BENGALURU:  Among other things, 2020 also marks the 25th anniversary of the internet as well as grant making at the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA). Call it serendipity that they discovered that the two coincide. In an unprecedented year as this one, when the Covid-19 pandemic and physical distancing has confined many to the worlds within the internet, IFA is marking the two anniversaries with a special initiative titled 25x25, which will support 25 projects.  

“It’s amazing that we complete 25 years of the internet in India in a year where we are also solely dependent on and imprisoned by the internet! So we have launched a grant initiative of supporting 25 projects with a sum of Rs 25,000 each, in a year when we IFA ourselves just completed 25 years of grantmaking. Artists are going through a tough time during this pandemic. We hope we receive many project ideas and proposals for this initiative,” says Arundhati Ghosh, executive director, IFA.   

The proposals for artistic explorations have to based on the theme of how the internet has impacted every aspect of our lives – emotional, social, economic, political and cultural. Individual arts and cultural practitioners working within or across any form of artistic practice – performing arts, visual, new media and digital arts, and literature –can apply. A single applicant could represent collaborative work between individual artists or from collectives and organisations. However, organisations are not eligible to apply.

The proposal can be made in any Indian language, including English, with a project description between 800 and 1,000 words with details such as motivation, process and outcome, timeline and budget, and a recent biodata with work samples. The proposals will then be evaluated by the IFA team, and shortlisted applicants will then have an online discussion with them. The announcement of the 25 grants will be made on Sept. 21, which is IFA’s birthday. All the projects will be presented online by IFA (either live or pre-recorded) in January/ February 2021. Last day for submissions is Sept. 9, 12pm IST.