Open Call: Propaganda Narratives Residency by Kaivalya Plays
Are you a creative technologist, digital artist, tech-art practitioner or creative coder interested in investigating hate speech, propaganda disguised as news, coordinated attacks on Indian minorities and misinformation in the digital age? Are you curious to see how you can take difficult topics and convert them into an artistic representation using technology?
If yes, we invite you to join the Propaganda Narratives Residency initiated by Kaivalya Plays which seeks tech artists to critically and materially explore data and technology to question its impact on individuals and society.
The in-person, residential residency will be conducted from Thursday 30 March – Monday 2 April 2023 in Greater NOIDA, Delhi NCR.
The Propaganda Narratives Residency is conceptualised as part of “Mining Hate”, a new performance project by Kaivalya Plays to create awareness of the practices used by anonymous hackers to target female journalists and minorities in India to spread misinformation, among other focus areas and is supported by the MediaFutures Program. MediaFutures is a three-year European innovation project that aims at contributing to high-quality media activities backed by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
Please Note: We welcome applications from all locations, nationalities, artistic experiences and social backgrounds. However, participants will have to cover their own transportation costs to and from our residential studio in Greater Noida, Delhi NCR. Additionally, selected artists must commit the entire 3-day duration for the residency. This is a physical, in-person residency and we cannot facilitate digital / online formats at the moment.
Residency Amenities, Stipend & Other Details
Selected artists will receive a detailed brief and calendar of activities ahead of the residency to encourage the creation of artistic output. Additionally, the artists will receive:
A professional fees of INR 18,000 / EUR 200 for the residency
A production & materials budget of INR 5,000 / EUR 50 per artist
Accommodation (shared), meals and other living amenities for the residency period
Access to working space at our residential studio in Greater Noida, Delhi NCR
Access to production hardware (lights, sound, cameras) and software, alongside an additional production budget
Opportunities for professional exchange with other selected artists
Training in spontaneous improvisation and interactive theatre methodologies
Mentorship with Varoon P. Anand and Gaurav Singh Nijjer on theatre-art-tech collaborations.
If you’re interested, please fill the application form at the link [bit.ly/propagandanarratives] by 11:59pm IST Sunday 19th March 2023. For any questions or clarifications, please write to us at contact@kaivalyaplays.org
For any questions or clarifications, please write to us at contact@kaivalyaplays.org.
About Kaivalya Plays
Since 2018, Kaivalya Plays has built upon a foundation of applied improvisation to create original work focused on mental health and performer safety, as well as pioneering technological innovation in the performing arts. In 2018, Kaivalya Plays received the Refunction Grant from the Goethe Institut to create Unravel, an improvised performance that argued for the mental health benefits of theatre games. This further evolved into a year-long workshop programme titled HEADSPACE, accessible to anyone that continues until the present day. Alongside this work, we became interested in investigating and creating resources for performer safety and in 2020 launched the Safety Research Study, a first of its kind research project which was funded a year later by the India Foundation for the Arts.
About The Mentors
Varoon P. Anand is the Artistic Director Kaivalya Plays, as well as an India correspondent for France 24 (Bogota bureau) and Radio France International. Varoon received the Refunction Grant (2018) to create Unravel, the Gender Bender Grant (2019) to create Aguebao, the IFA Research Grant (2021) to study performer safety in the arts. He also authored the play Footage (2022), which fictionalizes the details of an infamous sexual assault case of an Indian journalist against her editor-in-chief.
Gaurav Singh is a theatre-maker, arts manager and creative technologist who works with arts organisations around the world. Most recently he received the Alexander Von Humboldt fellowship to research 'Finding New Audiences: Accessibility & Engagement of Digital Theatre & Hybrid Performance' that measures the change in attitudes, behaviour, access and consumption of digital theatre and hybrid performances by arts audiences in Germany and in India. Previously, he also received the Chevening scholarship to complete an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, UK.
About Mining Hate
Mining Hate is an improvised interactive performance built with audience-generated content that seeks to create awareness of the practices used by anonymous hackers to target female journalists and minorities in India to spread misinformation. Read more about the project here: https://mediafutures.eu/projects/mining-hate/
About Mediafutures
MediaFutures is a three year European innovation project (supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme) which aims at contributing to high-quality media activities. MediaFutures is part of the S+T+ARTS ecosystem. You can read more about MediaFutures on their website here Mediafutures.eu
