AT A GLANCE
Deepak Verma
Area of Practice:
OVERVIEW
Deepak is an artist, animation/documentary film maker, educator and healer. His creative practice explore and experiments the intersection of several knowledge fields. Everyday encounters play a central role in inspiring and directing his research and inquiry. Ecology, animal and human relationships, commons, natural resources, social issues like othering, migration, urbanisation are some of the recurring themes found in his work.
Trained as an animation film maker, he has expanded his professional practice to documentary and experimental film making. He has worked for in the cultural industry and developmental sector, collaborating with farmers, tribal filmmakers/artists and folk musicians from the North Western and Central regions of India, to organise events, produce films, games and animations for the purpose of knowledge dissemination, capacity building and self-expression. His films have been shown in National and International Film Festivals.
As an educator he deeply believes in the transformative power of art practice and education. Using art making an opportunity to inquire in the nature of things, human behaviour and social experiences, he has conducted workshops in formal and informal setups, encouraging self-expression, collaborative and participatory making. Currently, in his classrooms he is exploring methods and approaches to learning, teaching and practicing art, which are non-linear, participatory, driven by exploration, intuition and chance, aspiring to create an non-judgmental space for all form of expression and ideas to have a dialogue.
His creative and teaching pedagogy is highly influenced and informed by the works and words of artist, film-makers, writers and philosophers like Lauri Anderson, Norman McLaren, Suzan Pitt, bell hooks, William Kentridge, Maya Deren, Paul Wells, Mani Kaul, Rita Irwin, Parkash Moorthy, Jan Svankmajor, Agnes Warda, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Mikhail Bakhtin, Peter Kubelka, timothy mortan and Buddhist lama and film maker – Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche to name a few.
EDUCATION
Masters – Public Pedagogy and Art Practices (2023-ongoing) Graduation – Animation Film Design, National Institute of Design, Paldi, Ahmedabad (2012)
WORK EXPERIENCE
a. Faculty, Head of Studies-MA-Animation, 2016 – present, Manipal Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru
b. Creative Professional – Full Time Employ, 2014-2016 , SPS Community Media, Samaj Pragati Sahayog, Dewas, MP
c. Freelance –2010-2014 Animation, Educator and Graphic Design
INTEREST AREAS
– Artistic Research, Process-Oriented Learning/Teaching Pedagogy and Curriculum development
– Early Animation and Experimental Film, Montage, Collective consciousness
– Oral History, Folk Music, Intangible Heritage, Sufi Poetry, Buddhism, Phenomenology and Object Oriented Ontology
– Ecology, Art Therapy, Mental Health, Healing and Wellness
CURRENT PRACTICE AT SRISHTI
MA- Animation, Co-ordination and Curriculum development Facilitator – for units across Foundation, Undergraduate and Master level – Situated Concept Art, Image Making as visual research – 2D drawn animation and Kinetics – Straight-Ahead, Experimental and Stop motion animation, – Visual scripting and Editing. – Environmental Exposure, Foundation Studies Mentor – MA and Undergraduate Thesis project
TEACHING PORTFOLIO
7th Semester Pre-Thesis Disciplinary Project – co-facilitated with Chaitanya Kirshnan , 2023
Interm- Foundation – co-facilitated with Gissy Michael and Udayraj PJ, 2023,
Kinetics and Composition – MA-Animation first yr , 2024
CREATIVE PRACTICE & OUTREACH
Malipura Bandh (English Title: Malipura Dam), Documentary, 2015
Duration 55mins, Language: Nimari and Hindi
Dir. Laxminarayan Devda and Deepak Verma
Synopsis: Water from the Malipura dam is shared among a group of users. The group must adhere to the user agreement. The agreement is violated by a few, leading to drinking water crisis for the cattle. Can the process of filming the help resolve this predicament?
Producer: SPS Community Media
Mai or Meri Bakri (English Title: Me and My Goat), Documentary, 2015
Duration 30mins, Language: Nimari and Hindi Dir. Laxminrayan Devda and Deepak Verma
Synopsis: Through portraying the story of three different goat rear’s, the film introduces us to the challenges, best practices, and benefits of goat rearing. The film will be used to promote goat rearing among the farmers as a support livelihood.
Producer: SPS Community Media
Waiting for a storm, Documentary, 2014
Duration: 46min, Language: Asamesse, Bengali and Hindi
Director: Prachi Mokashi, Co-Director: Deepak Verma
Synopsis: The film is shot on the chars of the river Brahmaputra in Assam. Chars are temporary islands formed by the accumulation of sand and silt. They appear and disappear seasonally due to erosion by the river.
Producer: Tata Institute of Social Sciences
trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO175b6u8mo
Sama-e-Mir, (English Title: Aura of Mirs), Documentary
Medium: Live action and Cut out Animation
Duration: 40mins, Language: Hindi and Seriaki
Direction: Deepak Verma
Synopsis: Mirs is a community of hereditary musicians and singers belonging to the sufiana tradition. The film is a journey into their world of music and attempts to represent the struggle of the community in keeping their tradition alive.
Produced: Ford Foundation and National Institute of Design
Animated Works
Memoirs from the prison, 2012, Duration: 58sec, Medium: Handrawn, Ink and Pen
Synopsis: A memoir of a Tibetan survivor escaped from a Chinese prison.
Commissioned project
Link: https://vimeo.com/48092820
“g”, 2009
Duration: 5mins, Medium: Claymation and object animation, Group Project
Role: Direction, Animation, Sound and Edit
Synopsis: It’s true that Newton is credited with the discovery of gravity but there could be another possibility. “g” is a short animation on the Law of Gravity and its discovery.
Producer: National Institute of Design (NID)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=215w-TLIBYg&feature=youtu.
Be
No Entry, 2008
Duration: 5 mins, Medium: Coloured Powder and Sand
Direction: Deepak Verma, Concept: Raji
Synopsis: No Entry take us into the dream and fantasy world of an auto rickshaw driver.
Producer: National Institute of Design (NID)
Link: https://vimeo.com/25705124
Workshops
– Art workshop, Centre for Research and Education for Social Transformation (CREST), Kozhikode, co-facilitators Gissy Michael and Udayraj PJ (2023)
– Animation and storytelling workshop with Wancho Animation Workshop, -Department of Anthropology, North Eastern University (2021) , co-facilitators Vijay Paul Punia and Tara Poornima
– Animation workshop conducted at Samaj Paragati Sahayog for the community (2019).
– Animation workshop as Assistant Faculty with media artist Prayas Abhinav for MA students at
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, CEPT University, Ahmedabad (2012)
– Animation workshop with government school children organized by Sharda Trust in Gangaba High
School, Ahmedabad (2012), co-facilitators Jinal Patel and Shyam Patel
– Animation workshop with Mir community Children, Bikaner, (2010), co-facilitators Jinal Patel
– Animation workshop for tribal artisans organized by IGNCA and Adivasi Art Trust (UK), (2009)
