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The success of IFA’s last event in Mumbai – an interaction with Jerry Pinto, Gieve Patel and Abhay Sardesai on the poetry and legacy of the Clearing House poets’ collective – has spurred us on in our efforts to showcase our grants in the city. This month, we invite you for an audio-visual presentation and discussion on the path-breaking work done by M V Bhaskar and Justin McCarthy.

M V Bhaskar, was given an IFA grant to photograph, scan and digitally trace the 16^th century murals of the Chengam Venugopala Parthasarthy temple in Tamil Nadu, parts of which are badly damaged. Through his novel method of conservation, Bhaskar plans to give these ancient images new life by using them in animation and for kalamkari work.

Justin McCarthy received an IFA grant to study the Kshetrayya padam. Padams are a form of 17^th century love poetry in the Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam traditions. The padams composed by Telugu poet Kshetrayya were made at a time when devadasis performed Bharatanatyam. Through a film on a Bharatanatyam dancer’s exploration of the Kshetrayya padam, Justin seeks to study its transformation post independence, its association with the devadasi system and the socio-cultural factors that influenced its present day representation in music and dance.

Part of Justin’s project involves the study of temple spaces from the Nayak period where the devdasis performed, which is where his work coincides with that of Bhaskar who is studying murals from the same period. Through their presentations, Bhaskar and Justin will describe as well as identify historical and cultural links between their projects.