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COVID-19 has brought the entire world to a standstill. Museums, venues, theatres and restaurants have all closed, leaving many artists without a primary source of income. However, the Earth doesn’t stop spinning, no matter what happens. In such times, grants and funding from many organizations that give patronage to the arts are instrumental for artists to continue their trajectories in their focused practices.
We have put together a list of grants and funding opportunities that could support artists during this period of lockdown in the country.
If you are a visual artist looking to channel your creativity in the midst of the coronavirus but are worried about crippling finances, then the Experimenter Labs’ Generator might offer you some relief. Experimenter Gallery Kolkata has recently announced its open call for its one-of-a-kind co-operative art production fund that’s open to all visual artists, irrespective of their medium of practice. The fund will present several production bursaries of different amounts through the year towards the completion of artists’ projects.
“We have been introspecting on our role and our responsibilities during this time of uncertainty. With a large part of the world currently under restricted, quarantined environments, we feel it is necessary to reach out to our audiences in ways that challenge geographic limitations and familiar templates,” Priyanka and Prateek Raja, Co-directors of the gallery wrote to their art world friends in an email last week.
Khoj is a not-for-profit, contemporary arts organisation based in Delhi. It provides physical, financial and intellectual support to artists by way of its various programmes. It aims to connect creative practitioners and inspire interdisciplinary collaboration.
During these uncertain times, Khoj International Artists’ Association is dedicated to identifying and responding to the needs of the primary communities it serves. The Khoj Support Grant 2020 is a bi-monthly, rolling grant starting June 2020 and is intended to help early-stage artists stay engaged with their practice and support themselves.
The Serendipity Arts Foundation Grants 2020-21
The Serendipity Arts Foundation is an arts and culture development foundation that motivates and supports the arts. It works to make the arts more accessible to the wider public by providing them with a source of contemporary art and culture. You can read about the top visual arts projects at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2019 covered by Art Fervour here.
The Serendipity Arts Foundation provides annual grants to encourage research and innovation. The Serendipity Arts Foundations has announced four grants for performing and visual artists –
Performing Arts Grant – Theatre
The Performing Arts Grant – Theatre will go towards the creation of a new body of work in theatre.
The Visual Arts Research Grant aims to promote exploration in South Asian contemporary art.
Performing Arts Research Grant
The Performing Arts Research Grants aims to promote inquiry in South Asian performing arts practices such as dance, music and theatre.
Serendipity Arts Foundation in collaboration with Recontres d’Arles has announced the Serendipity Arles Grant for lens-based practitioners in Photography, Video and New Media.
The Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation has extended its support to the arts in many fields. Residencies are offered to artists and curators as well as to dancers and choreographers, both in India and overseas. Support is extended to young artists and curators for the opportunity to exhibit.
The Inlaks Take-Off Grants enable young people to realize their potential by providing financial support for constructive projects which foster the growth of individual talent. Although not an “arts” project per se, the Inlaks Take-off Grants have often supported art projects in the past on History of Photography, Theatre, Theatre Calligraphy and Graphics and Art Restoration.
India Foundation for the Arts Programmes
India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is an independent, not-for-profit grantmaking organisation to support practice, research and education in the arts in India. They fund projects under five key programmes –
The Current Arts Research Programme encourages scholars, researchers and practitioners to pursue research in the history and expression of artistic practices in India.
The Arts Practice Programme seeks to nurture a culture where the arts practice is constantly evolving by experimentation and critical dialogue.
‘Kali Kalisu’ (Learn and Teach in Kannada) is IFA’s Arts Education Programme that supports arts-based training for teachers for government schools in Karnataka and beyond.
The main goal of the Archives and Museum Programme is to energise museums and archives as platforms for dialogue and discourse. It will offer three kinds of grants in association with the chosen institutions –
i. Scholarly Grants
ii. Creative Grants and
iii. Technical Assistance Grants
Project 560 is a Bangalore-based project committed to a continuous, long-term engagement with the city by way of its three grants –
i. Grants for Neighbourhood Engagements
ii. Grants for Curated Artistic Engagements and
iii. Grants for Arts Projects (Research/Practice)
IFA believes that art and culture is essential for a more equitable and just world and is recognised as a pioneer in art funding and support.
The Innovate Grant accepts and encourages submissions from applicants 18 years or older, from around the world within the following two categories: Art and Photography. They believe that new ideas come from sparks of inspiration and for that, access to small and mighty bursts of financial support can go a long way. Their grant cycles are open four times a year (spring, summer, fall and winter). The grant covers a wide range of projects including those in Painting, Printmaking, Drawing, Sculpture, Film / Video, Mixed Media, Installation, New Media.
As Toni Morrison put it, this is precisely the time when artists go to work. That is how civilisations heal. Home is where a lot of things begin, including inspiration. Browse our Quarantine Art Guide for bursts of creative inspiration that will enable you to not just sustain your art, but enrich it too!
