata Centre for Creativity or Emami Art will not be eligible to apply.
If selected, KCC Art Fellows are not eligible to take up any full time employment/ any fellowship from other sources during the period of this fellowship. In case of going against this clause, the fellowship will be cancelled immediately and the fellow will be responsible to return the already received fellowship money till that date.
One applicant is eligible to apply for any one discipline only.
Total Number of fellowships: 4
01 (One) of each from the fields of Visual art, Dance, Music and Theatre.
Grant Amount
INR 1,00,000 (Indian Rupees One Lakh Only) to each selected Fellow.
Break-up of the Grant Money
- INR 8000.00 per month for 12 months + INR 4000.00 for the final production/dissertation/exhibition
- The final production/ dissertation/ exhibition cost (of INR 4000.00) shall be reimbursed after the final presentation is done.
- The fellowship transaction will start only after the signing of fellowship agreement and required due process is fulfilled.
- The fellowship will be transferred on monthly basis to the account of the fellow, from AKST/KCC.
Process of selection
An internal committee will shortlist the applications. Shortlisted participants will face an online interview with an Independent Selection panel consisted of eminent practitioners and researchers of the respective fields.
- The participants will require at least an hour of uninterrupted internet connection that support clear video and audio connection to attend the interview. No other mode of interview will be arranged. Candidates are advised to work out place for their interview accordingly.
- The interview can happen in any Indian Language as per the applicant's convenience. The applicant has to bring their own interpreter with fluency in English, to ensure quality of interpretation.
Upon the merit of the written application and interview of the candidate, the selection panel will choose maximum 2 candidates in each discipline on the following weighted criteria, to join the orientation workshop. Theapplicants must receive a minimum score in each category to be considered for a grant:
Artistic Merit 50% (minimum score of 35 out of 50)
(a) The artistic quality of your work
(b) The artistic rationale for your project
(c) The potential artistic outcomes
Impact 30% (minimum score of 15 out of 30)
The potential of the project to:
(a) contribute to your artistic development
(b) advance artistic practice
Feasibility 20% (minimum score of 10 out of 20)
Your capacity and experience to undertake the fellowship. A reasonable budget, including the ability to provide adequate working conditions
The shortlisted candidates from the interview round, must join the orientation workshop where they will be given inputs to improve their research proposal (if needed) and will be further evaluated on the basis of their revised proposal incorporating the learnings from the workshop. Upon their submission of the revised proposal, the above mentioned criteria will again be applicable for the final evaluation and on that basis, 4 final fellows will be chosen.
The decision of the panel will be treated as final and cannot be questioned in any court of law.
Check list for Application
- Thoroughly filled up Application Form.
- Detailed bio of the applicant.
- Two letters of recommendation. (The applicant must submit two reference letters from accomplished artists working in their field of practice to be eligible to apply).
- Consent letter of the research guide. (Applicant must have a Guide to navigate their research and must be submitting a letter confirming the same from the Guide).
- Proof of age, academic qualification and experience in respective art field.
- A power point presentation/recording/ video link of artistic work of the applicant. (Applicants are requested to comprise all of such submissions in one document/ file/ folder and NOT attached in separate email).
- All the application for this year will be received online only. Kindly submit through email with all the required attachments with " KAF-(applicant's name)-(Discipline)" to projects@akst.org.in within submission deadline.
NB: No application or other attached submissions will be recognised that does not follow the mentioned format of application of KAF.
Responsibility of the fellow
- Spend the fellowship money only for the purpose of research that includes taking courses/ workshops/ travel/purchase and practice related to the research project.
- Present two interim work in progress report cum presentation in given dates for the selection panel.
- Present a final dissertation of 5000 - 7500 words as the end-product of the research project.
- or, Present a performance/ exhibition or presentation of any kind along with a dissertation of minimum 3000 words and the final product of the research project.
It is necessary to mention the name of KCC in the time of publication, presentation and any other work related to the topic which awardees have received the fellowship.We ask you to acknowledge that you received support from the Kolkata Centre for Creativity in any communications related to your work, your project(s), and/or your organization's activities for which you received our support.
In written communications, please pair our logo (that we will provide you) with the following written message:
I/We acknowledge the support of Kolkata Centre for Creativity
Fellows' written acknowledgement must use the name of Kolkata Centre for Creativity name in full (do not shorten it to KCC or Kolkata Centre).
Cancellation of Fellowship The fellowship may be terminated at any time during the tenure and the decision of KCC will be final.
Submission of unsatisfactory interim research report.
Deception of information about eligibility.
Acceptance of full time research work/ employment/ fellowship from other sources.
Misconduct
KCC Art Fellows are not eligible to take up any full time employment/ any fellowship from other sources during the period of this fellowship. In case of going against this clause, the fellowship will be cancelled immediately and the fellow will be responsible to return the already received fellowship money till that date.
Important Dates
- Announcement of the fellowship - 5th January 2023
- Last Date of Proposal Submission - 15th February 2023
- Announcement of short-listed candidate - 20th February 2023
- First Round Selection interview - 28th February - 3rd March 2023
- Announcement of short listed candidates - 7th March 2023
- Second Round - orientation Workshop - 14th - 16th March 2023
- Submission of updated research plan - 22nd March 2023
- Announcement of KCC Fellows - 27th March 2023
- Start Date of KCC Art Fellowship - 1st April 2023
- 1stInterim Report Submission - 30th July 2023
- 2ndinterim Report Submission - 26th November 2023
- Final Report Submission and conclusion of Fellowship - 30th - 31st March 2024
KCC reserves the right to make necessary changes in the Important Dates if unavoidable situation arises.
Apply HereAfter the successful and eventful first two years navigated through COVID Pandemic, Kolkata Centre for Creativity is announcing its KCC Art Fellowship 2022-2023 with the aim to uplift and develop the discourse of various disciplines of art for young and emerging practitioners. KCC is offering a fellowship program to support specific research projects proposed by selected young and mid-career practitioners for a year to develop, explore and present a discourse of their choice.
Download The FormPurpose of the Fellowship
- Extend the support to the practitioners to own, publish research papers and projects that will develop new artistic language and uplift the particular discourse of art.
- Develop a group of alumni who will reach to the excellence to mentor the program under the umbrella of KCC for future generation of artists.
Who can apply
- This fellowship is exclusive for Indian Nationals only.
- Young practitioners from age 25 years to 40 years from the fields of Visual Arts, Music, Theatre and Dance. Applicants born after 1st January 1982 and before 1st January 1997 are eligible to apply.
- Minimum experience of practice needed: 5 years
Application limits
- Registered research scholar, full time employees, any fellowship holders from other sources, KCC Art Fellows of the immediate two previous sessions, current or previous employees of Kolkata Centre for Creativity or Emami Art will not be eligible to apply.
- If selected, KCC Art Fellows are not eligible to take up any full time employment/ any fellowship from other sources during the period of this fellowship. In case of going against this clause, the fellowship will be cancelled immediately and the fellow will be responsible to return the already received fellowship money till that date.
- One applicant is eligible to apply for any one discipline only.
Total Number of fellowships
Total 4
01 (One) of each from the fields of Visual art, Dance, Music and Theatre.
Grant Amount
INR 1,00,000 (Indian Rupees One Lakh Only) to each selected Fellow.
Break-up of the Grant Money
- INR 8000.00 per month for 12 months + INR 4000.00 for the final production/dissertation/exhibition
- The final production/ dissertation/ exhibition cost (of INR 4000.00) shall be reimbursed after the final presentation is done.
- The fellowship transaction will start only after the signing of fellowship agreement and required due process is fulfilled.
- The fellowship will be transferred on monthly basis to the account of the fellow, from AKST/KCC.
Process of selection
- An internal committee will shortlist the applications.
- Shortlisted participants will face an online interview with an Independent Selection panel consisted of eminent practitioners and researchers of the respective fields.
- a) The participants will require at least an hour of uninterrupted internet connection that support clear video and audio connection to attend the interview. No other mode of interview will be arranged. Candidates are advised to work out place for their interview accordingly.
- b) The interview can happen in any Indian Language as per the applicant's convenience. The applicant has to bring their own interpreter with fluency in English, to ensure quality of interpretation.
- Upon the merit of the written application and interview of the candidate, the selection panel will choose maximum 2 candidates in each discipline on the following weighted criteria, to join the orientation workshop. Theapplicants must receive a minimum score in each category to be considered for a grant:
Artistic Merit50% (minimum score of 35 out of 50)
- The artistic quality of your work
- The artistic rationale for your project
- The potential artistic outcomes
Impact30% (minimum score of 15 out of 30)
The potential of the project to:
- contribute to your artistic development
- advance artistic practice
Feasibility 20% (minimum score of 10 out of 20)
- Your capacity and experience to undertake the fellowship
- A reasonable budget, including the ability to provide adequate working conditions
- 4. The shortlisted candidates from the interview round, must join the orientation workshop where they will be given inputs to improve their research proposal (if needed) and will be further evaluated on the basis of their revised proposal incorporating the learnings from the workshop. Upon their submission of the revised proposal, the above mentioned criteria will again be applicable for the final evaluation and on that basis, 4 final fellows will be chosen.
- 5. The decision of the panel will be treated as final and cannot be questioned in any court of law.
Check list for Application
- Thoroughly filled up Application Form.
- Detailed bio of the applicant.
- Two letters of recommendation. (The applicant must submit two reference letters from accomplished artists working in their field of practice to be eligible to apply).
- Consent letter of the research guide. (Applicant must have a Guide to navigate their research and must be submitting a letter confirming the same from the Guide).
- Proof of age, academic qualification and experience in respective art field.
- A power point presentation/recording/ video link of artistic work of the applicant. (Applicants are requested to comprise all of such submissions in one document/ file/ folder and NOT attached in separate email).
- All the application for this year will be received online only. Kindly submit through email with all the required attachments with " KAF-(applicant's name)-(Discipline)" to projects@akst.org.in within submission deadline.
- NB: No application or other attached submissions will be recognised that does not follow the mentioned format of application of KAF.
Responsibility of the fellow
- Spend the fellowship money only for the purpose of research that includes taking courses/ workshops/ travel/purchase and practice related to the research project.
- Present two interim work in progress report cum presentation in given dates for the selection panel.
- Present a final dissertation of 5000 - 7500 words as the end-product of the research project. or, Present a performance/ exhibition or presentation of any kind along with a dissertation of minimum 3000 words and the final product of the research project.
It is necessary to mention the name of KCC in the time of publication, presentation and any other work related to the topic which awardees have received the fellowship.We ask you to acknowledge that you received support from the Kolkata Centre for Creativity in any communications related to your work, your project(s), and/or your organization's activities for which you received our support.
In written communications, please pair our logo (that we will provide you) with the following written message:
I/We acknowledge the support of Kolkata Centre for Creativity
Fellows' written acknowledgement must use the name of Kolkata Centre for Creativity name in full (do not shorten it to KCC or Kolkata Centre).
Cancellation of Fellowship
The fellowship may be terminated at any time during the tenure and the decision of KCC will be final.
- Submission of unsatisfactory interim research report.
- Deception of information about eligibility.
- Acceptance of full time research work/ employment/ fellowship from other sources.
- Misconduct
- KCC Art Fellows are not eligible to take up any full time employment/ any fellowship from other sources during the period of this fellowship. In case of going against this clause, the fellowship will be cancelled immediately and the fellow will be responsible to return the already received fellowship money till that date.
Important Dates
- Announcement of the fellowship - 4thDecember 2021
- Last Date of Proposal Submission - 31st January 2022
- Announcement of short-listed candidate - 7th February 2022
- First Round Selection interview - 10th - 13thFebruary 2022
- Announcement of short listed candidates - 21st February 2022
- Second Round - orientation Workshop - 25th -27th February 2022
- Submission of updated research plan - 13thMarch 2022
- Announcement of KCC Fellows - 20th March 2022
- Start Date of KCC Art Fellowship - 1st April 2022
- 1stInterim Report Submission - 30th July 2022
- 2ndinterim Report Submission - 26th November 2022
- Final Report Submission and conclusion of Fellowship - 30th - 31st March 2023
KCC reserves the right to make necessary changes in the Important Dates if unavoidable situation arises.
The selected fellows for KCC Art Fellowship 2022-2023 are:
Sangram Mukhopadhyay- Dance
Sangram Mukhopadhyay is an emerging dancer based out of Kolkata, who uses the movement vocabulary of Waacking to explore experiences of gender and contemporary life. He is currently involved with schools in making dance works and trains with several collectives.
Oishorrjyo- Theatre
Oishorjyo is a writer, performer and transmedia arts worker, based in Goa, their work navigates intersections of gender, digitalism and power structures, often locating the physical body at the centre of documentary narratives. They've worked with and written for multiple publications and advocate looseness through a queer arts collective they founded, Loose Women Collective.
Meghana Sardar Kenjale- Music
The tradition of Dhrupad is a pristine musical experience of spiritual knowledge and its performance is an act of devotion or prayer inducing a feeling of peace and contemplation. Meghana is a disciple of this ancient stream of music, following the Dagar Parampara, learning vocal music under the prestigious guidance of Guru Pandit Uday Bhawalkar since 2005. She has performed at the very prestigious 'Franz Liszt Conservatory of Music' in Europe and for the Indian Embassy of The Netherlands in The Hague and the University of Twente.
Sayantan Samanta- Visual Arts
Sayantan Samanta completed his bachelors from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata 2015 and masters from Kala Bhavana, VisvaBharti 2017. He has been working on Global agrarian issues. His prime intention is to create a visual dialogue that advocates the need for socio-ecological sustainability and how the amalgamation of land degradation, rapid urbanization and climate challenges affects food security.
After the successful and eventful first year navigated through COVID Pandemic, Kolkata Centre for Creativity is announcing its KCC Art Fellowship 2021-2022 with the aim to uplift and develop the discourse of various disciplines of art for young and emerging practitioners. KCC is offering a fellowship program to support specific research projects proposed by selected youngand mid-career practitioners for a year to develop, explore and present a discourse of their choice.
Download The FormPurpose of the Fellowship
- Extend the support to the practitioners to own, publish research papers and projects that will develop new artistic language and uplift the particular discourse of art.
- Develop a group of alumni who will reach to the excellence to mentor the program under the umbrella of KCC for future generation of artists.
Who can apply
- This fellowship is exclusive for Indian Nationals only.
- Young practitioners from age 25 years to 40 years from the fields of Visual Arts, Music, Theatre and Dance. Applicants born after 1st January 1981 and before 1st January 1996 are eligible to apply.
- Minimum experience of practice needed: 5 years
Application limits
- Registered research scholar, full time employees, any fellowship holders from other sources, KCC Art Fellows of the immediate two previous sessions, employees of Kolkata Centre for Creativity or Emami Art will not be eligible to apply.
- If selected, KCC Art Fellows are not eligible to take up any full time employment/ any fellowship from other sources during the period of this fellowship. In case of going against this clause, the fellowship will be cancelled immediately and the fellow will be responsible to return the already received fellowship money till that date.
- One applicant is eligible to apply for any one discipline only.
Total Number of fellowships
Total 4
01 (One) of each from the fields of Visual art, Dance, Music and Theatre.
Grant Amount
- INR 8000.00 per month for 12 months + INR 4000.00 for the final production/dissertation/exhibition
- The final production/ dissertation/ exhibition will be reimbursed after the final presentation is done.
- The fellowship transaction will start only after the signing of fellowship agreement and required due process is fulfilled.
- The fellowship will be transferred on monthly basis to the account of the fellow, from AKST/KCC.
Process of selection
- An internal committee will shortlist the applications.
- Shortlisted participants will face an online interview with an Independent Selection panel consisted of eminent practitioners and researchers of the respective fields.
- The participants will require at least an hour of uninterrupted internet connection that support clear video and audio connection to attend the interview. No other mode of interview will be arranged. Candidates are advised to work out place for their interview accordingly.
- The interview can happen in any Indian Language as per the applicant's convenience. The applicant has to bring their own interpreter with fluency in English, to ensure quality of interpretation.
- Upon the merit of the written application and interview of the candidate, the selection panel will choose one fellow in each discipline on the following weighted criteria. Theapplicants must receive a minimum score in each category to be considered for a grant:
Artistic Merit50% (minimum score of 35 out of 50)- The artistic quality of your work
- The artistic rationale for your project
- The potential artistic outcomes
The potential of the project to:- contribute to your artistic development
- advance artistic practice
- Your capacity and experience to undertake the fellowship
- A reasonable budget, including the ability to provide adequate working conditions
- The decision of the panel will be treated as final and cannot be questioned in any court of law.
Check list for Application
- Thoroughly filled up Application Form.
- Detailed bio of the applicant.
- Two letters of recommendation. (The applicant must submit two reference letters from accomplished artists working in their field of practice to be eligible to apply).
- Consent letter of the research guide. (Applicant must have a Guide to navigate their research and must be submitting a letter confirming the same from the Guide).
- Proof of age, academic qualification and experience in respective art field.
- A power point presentation/ recording/ video link of artistic work of the applicant. (Applicants are requested to comprise all of such submissions in one document/ file/ folder and NOT attached in separate email).
- All the application for this year will be received online only. Kindly submit through email with all the required attachments with " KAF-(applicant's name)-(Discipline)" to projects@akst.org.in within submission deadline.
- NB: No application or other attached submissions will be recognised that does not follow the mentioned format of application of KAF.
Responsibility of the fellow
- Spend the fellowship money only for the purpose of research that includes taking courses/ workshops/ travel/purchase and practice related to the research project.
- To be present in all mentoring/ capacity building sessions arranged by AKST/KCC.
- Present two interim work in progress report cum presentation in given dates for the selection panel.
- Present a final dissertation of 5000 - 7500 words as the end-product of the research project.
or,
Present a performance/ exhibition or presentation of any kind along with a dissertation of minimum 3000 words and the final product of the research project.
It is necessary to mention the name of KCC in the time of publication, presentation and any other work related to the topic which awardees have received the fellowship.We ask you to acknowledge that you received support from the Kolkata Centre for Creativity in any communications related to your work, your project(s), and/or your organization's activities for which you received our support.
In written communications, please pair our logo (that we will provide you) with the following written message:
I/We acknowledge the support of Kolkata Centre for Creativity
Fellows' written acknowledgement must use the name of Kolkata Centre for Creativity name in full (do not shorten it to KCC or Kolkata Centre).
Cancellation of Fellowship
The fellowship may be terminated at any time during the tenure and the decision of KCC will be final.
- Submission of unsatisfactory interim research report.
- Deception of information about eligibility.
- Acceptance of full time research work/ employment/ fellowship from other sources.
- Misconduct
- KCC Art Fellows are not eligible to take up any full time employment/ any fellowship from other sources during the period of this fellowship. In case of going against this clause, the fellowship will be cancelled immediately and the fellow will be responsible to return the already received fellowship money till that date.
Important Dates
| Announcement of the fellowship | 7th January 2021 |
| Last Date of Proposal Submission | 7th March 2021 |
| Announcement of short-listed candidate | 10th March 2021 |
| Selection interview | 18th - 21st March 2021 |
| Announcement of KCC Art Fellows | 23rd March 2021 |
| Start Date of KCC Art Fellowship | 1st April 2021 |
| 1st Interim Report Submission | 27th August 2021 |
| 2nd Interim Report Submission | 7th January 2022 |
| Final Report Submission and conclusion of Fellowship | 26th & 27th March 2022 |
KCC reserves the right to make necessary changes in the Important Dates if unavoidable situation arises.
Selected fellows
KCC Art Fellowship 2021-2022
Aneri Seth - Dance
Kanchan Avchare - Theatre
Suman Chandra - Visual Art
Aneri Sheth
Dance
Aneri Sheth is a fine artist by education and trained in the classical dance style, MohiniAttam under Guru Mandakini Trivedi for the past several years at Nateshvari Dance Gurukul. She states that training in Indian Classical dance has opened her awareness and sensitivity to her own cultural roots, its allied arts and understanding dance not only as a movement aesthetic but an amalgamation of various arts in one.
Aneri has received KCC Art Fellowship 2021-2022 for her project 'JOURNEY OF THE GODDESS IN THE KERALA PERFORMING ARTS' that aims to witness the journey and the influence of the 'Goddess' archetype through the various regional forms like Mudiyettu, Theyyam, Padayani, Kooiyattam, Kathakali and MohiniAttam.
Kanchan Avchare
Theatre
KanchanAvchare is a theatre practitioner fromJabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, currently practicing her craft based at Kannur, Kerala. She explains theatre as rather an unlearning process after which new expressions emerge through improvisation. She believes to express the ideas and thoughts by using the process of exploring the impulses and the reactions of the body rather than arriving to those cerebrally. She was an INLAKS theatre grant awardee in 2019 for her project'theatre exercises from traditional performing arts of Kerala'.
Kanchan has received KCC Art Fellowship 2021 -2022 in Theatre for 'The Migration Project' that investigates about how to reach to a site-specific performance using different theatre methods and training that one acquires.
Suman Chandra
Visual Art
Suman Chandra is a freelance visual artist based at Shantiniketan who graduated from Kala Bhavana, VisvaBharati in 2017. Since past few years Suman has been a dedicated soul exploring and revolving his practice around the landscape and land politics of coal mine areas. Through his practice and search over the years his works reflect his processed understanding of these complex landscapes through his artistic creations.
Suman has received KCC Art Fellowship 2021-2022 for his research project 'Coal-Mine areas' landscape and behaviour of material and people' that will look deep into how the transformation of a natural landscape into an artificial landscape affects the lives of the local residents physically, psychologically, culturally, environmentally and last but not least economically.
Stepping into the second year's journey Kolkata Centre for Creativity is bringing in a unique initiative to uplift and develop the discourse of various disciplines of art for young and emerging practitioners. KCC is offering a fellowship program to support specific research projects proposed by selected young practitioners for a year to develop, explore and present a discourse of their choice.
Purpose of the Fellowship
- Extend the support to the practitioners of new generation as one of the most resourceful support centres in arts' field.
- Develop a group of practitioners mentored by KCC in the field of art progressing towards making our KCC fraternity in the world of art.
- Taking a step ahead as an art centre contributing to support, own and publish research papers and projects that will develop new artistic language.
- Develop a group of alumni who will reach to the excellence to mentor the program under the umbrella of KCC for future generation of artists.
- Publish a research oriented journal with the results of the research projects to uplift the particular discourse of art.
KCC is pleased to announce the fellows for KCC Art Fellowship 2020-2021, as per the decision of the selection jury panel, based on the interviews held on 10, 11, and 12 April 2020.
The selected fellows for KCC Art Fellowship 2020-2021 are:
Sumedha Bhattacharya
Sumedha Bhattacharya is an inter-disciplinary dance artist whose practice experiments with camera, tradition and gender. As a trained Kathak dancer and an Erasmus dance scholar, she has travelled, lived together and collaborated with a range of forms, communities and dance-theatre makers across local, national and international locations. Through Screen-dance film-making as a methodology, her practice brings a fresh viewership of Dance mediated with camera.
She received the KCC fellowship for her project "Duet with Camera".
Pavithra Chari
Pavithra Chari is a graduate of Psychology from Lady Shri Ram College for women. She is a student of Hindustani Classical music and is currently a disciple of Smt. Shubha Mudgal. A U.S Dept of State alumna, she is a recipient of the Sahitya Kala Parishad scholarship and Shri Prakash Chand Surana scholarship for hindustani classical music. She is one half of the contemporary - classical outfit Shadow and Light as a vocalist, composer and lyricist with three albums of original music released worldwide. Apart from music, she is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer and a certified expressive arts based therapist.
Pavithra received the KCC fellowship for her project, "Understanding song text: a study of khayal composition in Hindustani Music"
Asif Imran
Asif Imran is a visual artist from Lalgola (Murshidabad, WB) who is pursuing MFA from Rabindra Bharati University. His interest lies with photography of public places and colonial architecture. His creations deal with different socio-economic issues faced by common people in everyday life.
He received the KCC fellowship for his multidisciplinary project "MAHANAGAR (THE CITY)"
Dhannjay Kumar
Dhannjay Kumar is a Visual Artist from Bihar, working with multidisciplinary approached based work in Delhi, Bihar and around. Coming from a farmer's family, Dhannjay brings his legacy of identity in his multi-sensory creations.
He received the KCC fellowship for his project "The Behaviour of Material and Form".
KAF 2020-21 Panellists
Abhilash Ningappa
Dancer, choreographer and teacher Abhilash Ningappa is the founder and the artistic director of Play Practice Artists' Residency in Bangalore, India. A post graduate from SEAD (Salzburg) and a post masters studies fellow of APASS(Belgium) Abhilash is acknowledged interbationally for his pedagogic work in embodying critical situation. His Residency has been doing exciting work in research development and training in the field of dance and movement since its inception.
Gargi Bharadwaj
Gargi Bharadwaj is a theatre practitioner and performance studies scholar. She is an economics graduate from Delhi University and alumnus of National School of Drama, Delhi with a specialization in theatre techniques and design (2007).
Sameer Dublay
Sameer Dublay isa Professional vocalist in Hindustani Classical Music tradition.
He has learnt basics from Pandit Rambhau Mate from the year 1978 to 1988 and went on to take advance training in performance theory and technique with Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki, one of the great masters of Agra Gharana in 1989.
After year 2000 till 2011 learnt with Dr. Ashok Da. Ranade, the great Musician and musicologist.
He is the Top Ranker at Graduation and Post-graduation in Politics from Pune University and he also went on to become a Top Ranker in Masters in Music as well. Sameer is a Qualified University Lecturer in Music after passing National Eligibility Test, NET, Conducted by University Grants Commission, New Delhi. He is currently pursuing Ph. D in Music from IGNOU New Delhi.
Amreswar Galla
Dr. Amareswar Galla is the Chief Curator of Amaravathi Heritage Town (birthplace of Mahayana Buddhism) India and Founding Executive Director of the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum. He was the former Vice President of the International Executive Council of ICOM, Paris and a former president of ICOM Asia Pacific Executive Board. He is also an active ICOMOS member who was directly engaged in drafting the Nara Recommendation of the World Heritage Convention in 1994.
He founded the inclusive museum movement two decades ago as a strategic initiative with Common Ground Publishing and chaired the drafting and adoption of the ICOM Cultural Diversity Charter in Shanghai in 2010. An alumnus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, he was formerly full professor of museum Studies, University of Queensland and prior to that, full professor of Sustainable Heritage Development, the Australian National University. He is an accredited mentor/facilitator of UNESCO for the 2003 Intangible Heritage Convention. His extensive publication record ranges from World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders, Cambridge University Press & UNESCO Publishing, 2012 (French and Korean translations 2013) to Heritage Curricula and Cultural Diversity, Prime Minister & Cabinet, Australia, 1993.
External Panelist
Dr. Debarati Chakraborty
Debaroti Chakraborty is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Performing Arts, Presidency University, India. As a researcher- artist and performance thinker she focuses on making cross-cultural and inter-cultural performances based on lived experiences, narratives and oral history. Her doctoral work broadly studies narratives of women in India and Latin America through a comparative perspective in the context of 'borders. She has been touring, researching and making performances in collaboration with artist-researchers and communities in India, in the U.S, in U.S-Canada border and in the U.S-Mexico border.
Debaroti has been an instructor at the 'Bodies at the Borders' collaborative video-conferencing course between Cornell University, U.S.A and Jadavpur University. She has taught at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels in the Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University. She is the creative director of Chaepani, a Kolkata based performing arts collective. She also writes as a performance critic with the Telegraph
KAF 2020-21 KCC Mentors
Practice as Research by Sharmistha Saha
Sharmistha Saha is an Assistant Professor with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. She is skilled in Performing Arts, Curating, Presentations, Performance Philosophy, and Music. Sharmistha is a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) focused in Theatre and Performance Studies, History and Criticism from FreieUniversitat Berlin. She runs the theatre company QissaKothi and Sharmistha is its artistic director.
Her session with fellows covered overall orientation about practice as research as part of the research methodologies training.
VA with Sanchayan Ghosh
Sanchayan Ghosh is an artist and pedagogue. He received his MFA (1997) and BFA (1995) from Kala Bhavan, VisvaBharati University, Santiniketan, where he currently works as an associate professor in the Department of Painting. Through his continuous exploration in site-specific interactive art practice, Ghosh has over the years been exploring workshop-based collective community dialogues and worked closely with different theater forms from all over India. He has been awarded the Charles Wallace Fellowship, UK in 2004 and worked on Merge Down and Resist with three generations of Asian migrants in Bristol. He has also participated in the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and explored the community sound project Incomplete Circles, Invisible Voices in 2012. In 2017, he has participated in the education project Under the Mango Tree in Documenta14 and conducted a Circle Walk.
He has been associated with different pedagogy projects with NSD, FICA and Five Million Incidents of Max Mueller Bhavana, Kolkata. Further he co-curated the second session of Under the Mango Tree in Santiniketan in 2020 and is one of the curators of the 2018 Kochi-Muziris Students' Biennale, Kochi. Ghosh's collaborative sound project Short Wave's Transit Tales commissioned by Documenta under its radio project was transmitted in eight countries of four continents. This piece has been recently selected as one of the 80 works from the world to be shown in three exhibitions in Basel, Switzerland and Berlin and Weimar, Germany. His selected solo exhibitions include Reversed Perspective: 3 Conjunctures, 2014 and Sisyphus Effect, Experimenter, Kolkata, 2010.
Mentorship class about installation and presentation. He gave one to one sessions toVisual Art Fellows Asif Imran and Dhananjay Kumar with respective inputs about manifestation of their research.
Music with Vidya Rao
Vidya Rao is a well-known singer of thumri-dadra and ghazal. She trained under the legendary singer, the late Naina Devi and continued her study under Shanti Hiranand and the late Girija Devi. She has performed at national and international forums to discerning and applauding audiences. She has lectured, conducted workshops and held lecture-demonstrations. She has composed and sung for the theatre, film and dance.
Her repertoire ranges from thumri-dadra and ghazal to the songs of medieval Sufi and Bhakti poets, verses from Hindu and Buddhist texts and Islamic styles of music. She has also researched and written extensively on music and the performing arts. Her book, Heart to Heart: Remembering Nainaji, is a memoir of life with her guru Naina Devi. Vidya Rao was the recipient of a fellowship from the Ford Foundation, and a senior fellowship from the Ministry of Culture (Government of India). She has been Visiting Professor at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Study, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Nantes, France, and Artist in Residence at Smith College. She has been the recipient of several awards and honours.
Gave input from her expertise knowledge about gender role Thumri and Ghazal, Vidya has given specific input to Pavithra Chari's respective research project.
Dance with Maya Krishna Rao
Maya Krishna Rao is a theatre artist and teacher. Her shows range from dance theatre to cross-media collaborations to comedy. She is her own performer, writer and director. Some of her celebrated performances include, 'Khol Do', 'The Job', 'A Deeper Fried Jam' and 'Heads Are Meant ForWalking Into', 'Ravanama'. 'Walk' was created in response to the tragic incident of gang rape and death of Jyoti Singh in 2012. Her latest piece, 'Loose Woman', explores the extent to which a woman can stretch and redefine herself.Her shows have travelled all over the world and in India and have been received with critical acclaim. Maya has taught acting for many years the National School of Drama, Delhi. Till recently, she was a professor at Shiv Nadar University where she designed the post-graduate diploma programme - TEST - Theatre for Education and Social Transformation - the first of its kind in any institute of higher education in India.She continues to conduct workshops in the use of arts as a teaching-learning methodology.
As a pioneer of including camera as a character in Performing and live art space, Maya gave her expertise knowledge in specific to relationship of camera with performing body in live performance space, that is also directly connected with Sumedha Bhattacharya's respective research project.
