Research Blogs & Archives

The Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation (SSAF) and Asia Art Archive (AAA) in India are pleased to announce the SSAF–AAA Research Grant for Archiving Histories of Art, Ideas, and Visual Culture 2026.

The grant aims to:

• Encourage the use of innovative methodologies to identify, document, research, and annotate visual and cultural print materials in regional languages across India.
• Open up research avenues into wider discursive fields, specific regional milieus, and the politics of image-making and their circulation.
• Help foreground creative modes of interpreting and engaging with materials that emerge from a recognition of their contextual significance, which in turn could result in the creation of an archive that transforms our existing understanding of the field.
• Support projects that consider both the long- and short-term outcomes of making such materials publicly available, and suggest possible strategies for the same.

GRANT FOCUS FOR 2026

We invite proposals that interrogate how visual and cultural print materials of different kinds—books, journals, magazines, broadsheets, posters, pamphlets, books, ephemera, etc.—contributed to, constituted, and were embedded in the cultural politics of a historical moment. Preference will be given to proposals that focus on materials in regional languages that are not reachable or are out of circulation, and are not easily available or located in public collections, with an intent to make these materials accessible to the best extent possible, and in meaningful and productive ways.

The areas of research may include, but need not be limited to:

• Social or political movements that extended to print culture, and the visual, literary, and political histories therein.
• The intellectual contribution of artists, activists, poets, writers, editors, designers, or publishers who played an important role in the evolution of print and visual cultural materials, and the debates involved.
• The movement of ideas about art, literature, poetry, aesthetics, and cultural practices within print culture, and as they occur through translation across languages and contexts.

Deadline for Applications: 31 July 2026

Duration of Grant: 1 September 2026–31 August 2027

Grant Amount: Up to INR 3,00,000

For more information, see here: https://aaa.org.hk/en/programmes/programmes/open-call-for-ssafaaa-research-grant-for-archiving-histories-of-art-ideas-and-visual-culture-2026

The Arts Research programme, recognises the value of different and flexible approaches to research in the arts. Under this programme, we implement projects that explore forms of knowing and thinking that are rooted in creative, scholarly and/ or cultural practice, and bring out diverse perspectives on histories and expressions of artistic practice in India to foster a deeper understanding of the arts through enquiry, interaction, reflection, and experimentation.

Duration of the Project
A minimum duration of one year and a maximum of 18 months.

Budget: Up to Rs 5,00,000/-

Deadline: 10 August 2026

For details, see here: https://indiaifa.org/whats-new/ar-rfp-may2026.html

The Arts Practice programme seeks to implement projects that expand artists’ current practices in new directions. These could question accepted conventions, push new frontiers in content, form, and medium, explore new modes of engagement with space, audience, and communities, foregrounding a spirit of experimentation.

Under the Arts Practice programme, we invite proposals for Productions that emerge from such a quest for creative explorations. The proposals may encompass various forms such as performance, sound, visual arts, digital creations, literature, or interdisciplinary work that combine these elements. We encourage Production proposals that extend beyond documentary or fictional film production and welcome proposals for theatre, dance, and music performances; installations; exhibitions; publications such as books or zines; moving-image presentations; games; digital artworks; and any other innovative forms yet to be conceived.

Duration of the project: Up to 18 months

Budget: Up to a maximum of Rs 5,00,000/-

Who can apply?

• Performing artists working in music, sound, text, dance, movement, theatre, puppetry, storytelling, magic, circus, and other performance arts
• Visual artists working across all forms, including film (documentary and fiction), animation, photography, installation, new media, Artificial Intelligence, robotics, interactive arts, gaming, painting, sculpture, printmaking, comic book, graphic narrative, artist book, and other visual arts
• Curators, especially those working outside of the gallery context
• Poets, novelists, and playwrights working with literary arts
• Practitioners engaged in interdisciplinary work

Call for proposal deadline: 5 June  2026

For details, please see here: https://indiaifa.org/whats-new/ap-rfp-pr-april2026.html

The Centre for Wildlife Studies is partnering with VM Salgaocar Corporation Pvt. Ltd. to support organizations working at the intersection of wildlife research, technology, and applied conservation through initiatives that generate solutions for biodiversity protection.

The Wild Incubator Research Program is designed to foster innovative projects that combine strong scientific foundations with meaningful on-ground impact, helping address critical conservation priorities across the Western Ghats, with a special focus on Goa.

Focus areas include:
1. Applied, solution-oriented research with demonstrable conservation outcomes
2. Endemic species conservation relevance in Western Ghats
3. Habitat protection
4. Wildlife monitoring
5. Species conservation
6. Human–wildlife coexistence
7. Community-based conservation initiatives

The program will support studies on endemic species of conservation significance in the Western Ghats, including but not limited to the Slender Loris, Mugger Crocodile, and King Cobra.

This program will support up to 3 conservation projects, with grants of ₹10,00,000 each.

Selected projects will receive:

1. Scientific mentorship and technical guidance from the CWS and its partners.
2. Support for project implementation and development.
3. Ongoing engagement to strengthen conservation outcomes and scalability.

Applications will undergo a transparent and merit-based evaluation process, including proposal screening, expert review, and jury evaluation. If your organization is working on innovative wildlife research with direct conservation relevance, we encourage you to apply and be part of this initiative.

For details, see here: https://cwsindia.org/wild-incubator-research/