The Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art invites applications for The Ila Dalmia FICA Research Grant 2017
Applications are now closed. Results will be announced by September 30, 2017.
Ila Dalmia FICA Research Grant, which is instituted by FICA with the support of art historian and curator Yashodhara Dalmia in the memory of her sister Ila Dalmia, aims to provide an annual grant to support research on Indian modern and contemporary art. The grant provides a sum of Rs. Two Lakhs and will focus on supporting independent one research project a year by students and scholars in India.
The application is open to individuals who are committed to researching in the field of visual arts with particular focus on Indian modern and contemporary art. This could include important first-hand research and archiving of art and art historical material, or a critical study of Indian art history, art criticism and practice, or an interdisciplinary analysis of the theory and practice in the visual arts, or studies in the related domains of curation, exhibitions, collection and the art economy.
Eligibility
The recipient of the Grant
Application details for submission: Please note that incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Ila Dalmia (1944-2003) was a passionate writer in Hindi and English prose and poetry and her interest extended to art, music and theatre. Her home in Delhi which she shared with her partner S.H. Vatsyayan, the legendary Hindi writer, popularly known as 'Ajneya' , was to become a hub for literary and artistic activities. In addition, the critical magazine for arts and literature 'Naya Pratik ' was started by her and Vatsyayan and was highly regarded for its new and experimental writing. Apart from several essays and articles, she had written a biographical novel 'Chat par Aparna' and a volume of her collected works titled 'Ila' was published shortly after her demise. She was also a generous patron of the arts and supported many young artists and writers. Ila died prematurely due to a critical illness but will be remembered by her friends and supporters as one of the most compassionate and inspirational cultural personalities of her time.
The research award which commemorates her generous support for the arts has been established with a donation by her sister, Yashodhara Dalmia, an art historian and independent curator based in New Delhi. She has written widely on art and her book Amrita Sher-Gil – A Life (Penguin/Viking, 2006) is a comprehensive account of the life and work of one of India’s first modern artists. She is the author of seminal books like The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives (2001), of Memory, Metaphor, Mutations: Contemporary Art of India and Pakistan with Salima Hashmi (2007) and Journeys: Four Generations of Indian Artists (2011). She curated the inaugural exhibition at the NGMA (Mumbai) in 1996 titled The Moderns, which featured 200 paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings by the Progressive Artists. Her other curated shows include Souza in London, Volte-Face: Souza’s Iconoclastic Vision, Indian (Sub)Way and Tyeb Mehta: Triumph of Vision.