… Where Lines Meet | KCC Art Laboratory 6.0
The rod puppetry is an important cultural expression of Bengal. Talpatar Sipai is a tradition of storytelling which is proposed to interact with a codified system of Dance namely, Bharatanatyam along with a theater artist to try and create a contemporary story which could be using the movement vocabulary from Rod Puppetry as well as Bharatanatyam, and presentation techniques of theatre.
View Program Details
Methodology
- Artists (one each) from Bharatanatyam, and theatre would be selected to collaborate with an already selected Rod-puppeteer for the laboratory.
- Process of Ideation could be in the form of a workshop where the Artists meet and discuss various possibilities of a seed idea and development of the script.
- The final stage of rehearsals and performance may be of 10 days at KCC space.
The Laboratory Offers
- Stipend of INR 15000.00 to each artist.
- Accommodation and food during the final stage of rehearsal and show for maximum 11 days, as per the norms of the organization.
- Technical requirements (light and sound) for the final performance at KCC space by the end of the laboratory.
- Rehearsal and performance space for the final stage of rehearsal and performance at KCC.
- Review and mention of the project at Articulate and KCC website
Areas of exploration
- Could the limb movements of puppets be incorporated into Bharatanatyam movement vocabulary?
- Could the Rod- Puppetry incorporate the geometric body postures used in Bharatanatyam?
- Could theatrical story-telling be a way to connect this artistic exchange into becoming a complete performance?
Details of the laboratory
- One project will be awarded for this laboratory program.
- The performance must be created for physical space in a space generic manner, i.e. flexible enough to be performed in any space available.
- The length of the piece must be at least 30 minutes and max 60 minutes. All the selected performance/ showcase of the project must be executed as per timelines given in 'Important Dates' at the end of this page.
- This laboratory is offered for Indian Nationales. (Employees, ex-employees, KCC Art Fellows and lab-awardees for past and current years of 2020-2021 & 2021-2022 are not eligible for application.)
- The projects must be applied in Bengali, Hindi or in English.
Things to submit
- A concept note addressing the area(s) of exploration according to the expertise of the applicants (300 words max)
- A statement of intent towards collaboration with the other two discipline – mainly addressing why and how you intend to collaborate (200 words max)
- A paragraph stating the applicant's intention to apply for this laboratory (200 words)
- Bio on the applicant (100 words max)
NB: All four points must be submitted accumulated in one single PDF file with the followings mentioned on the front page of the application
Name of the applicant
KCC Art Laboratory 6.0 (WLM)
Single point contact: Phone –
Single point contact: Email –Application
The name of the PDF must be Application_WLM_Name of the Applicant
eg. If the name of the applicant is ABC the name of the PDF would be 'Application_WLM_ABC' - Supporting documents for the applicants in support of their experience. (Letter from Guru/ Director confirming that the applicant fulfils the experience criteria, Photographs, Brochures, media coverage – consolidated in one folder or ZIP file)
The PDF and the ZIP/Folder must be sent to submission.kcc@akst.org.in as attachment to an application email with Application_WLM_Applicant's discipline – as subject of the email. eg. If the applicant is a practitioner of Bharatnatyam the subject of the application email would be 'Application_WLM_Bharatnatyam'.
Application procedure:
- Applicants will be shortlisted according to the merit of their application and interview by an independent panel of dignitaries.
- Shortlisted candidates will have to appear in two-day long workshop – where the final grantees will be selected according to the merit of their aptitude for collaborating with each other.
Timeline
Deadline for application - 02.11.2021
Primary Interview - 09.11.2021 – 10.11.2021
Announcement of shortlisted candidates - 14.11.2021
Workshop dates for shortlisted candidates – 19.11.2021 – 20.11.2021
Announcement of selected grantees - 24.11.2021
Important Dates January (Exact dates – TBD)
Selection Interview - 14.11.2021
Orientation Workshop - 20.11.2021
Final Laboratory - 28.12.2021 - 9.01.2022
MadhyamaHalder
She completed M.A in Bharatanatyam from RabindraBharati University, in 2015. In 2016, the Eastern Zonal Cultural Center, Kolkata (EZCC) certified her as 'Grade A' Bharatantyam dancer. She has been regularly performing Bharatanatyam recitals—solo, duo and group—since 2013. Of note, she has performed 'ImrovisedBharatantyam', 'Padam', and 'Thilana' at the Guru GovindanKutty Dance Festival (West Bengal Dance Group Federation 2017), and 'Alaripu, Varnam, and Thilana' at Stars of tomorrow (West Bengal Dance Group Federation, in 2018).
As a stage actor she has acted in theatre in the following plays: • Shironam by KheyaliDastidar, Charbak (2017); • EktiUttaradhunikSamajik Pala by Joyraj Bhattacharya, Theatre Formation Probortok (2018); • Dakghor – In search of Amal by ArkoMukhopadhyay(2019); • Hidimba by Titas Dutta, Samuho (2019). Side by side I got a chance to work with an NGO who works on Waterbodies. And suddenly I driven into the reservation of waterbodies and I saw there was many waterbodies around me in my childhood but, now they are dying. The industrialists are killing every waterbodies around me. Also I saw every city people becoming so robotic in their life. As a dance practitioner, I am keenly interested in exploring body movement, visual and sound. One such project is City-folk that draws from the common movements of people living in the city and the city-specific sounds. So far, I have created three dance films on the same theme.
Sourami Mukherjee
Sourami Mukherjee, a senior disciple of Smt. Sujatha Ramalingam, is a dedicated young Bharatanatyam soloist from Howrah. An M.Sc in Chemistry, she has also completed Post Graduation in Bharatanatyam from Tamil University. She has also learnt kathak. She was conferred 'SangeetBivakar' in recognition of her merit in kathaknritya by BangiyaSangeetParishad. She has performed in various national and international dance festivals. She attended various workshops conducted by eminent artists. She has conducted a few dance workshops. She is a part of a renowned theatre group named 'SAMUHO '. She is currently learning 'Kudiyattam', an ancient art form from Kerala. She is also learning 'SadirAttam' at RangaMandira. She is also undergoing training in Contemporary dance. Sourami loves to experiment and is always full of ideas to dance to new texts and concepts without the limitations of language or religion. She has composed her own repertoire which includes compositions from Bengali baul song and Sufi compositions in addition to the traditional pieces.
Madan Mohan Dutta
Madan Mohan Dutta is a 'TaalPatarSepoy' puppeteer based in Guskara, Burdwan, West Bengal. Inspired by his father DolGabinda Dutta's practice of making the traditional puppets made out of Palm leaf, Madan Mahan created varieties of puppet, deriving from contemporary affairs and discourses. His creation of women soldiers and tiger puppets are interesting addition to the repertoire of palm leaf puppets. All his life, he has represented this Bengal-tradition to many national and regional platforms. Madan Mohan has shared his knowledge of the traditional puppet in interviews by different media platforms namely Zee Bangla, Doordarshan, TV9 etc. He has been awarded State Award for Hostosilpo for his outstanding contribution in arts by West bengal Government.
Panelist
Sameer Dublay
Sameer Dublayis a Professional vocalist in Hindustani Classical Music tradition. He has learnt basics from PanditRambhau Mate from the year 1978 to 1988 and went on to take advance training in performance theory and technique with PanditJitendraAbhisheki, one of the great masters of Agra Gharana in 1989. He is Founder Member of "The Indian Voice Association", an organization of professional voice users, working in the field of Voice and vocal Hygiene established in 1995. He has received 'Indian Musicology Award' for the year 2019, given by Indian Musicological society. Prof. Dublay is Co-founder of the "Society for Performing Entrepreneurs and Conscious Training towards understanding Music, popularly known as" SPECTRUM", As the name suggests, this organization is engaged in consciously imparting basic musical understanding to listeners of classical music, through a well-designed Music Acquaintance Program. An Interactive CD ROM set titled GAAN JIDNYASA is published by Spectrum which teaches the basics of Indian Classical Music.
Vandana Alase Hazra
Vandana Alase Hazra is a senior Bharatanatyam dancer based in Kolkata. Presently, guest faculty at the RabindraBharati University, she has worked at Dance Departments of Nalanda Dance Research Centre, Mumbai, Krishnamurti Foundation, Varanasi, BanasthaliVidyapith, Rajasthan. She travels regularly visiting cultural organisations to showcase her work.
Love, Tragedy, Eternity
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
"La DivinaComedia" or "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri is considered as one of the treasures of the world literature coming from Italy's remarkable cultural heritage. The epic has been translated and appreciated by people from all culture across the world. Written between 1308 to 1320 this Italian epic still mesmerizes us with its grandeur, philosophical negotiation and art of literature. It also opens up world about eternal curiosities of human beings about mystery of love, life and death and afterlife as a representation of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church in the 14th century. Through time, the epic has inspired some of the greatest artists, of various Countries and different periods, such as Sandro Botticelli, William Blake, Gustave Doré and Salvatore Dalí. On the commemoration of 700 years of the epic, Kolkata Centre for Creativity announces a laboratory named "LOVE, TRAGEDY, ETERNITY" for musicians supported by Consulate General of Italy in Kolkata, dedicated to "La DivinaComedia". This laboratory aims to inspire, explore and create "music and movement" performances responding to the selected portions of the epic looking through the lenses of artistic sensitivity of today's time. The chosen excerpt (please refer to line 73 on page 49 to line 142 on page 51) is taken from the "Inferno" part of the epic, where Dante meets with Paolo and Francesca from Rimini (A summary of the story is mentioned in English at the following webpage.https://www.italiantranslation-teaching.com/culture/italian-love-stories-paolo-and-francescaA Bengali translation of the same excerpt by ShyamalGanguly is available here in PDF. (To be added) Kolkata Centre for Creativity and Consulate General of Italy in Kolkata invite artistic proposals intending a confluence between of musicians (of all genre) and contemporary dances/ movement artists inspired by the chosen tragedy from the epic.
CONCEPT NOTE
The story of Francesca and Paolo poses many questions to our modern sensitivity. Coming out of the fables of Christian morality their love story challenges the sanctified idea of institution of marriage and the transactional relationship that it promotes on the contrary of spontaneous connection between two hearts. The forbidden love story on one hand, falls in the category of epic love stories like Lyla Majnu or Romeo Juliet – on the other does it also promotes the supreme power of love that may concur all differences across cultures, religions or castes?
At the same time today's artists can look at it as a hetero normative love story that does not have representation of love of all kind across all gender and sexuality. Even the appearance of Giovanni Malatesta, husband of Francesca in the text can be criticised in the light of inclusion and body positivity. Or even can it become the story of Frank and Paolo or Francesca and Paulina? May be in today's time the epic tragedy for the protagonists does not have to exclude and interfere but can be an inclusive counter narrative! May be with the new writing after 700 years finally the tragedy would get its chance of some comic relief!
This project is an invitation to dancers, movement artists and musicians to respond to the story from their modern artistic sensitivity to re-interpret, alter, and challenge the age old epic with today's creativity.
Kolkata Centre for Creativity and Consulate General of Italy in Kolkata invite artistic proposals intending a confluence between of musicians (of all genre) and contemporary dances/ movement artists inspired by the chosen tragedy from the epic.
What will be offered to the selected project -
To be paid to Collaborator 1
Music
Creation, Rehearsal and production cost, Artist fees,
Technical cost of the light sound etc.
INR 70,000.00
To be paid to Collaborator 2
Movement & Contemporary Dance
Creation, Rehearsal and production cost, Artist fees,
Technical cost of the light sound etc.
INR 70,000.00
Towards documentation (written and video) of final showcase (allotted only in the last stage of the project realisation)
A video documentation to be submitted of the final showcase INR 30,000.00
* The Grant will be allotted in parts throughout the project. Detail will be given to the selected project
Application Guideline and Criteria
- The projects must consider the chosen excerpt of "La Divina Comedia" as its primary inspiration and departure point.
- Applications are open to a confluence group of:
a) practitioners of Music and
b) practitioners of movement & contemporary dance.
Only the applicant groups that must be able to establish the collaboration, would be considered.
- One project will be awarded for this laboratory program.
- The performance can be pre-recorded or live in a physical space or a combination of these. (Subject to decide seeing the COVID situation while announcement).
- The length of the piece must be at least 30 minutes and max 60 minutes.
- The work must be a new work proposal and cannot be a film or a video/ audio recording of an existing performance by the group.
- We encourage projects that are multidisciplinary and collaborative.
- All the selected performance/ showcase of the project must be executed as per timelines given in 'Important Dates' at the end of this page.
- This laboratory is offered for Indian Nationals only. (KCC Art Fellows for the current year of 2020-2021 are not eligible for application.) Applicants residing in West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura will be given preference.
- The projects must be applied in Bengali, Hindi or in English.
- Existing fellows/ grantees of KCC of year 2020-2021 are not eligible to apply for this grant.
Things to Submit
- Working title of the project.
- A concept notes of the project. The synopsis of narrative can be included in this section.
- A note on the ways that the particular excerpt of "La Divina Comedia" inspires or is related with the project.
- A note on intention and possibilities of the collaboration between music, movement and contemporary dance practitioners collaborating in this project.
- Bio and detailed role of the collaborating artists/groups and the team of collaborators.
- A broad time-frame for the project.
- An approximate breaking up of budget expenditure (in detail).
- Everything must be submitted in one PDF to submission.kcc@akst.org.in as per timelines given in 'Important Dates' on Page 3.
NB: Please mention the following at the first page of your application.
Name of the main collaborators –
Name of the groups –
Working title of the project –
Single point contact: Phone –
Single point contact: Email –
Name of the other collaborators/team members –
Important Dates:
Deadline for submission - February 14th 2021, 17.00 IST
Announcement of selected application - February 28th 2021, 17.00 IST
Time frame for execution of the projects
First presentation on the progress of project on/by- June 25th 2021
Second presentation on the progress of project on/by- 25th September 2021
Final presentation at KCC- November 2021
Contact
Email – submission.kcc@akst.org.in
Write Application_LTE_(working title of your project) in the subject of the email
Without the subject we shall not be able to identify your proposal, please pay attention)
Phone - +91 – 9051038394 (Tuesday – Sunday, 11.00 am to 7.00 pm)
Bengali PDF Link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_2wDvSwJLZUTr6YFLjtLfGZXpXQGFMNJ/view?usp=sharing
With the pandemic altering the world, our sense of space shifted drastically. Spaces of public gathering closed limiting us to the home space – that resulted in the exploration of known, smaller spaces as performance spaces. The physical space that we understood as performance space, got squeezed. While the small window in our telecommunication device connects us with a new space abundance named the virtual/ cyberspace – our physical enclosure stays restricted between the frames of our devices.
On the other hand, there are conversations questioning gender, caste, religion-based ideologies and the ideas of human rights and freedom of expression.
Recognising these phenomena Kolkata Centre for Creativity invites project applications for its upcoming multidisciplinary laboratory "Crucible" (the name does not intend to draw any association with the famous Arthur Miller play "The Crucible"). This laboratory will facilitate 2 performance projects that are negotiating the questions around these phenomena.
KCC invites project applications for the laboratory program named "Crucible".
Crucible Laboratory Judges' details
Amy Russell
Amy Russell has taught the Lecoq Pedagogy internationally since her apprenticeship with M. Lecoq in 1997. In 2001, she created a Lecoq-based MFA at Naropa University, (U.S.A.), which she chaired until 2010. She co-founded the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA), and is the founder and director of Embodied Poetics, a new school of physical theatre in London. A U.K.C.P. accredited Gestalt psychotherapist and group facilitator, she holds an MFA in theatre and an MA in Gestalt Therapy Theory. Amy is currently writing a doctoral thesis at the University of Tasmania: "Devising Lecoq'sGeodramatic Territories as Critical Spatial Practice".
Ananya Chatterjee
Ananya Chatterjee works as choreographer, dancer and thinker brings together contemporary dance, social justice, choreography and the philosophy of occupy dance. She is the artistic director of Ananya Dance theatre and co-founder of the Shawngram Institute for Performance and Social Justice for people power dances and transformation proceeds through concert performances and participated performances in non-traditional spaces where audiences become co-creators of movement explorations. She is the recipient of various awards and fellowships Chatterjee is currently creating Dusta, a dance theatre work exploring borders, boundaries, hope and belonging with the support of an NPN creation fund NTP production award under two parts MA NCC residency. Her new book Heat and Alterity in Contemporary Dance South-South Choreographies is currently in process of publication with Palgrave Macmillan. Ananya is professor of dance at University of Minnesota where she teaches courses in dance studies, social justice, choreography and contemporary dance.
Sujay Saple
Sujay Saple is Artistic Director of Shapeshift, an experimental performance company based in India. An Art Think South-Asia fellow for 2015-16, Sujay has choreographed/directed ten original works, which have performed at various festivals and vital venues around India and received rave reviews. He has been a freelance director, designer, performer and workshop conductor for over seventeen years, and on over fifty performance projects. His focus with Shapeshift has been to galvanize, within the existing cultural bouquet, a vibrant supportive space for movement work and experimental performance – fields which are relatively young and struggling in India.
RESULT
Selected projects:
Mindmapping the Pandemic: Spatializing Memory and More by Sanskriti Chattopadhyay
MagurirBaak by Maitri Das
KCC will offer the selected projects:
Application Guideline and Criteria:
Things to submit:
Please mention the following at the first page of your application.
Important Dates:
Deadline for submission
Announcement of the selected application
The time frame for execution of the projects
Presentation at KCC
Contact:
OPEN CALL TO THE YOUNG CURATOR FOR "CREATION IN RESPONSE".
Kolkata Centre for Creativity is inviting proposals from Young Curators to create their own artistic responses with three more artists of own choice referring to the exhibition "THE MIRROR SEES BEST IN THE DARK" by BOSE KRISHNAMACHARI happening now at the centre.
Note on the show:THE MIRROR SEES BEST IN THE DARK
How fast can sound travel through graphite, copper, steel, or stone? Very fast, and with considerable resonance, in the hands of an ingenious, versatile and socially engaged artist like Krishnamachari Bose, who relays through his work a powerful commitment to effecting transformation in the political and cultural contexts of the historical moment. Bose's practice has been vibrantly hybrid, spanning art-making as well as institution-building. As an artist, he has engaged with diverse media, ranging from painting to the installation and the social sculpture. If certain chromatic preoccupations have travelled with him over a period of three decades, so have certain emphases on informal pedagogy, the library, and the space of mutual intellectual and affective nourishment between artists and audiences. During the early 1990s, an entire generation of Bombay artists, then students or recent graduates, benefited from the suitcases full of books that Bose would bring back from his foreign travels. Through a project like LaVA, a giant reading room dedicated to the visual arts and art history, Bose reached out to draw potential viewers into a space of education that was welcoming rather than alienating. Through the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Bose realised his vision for a festival of the arts that would meld the local, national and international art scenes into a new, dynamic and unpredictable constellation.
In his current body of work, 'The Mirror Sees Best in the Dark', Bose returns triumphantly to art-making. In these marvelous experiments with form and material – in which he shuttles among word, image and assemblage, between an austere minimalism and an opulent maximalism – he confronts the increasingly extreme discourses that shape our consciousness. In Bose's handling, these discourses crystallise around keywords that then become slogans, deployed in the witch hunts and debased debates that characterise a polarised society. Bose explores the thresholds at which potentially unifying concepts like nationalism can become unhealthy obsessions, dividing the world into Us and Them, injecting toxicity into collective life. What we see in Bose's recent works is a portrait of what we have done to ourselves today, at the level of the individual, the community, the religious group, the nation-state. Sometimes, this portrait is manifestly clear, as in the works where he uses a traditional Kerala metal mirror. Sometimes, as when he uses Braille in his graphite works, we may have to decode the portrait. The seriousness of the artist's intent communicates itself through playfulness as well as sombre irony. The sighted can sometimes miss the obvious truth, while the visually challenged can read it with precision. The times are dark, and Bose's mirror is designed to see – and reveal – better in such conditions.
Ranjit Hoskote
Criteria and procedure:
- The proposals must contain Mirrors as a concept - literal, abstract or global, in response to the exhibition 'THE MIRROR SEES BEST IN THE DARK'. The proposal also needs to come up with the name of three artists who are going to be the part of the creation.
- Oneexciting proposal will be selected to work in KCC for 5 days to create their artistic response according to their proposals as well as the invitations that the space and the exhibition proposes. On 6th day the creations will be presented before a group of audience.
- The mentor will receive a nominal commission money (INR 5000/-) for the creation.
- The three artists will receive a nominal commission money (INR 2500/- per artist) for the creation.
- The exhibition space is available for prior visit while writing the proposal. Post selection the space will be available for 6 days (mentioned below) to respond, create work in the exhibition space.
- Touching exhibits is not an option and is strictly prohibited. The creation must respect the already created physical and ideological space proposed by Bose himself in the exhibition.
- The ownership of the creation will be of the creators but the mention of it as a commission by KCC is mandatory for any further showcase of the same piece or its developed body in future.
- The decision of the selection body of KCC is final in the matter of selection.
- Mirror as art material and fixing materials will be provided from KCC.
- An assisting person for only glass cutting will be provided from our end.
Deadlines
| 1 | Announcement | 30th January 2020 |
| 2 | Last date to submit proposal | 20th February 2020 |
| 3 | Announcement of selected groups | 22nd February 2020 |
| 4 | Dates of working in the exhibition | 29th February, 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th , 7th March 2020 |
| 5 | Presentation on | 8th March 2020 |
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