Puppeteers Anurupa Roy and Ranjana Pandey discuss the landscape of Indian puppetry with Sumana Chandrashekhar, Programme Lead at IFA. They explore their IFA-supported projects from 2014 to 2015 that aimed to develop puppetry scholarship in India through workshops with traditional and contemporary puppet masters. The episode traces their personal journey in the realm of puppetry, reflecting on the need for strengthening puppetry pedagogy and the complexities involved in archiving a performing tradition.

UNIMA: Union Internationale de la Marionnette - International Puppetry Association’ (1929)—Paul Jeanne

UNIMA India Foundation Course for Puppeteers

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Grants to Anurupa Roy and Ranjana Pandey:

https://theifaarchive.org/user/single_grant/504

https://theifaarchive.org/user/single_grant/274

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Architect turned playwright Makarand Sathe engages with Menaka Rodriguez, Executive Director at IFA. They explore his research journey with two IFA-supported projects between 2008 and 2012. The first project involved crafting a Marathi manuscript exploring the socio-political history of modern Marathi theatre spanning over 150 years. The second grant facilitated the translation of his work into English, expanding its reach to a wider audience. The episode explores Makarand’s research process, his engagement with diverse archives, and the unique treatment of his book and research.

‘A Socio-Political History Of Marathi Theatre: Thirty Nights’ (2015)—Makarand Sathe, Oxford University Press

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Grants to Makarand Sathe: https://theifaarchive.org/user/single_grant/7

https://theifaarchive.org/user/single_grant/196

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Singer-songwriter and researcher based in Kolkata, Moushumi Bhowmik in conversation with Arundhati Ghosh, recounts her ‘listening’ journey over three IFA-supported projects between 2003 and 2014. Two grants made to her were towards research, documentation and dissemination of biraha (songs of separation) in the folk music of Bengal, and one for research into the life and work of Dutch ethnomusicologist Arnold Bake. Her research can be accessed on www.thetravellingarchive.org

Texts mentioned in the episode:

‘Women in Concert: An Anthology of Bengali Muslim Women’s Writings, 1904-1938’—Edited by Shaheen Akhtar and Moushumi Bhowmik

‘Muktir Kotha’—Directed by Tareque Masud and Katherine Masud

‘Kura Pakhir Shunne Ura’ —Directed by Muhammad Quayum

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Grants to Moushumi: https://theifaarchive.org/user/single_grant/543, https://theifaarchive.org/user/single_grant/357, https://theifaarchive.org/user/single_grant/323

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Cover Image courtesy: Jannatul Mawa

Rustom Bharucha, writer, director and dramaturg based in Kolkata talks to Arundhati Ghosh about the IFA-supported projects with Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts and Research between 2005 and 2011 that documented the various performance traditions of the epic Ramayana. The work, which tapped into archives of different kinds, culminated into a book, edited by Rustom and Paula Richman, which locates the mythological text in the modern, contemporary landscape of today.

Texts mentioned in the episode:

‘Performing the Ramayana Tradition: Enactments, Interpretations, and Arguments’ (2021)—Edited by Paula Richman and Rustom Bharucha

‘Pebet’—Heisnam Kanhailal

‘The Awakening of Japan’ (1904)—Okakura Kakuzō

‘We are One’—Okakura Kakuzō

‘Finding the Raga’ (2021)—Amit Chaudhuri

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Grant to Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts and Research: https://theifaarchive.org/user/single_grant/314

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In 1995, IFA began its work as a new foundation providing support to projects that push new frontiers in knowledge production and tell stories that challenge dominant narratives and speak truth to power. Twenty years on, the IFA Archive was conceptualised as a place that would hold together the materials produced from these numerous projects. What does it take to build an archive of this kind? Arundhati Ghosh (Executive Director, IFA, till May 31, 2023), Menaka Rodriguez (Executive Director, IFA, from June 01, 2023) and Biswadeep Chakraborty (Archivist, IFA) take us through the genesis and journey of the Archive.

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