Arthink Southasia (2010 - 2014) by Khoj International Artists' Association

2010-2014

A program in arts management and cultural policy dedicated to founding a cadre of cultural managers committed to the advancement of capacity building in South Asia

ARThinkSouthAsia Director: Pooja Sood Coordinators: Parul Maurya Deepa Kumar Meike Lettau

Contents – ARThinkSouthAsia - An Introduction

Fellowship in Arts Management

Short Courses

Our supporters: Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan and British Council

ATSA Study Modules and Workshops

The ATSA Team

ATSA Faculty

ATSA Fellows - Overview

ATSA Fellows 2010-2011

ATSA Fellows 2011-2012

ATSA Fellows 2012-2013

ATSA Fellows 2013-2014

ATSA Fellows 2014 - 2015

Secondments of ATSA Fellows

ATSA Impact Study and Evaluations by Sue Hoyle

Case Study 1: Archana Prasad 2010/11 Fellow

Case Study 2: Renu Oberoi 2010/11 Fellow

Case Study 3: Rashmi Dhanwani 2011/12 Fellow

Case Study 4: Abantee Dutta 2011/12 Fellow

Maps by Stamen Design via Creative Commons license CC-BY 3.0 Photographs by Aditya Palsule for Kahani Designworks, Madhuja Mukherjee, Yashwant Parashar and Nafis Ahmed and are copyright their respective authors.

ARThinkSouthAsia – An introduction Initiated in 2010 with the support of the Goethe Institut in India, ARThinkSouthAsia is a programme dedicated to founding a cadre of cultural managers committed to the advancement of capacity building in South Asia. We believe that by supporting exceptional individuals to make a step-change in their skills and career potential, we can bring substantial benefit to the cultural field as a whole. A cadre of cultural professionals emerging from the cultural field is crucial for the development of a robust cultural infrastructure in the region. Given that a large part of cultural production occurs within the not-for-profit sector driven by committed and passionate individuals who are looking to develop strategies for sustainability; that the rise of private funded initiatives in the cultural sector such as festivals, theatres, galleries, auction houses, art funds, private museums and cultural foundations require trained art personnel and last but not least, that public sector institutions need revitalization and professionalization – it is clear that the need for innovative cultural management within the cultural sector as well as conversations around the role of cultural policy, the creative industries, and their role in our burgeoning cities has become not just important, but necessary in south Asia today.

ARThinkSouthAsia 2010-2014

ATSA’s training programs seek to empower arts managers in the planning and development of sustainable art/cultural organizations. Art professionals learn critical management aspects such as strategic planning, fundraising, marketing, digital media, human resources, and financial planning keeping cultural values as core to the programme. International tutors bring a global perspective to the programme by sharing best international practices in arts management. Our programme is aimed at the arts and culture sector in India and the wider South Asian region thereby developing an incredible network of peers in the region. ATSA is co-funded by the British Council, India and Goethe Institut in India since 2013.

Fellowship in Arts Management – The ATSA Fellowship is our flagship programme. It is designed to develop the skills, knowledge, networks, and experience of potential leaders in the cultural sector of South Asia. 15 fellows are selected each year for a 2-week residential course in Delhi. Tutored by highly experienced international and Indian faculty, the fellows develop a concrete business plan for their project or organisation.

“A long needed intervention which is going to build an exciting range of leaders in the fields of art and cultural management” – Faculty member, March 2010

The residential workshop is followed by an internship where each fellow works with an international arts or cultural institution thereby sharing best practices and building a supportive network of peers. Since 2010, ATSA has supported 75 individuals from a variety of disciplines such as theatre, dance, music, visual arts, and heritage conservation from across South Asia.

“It’s inspiring to be with so many passionate peers in one forum, all committed, all taking risks.” – 2010/11 Fellow

“I came with a vision and I’m going back with a business plan.” – 2010/11 Fellow

2-week residential course in May The residential course includes a balance of theory and professional training and consists of five to six intensive modules that embrace the latest thinking in cultural management. The 3-day modules lay the groundwork in strategic planning & project management, financial planning, and marketing & communication. These are supplemented with 1-day workshops on cultural policy, fundraising, HR, and digital media. The faculty is a mix of Indian and international professional trainers and academics. Evening lectures are formulated to give the fellows a targeted real world perspective. Participation in the residential programme is mandatory.

Secondment or Internship in Germany, UK or South Asia over the Fellowship year Each participant is offered a funded fourweek secondment/internship best suited to their interests and project objectives in a cultural organization in Germany, the UK or South Asia during the Fellowship year.

Concluding Seminar The Fellow subsequently attends a concluding seminar at the end of the Fellowship year to present and share updates on their project and learning from the secondment with the new batch of Fellows. 6

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Short Courses – At ATSA we feel a growing need to make didactical solutions possible for art professionals and cultural managers who are committed to full time positions of employment or entrepreneurship. ATSA’s short courses/workshops are 1-5 days long, and focus on a specific aspect of art management skills (such as cultural policy, marketing & communication etc). These paid workshops are open to all cultural professionals.

Following are the short courses/ workshops organised by ATSA in 2013:

Short courses such as Master Classes at ATSA are aimed to the continuous honing and developing the skill sets of graduated alumni. Former fellows are contacted directly for the annual master class opportunities.

Following are the short courses/ workshops organised by ATSA in 2012:

1. ‘Fundamentals of Arts Management: Strategic Planning, Marketing, & Financial Planning’ 3-day short course in collaboration with the Goa Center for Alternative Photography (Goa-CAP), Goa Dates: 15, 16, & 17 August 2013

‘Fundamentals of Arts Management’ 5-day short course at the Goethe Institut Afghanistan in Kabul Dates: 7 – 11 October, 2012

2. ‘PLAN, PITCH & PROMOTE – Art Festivals for the 21st century’ 1-day workshop in Bangalore, India in collaboration with 1Shanthiroad. Conducted by Nelson Fernandez (Director, NFA International Arts & Culture, and Former Director, Visiting Arts, UK) Date: 10 November, 2012

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“Now I know I can do it. Before I thought I should do it” 2012/13 Fellow

“My thinking is now truly ambitious” 2010/11 Fellow

Our Supporters: Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan and British Council – ARThinkSouthAsia is an initiative of the South Asian network of Goethe Institutes the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany, and The British Council The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, in cooperation with Khoj International Artists’ Association.

Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan The Goethe Institut promotes knowledge of the German language abroad and fosters international cultural cooperation. It conveys a comprehensive picture of Germany by providing information on Germany’s cultural, social and political life. Through its network of Goethe-Institutes, Goethe Centres, cultural societies and reading rooms, alongside the examination and language learning centres, it performs the principal tasks of cultural and educational policy abroad. It works in partnership with public and private cultural bodies, the German federal states and municipalities, and the corporate sector. The Goethe-Institut is the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany with a global reach. We face the cultural policy challenges of globalisation and develop innovative concepts for a world made more human through mutual understanding, where cultural diversity is seen as an asset. Email: info@delhi.goethe.org

British Council The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. It calls this work cultural relations. The British Council’s high profile work in English, the Arts, and Education & Society helps hundreds of millions of people worldwide to learn about and experience creativity and excellence vfrom the UK. Millions of talented people of all ages – but particularly younger people – engage face-to-face and online with it learning English, developing new skills, experiencing life and study in the UK and earning UK qualifications. The British Council is on the ground in six continents and over 100 countries bringing international opportunity to life, every day. Each year it works with millions of people, connecting them with the United Kingdom, sharing its cultures and the UK’s most attractive assets: English, the Arts, Education and ways of living and organising society. In the Arts it works with the best of British and international artistic and creative talent to develop events and collaborations which link thousands of artists, organisations and audiences worldwide. In addition to staging shows and exhibitions, it partners with others on joint Arts projects and helps develop creative leadership, professional networks and cultural educational programmes worldwide. Email: general.enquiries@britishcouncil.org

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ATSA Study Modules & Workshops

A brief overview of curriculum for each module A. Modules Module 1 - Strategic Planning & Policy Processes

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Module 2 - Marketing & Communication

The curriculum of the ATSA residential course focuses on three main topics: Strategic Planning and Policy Processes, Marketing and Communication and Financial Planning. In addition workshops on Cultural Policy, Fundraising, Human Resources and Social Media are held.

Module 3 - Financial Planning

Module 1 – Strategic Planning & Policy Processes

Owing to the level of experience of the Selected Fellows and the positions that they held in their respective organizations or the experience they garnered in independent projects, the course is pitched at a fairly high level with a mix of theory and practical and included the following mode of training: • Imparting base level skills and fundamentals • Placing the above in a practical regional context • Case study methodology • Filling the gaps with guest lectures • Peer-to-peer learning through group work on projects The curriculum is divided in to two sectons: A. Modules B. Workshops

ARThinkSouthAsia 2010-2014

»» Introduction to a business plan »» Strategies for organisational development in the arts/cultural space »» Ecosystem analysis »» Introduction to the ‘investor pitch’ »» Envisioning my venture: vision, mission, goals »» SMART (Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound) goals

Module 2 – Marketing & Communication »» What is arts marketing and what it is not? »» Marketing plan – analysis, plan, implementation, review »» SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis »» Marketing Mix (4Ps) – Product, price, place, and promotion: »» Product: core & augmented product »» Price: pricing strategy »» Promotion: USP (Unique selling proposition) »» Audience (people) development: External & internal audience »» Market segmentation

Module 3 – Financial Planning »» Pros and cons of financial management - capacity to deliver, sustainability, managing risk, planning the future, value framework (value for money) »» Financial jargon - what have you come across that is confusing »» Business model - Activity, Capacity, Financial ability, Risk, Management »» Business Plan - Your road map - Key components of a business plan »» Income streams, costs (fixed and variable) - the relationship and inter-dependency of income/cost /work streams »» Budgeting »» Managing finances – actuals, variance, forecast & cashflow »» Job profiles – communicating employer expectations »» Discussion on participants’ queries

A brief overview of curriculum for each workshop “The communication has been forthright and helpful and the environment for learning was wonderfully crafted so that the participants and facilitators felt at ease and were able to engage with high input despite the long teaching hours and the intensity of discussions” – 2010/11 Faculty Member

B. Workshops Workshop 1 – Cultural Policy Workshop 2 – Fundraising Workshop 3 – Human Resources Workshop 4 – Digital Media Workshop 1 – Cultural Policy

Workshop 3 – Human Resources

»» Approaches to cultural policy »» Key models of cultural policy »» Dilemmas of cultural policy »» Cultural policy instruments: legislative, financial, organisational, moral

»» Organisational culture »» HR systems to ensure a positive & productive work environment »» Leadership and motivation »» Job profiles, communicating employer expectations »» Discussion on participants’ queries

“extremely new, interesting and challenging course” – 2010/11 Faculty Member

Workshop 2 – Fundraising »» Fundraising - universal principles »» Scenario of ‘giving’ in the US - contribution by individuals/corporations/ foundations/bequests - ‘individual giving’ being the largest. ‘Volunteering’ is another major contributor. Why do they give? ‘People give to people’ »» Fundraising process - cultivation, solicitation, and recognition »» Donor Pyramid - information, interest, involvement, investment »» What is Sponsorship/Cause related marketing »» What do sponsors want? Why sponsorships fail? »» Six attributes of a successful sponsorship proposal »» Proposal guide

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Workshop 4 – Digital Media »» Digital landscape: The web is going social »» No engagement without content: From marketing to publishing. Sustaining positive conversations »» Doing it with a purpose: Beyond gimmick and competition »» Build for the future: Thinking beyond campaign »» Connecting your marketing goals to online media »» Tracking tools to monitor brand conversations

“the group was diverse enough to feed off each others’ energies and learn from different projects, and yet coherent enough to form commonalities” – 2010/11 Faculty Member

The ATSA Team – Pooja Sood, Director

Pooja Sood is an independent Curator and Art Management Consultant based in Delhi. She is the Director of Khoj International Artists’ Association, an autonomous, registered society committed to experimentation and exchange in the visual arts. Pooja Sood’s contribution has been in the field of curating alternative contemporary art practices in India as well as exploring different models of collaboration and institution building in contemporary art. As the Director of Khoj, she has developed core competencies in curating, international co-operation, fundraising, strategic planning and capacity building and has recently completed a capital project to refurbish the Khoj studios into a purpose built space for contemporary art in Khirkee village in New Delhi. As Regional Coordinator of SANA - South Asian Network for the Arts, from 2002-2012, she has expertise in the establishing and running of cultural networks. In 2009, she was invited by the Goethe Institut to develop a programme for arts management in India and she has been Director of ARThinkSouthAsia since 2010.

“My organisation was functioning without a road map and pure passion would not have grown it” – 2011/12 Fellow

Coordinators: Parul Maurya Deepa Kumar Meike Lettau

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ATSA Faculty – A) Module Leaders

ATSA Guest Lecturers

Andrea Hausmann, Germany

Arundhati Ghosh, India

Divya Bhatia, India

Dhruv Suri, India

Ekatrina Shekhova, Russia

Imke Grimmer, Germany

Sandeep Dwesar, UK

Gargi Sen, India

J. Dennis Rich, USA

Jawhar Sircar, India

Josephine Caust, Australia

Laura Quinn, India

Manisha Gupta , India

Moe Chiba, India

Milena Dragicevic-Sesic, Serbia

Neha Kirpal, India

Pooja Sood, India

Nikhil Sangha, India Pankaj Jain, India Rajeev Sethi, India Sadanand Menon, India

B) Workshop Leaders Annapurna Garimella , India Dawn Austwick, UK Francis Rebello, India Lynette Brooks, UK

Santosh Desai, India Shobita Punja, India Soni Singh, India Sumant Jayakrishnan, India Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, India

Malavika Jayaram, India Nishant Shah, India Vikram Badhwar, India

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ATSA Fellows –

Overview Each year the ATSA Program supports ten fellows from India and five international ones, including the following countries:

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Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Iran Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka

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ATSA Fellows 2010-2011 – 1. Amrita Gupta Singh (Mumbai, Maharashtra) Amrita is currently the Program Director at Mohile Parikh Centre for Visual Arts, Mumbai, where she has been working since 2002. Prior to this she has taught at the JJ School of Art, Mumbai.

2. Anupa Mehta (Mumbai, Maharashtra) Anupa is currently the Director, Arts Reverie (www.artsreverie.com) & THE LOFT (www. theloft.in), and also works as an arts consultant and writer. She was also the Director of Ahmedabad International Arts Festival, November 2010, and the Founding Editor, Art India.

3. Anupama Prakash (Bangalore, Karnataka) Anupama Prakash is currently the Programme Executive on the Arts Education programme at India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore. Earlier, she was visiting faculty at the Department of Art History and Theory, College of Fine Arts, Bangalore and also worked as Curator/ Business Development Manager, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore.

4. Archana Prasad (Bangalore, Karnataka) Archana is an artist and the founder of Jaaga and co-founder of Samuha. She earlier worked as a design researcher with Microsoft India.

5. Bhavna Kakar (Delhi) Bhavna is the founder and Director of ‘Take on Art’ Magazine and ‘Latitude 28’, a commercial art gallery. Previously she was the Managing Editor at Art & Deal Magazine. 22

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6. Himanshu Verma (Delhi) Himanshu is an art curator and founder of Red Earth - an organization working on contemporary Indian art and other cultural media organizing exhibitions and festivals. He previously worked as Coordinator Visual Arts Gallery, IHC; and was selected as the Young Visual Arts Entrepreneur 2008, British Council, India.

7. Karma Wangchuk (Thimphu, Bhutan) Karma is currently the Conservation Engineer, DCHS, Dept. of Culture, Bhutan as well as the Project Engineer for the construction of 169 ft Buddha. He has participated in various conservation projects in Bhutan in the past.

8. Renu Oberoi (Delhi) Renu is the Head of Programmes, Habitat World, India Habitat Centre. She previously worked with IHC and Park Hotel, Kolkata.

9. Sayak Mukherjee (Kolkata, West Bengal) Sayak is an independent practitioner who has worked as the Arts and Administrative Coordinator, Harrington Streets Art Centre; and as exhibitions assistant at the Goethe Institute, Kolkata.

10. Sithumini Rathnamalala (Moratuwa, Sri Lanka) Sithumini is a Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. He’s also the Director - Education at The National Photographic Art Society, Sri Lanka. He was the Coordinator- ArtLink2008 International Video Art workshop.

11. SM Hasan Zakizadeh (Kabul, Afghanistan) Hasan is an independent photographer and graphic designer. He earlier worked as Creative Director at The Killid Group in Afghanistan.

12. Sonal Jain (Guwahati, Assam) Sonal is the Coordinator of Periferry an alternative space and international residency for artist. Her previous experience includes: Faculty, NID; Education- BFA, MSU, Baroda.

13. Sudhanva Ranade (Pune, Maharashtra) Sudhanva is the Joint & Hon. Director, Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, Pune. Prior to joining the Museum he worked as Project Manager, Technova Imaging Systems (P) Ltd.

14. Suresh Jayaram (Bangalore, Karnataka) Suresh is an independent art critic,

curator and artist, and the Director of 1. Shanthiroad, an arts studio/gallery in Bangalore. Previously he was the Dean, College of Art, Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore.

15. Vidya Shivdas (Delhi) Vidya is the Curator at Vadehra Art Gallery and Researcher at the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA). She earlier worked as Art Reporter with the Indian Express.

“there was not a single module that was irrelevant” – 2010/11 Fellow “the course as very well designed: it provided a 360 degree approach to think about one’s projects and organisations” – 2010/11 Fellow “went beyond expectations” – 2010/11 Fellow 23

ATSA Fellows 2011-2012 – 1. ASM Rezaur Rahman (Dhaka, Bangladesh)

6. Johanna (Hanne) M. de Bruin (Tamil Nadu)

Rezaur Rahman is the Curatorial Director of Chobi Mela, Asia’s largest international festival of photography, General Manager of Drik, and a lecturer on Curatorial Practice and Publishing at Pathshala South Asian Media Academy. He was also the Managing Editor of ‘Cartoon’, the country’s leading satire magazine.

Hanne is the principal fundraiser and facilitator of the Kattaikkuttu Sangam, a NGO based in Tamil Nadu that promotes Kattaikkuttu as a theatre in its own right and advocates the cultural rights of professional Kattaikkuttu performers. She has also published widely on Indian popular theatre and women performers.

2. Abantee Dutta (Gurgaon, Haryana)

7. Mallika Prasad (Bangalore, Karnataka)

Abantee Dutta is currently a researcher and legal consultant for the GATI Forum and is an independent law practitioner. She has a strong litigation background in criminal, constitutional, election, environment and Intellectual and Property laws.

3. Anil Cherukupalli (New Delhi, India) A writer, photographer and filmmaker, Anil is the founder and executive director of Aksgar (www.aksgar.com), South Asia’s first online magazine exclusively dedicated to photojournalism. Currently, he works as a Communications Officer for WWF- India in their Species and Landscapes Programme.

4. Ashwath Bhatt (Ghaziabad, UP) Ashwath, a trained actor, is currently running the ‘Theatre Garage Project’ at Sonapani, Mukteshwar district in Nanital. He has previously been the Visiting Faculty - Acting at FTII; and Scriptwriter at Lamhaa G.S Entertainment.

5. Gurmeet S. Rai (New Delhi) A conservation architect, Gurmeet established CRCI, a conservation consultancy firm, in 1996. The firm has undertaken a range of projects within the domain of cultural heritage conservation and management practice in India.

ARThinkSouthAsia 2010-2014

Mallika is the founder director of Actors Ensemble India Forum (AEIF) - a platform for the writer-director-actor ensemble. Mallika graduated from the National School of Drama in 1995 and has since been practicing theatre in Bangalore.

8. Nafis Ahmed (Dhaka, Bangladesh) Nafis’s passion for music led him to take up event management through his own firm “Live^2 Events” followed by managing artists on a freelance basis. His “Ronokhettro” experiments with sound.

9. Priya Pall (New Delhi) Priya is currently the Director of W+K Exp, an art space run by Wieden + Kennedy New Delhi. Earlier, she has worked as Projects Curator - India Art Summit 2009 and Exhibitions Consultant - Gallery Espace.

10. Radhika Borde (Ranchi, Bihar) Radhika is a researcher and social entrepreneur based out of Jharkhand. She researches environmental movements in the region, which draw upon themes of the sacred and cultural values of the environment. Her venture ‘The Little Tradition’ is aimed at promoting the ancient art, craft and culture of the region.

11. Rashmi Dhanwani (Mumbai, Maharashtra) Rashmi currently manages Public Relations and Corporate Communications for the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai. She was Coordinator (Literature) of the Mumbai Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, 2008, and its Children’s Literature in 2009. She was also Manager- Media and Internet at Breakthrough, a human rights NGO.

12. Sandhya Kumar (Faridabad, Haryana) Sandhya works as an independent filmmaker and editor in New Delhi. Her works have been screened at SF MOMA; Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley; The 3rd I South Asian Film Festival, San Francisco; and the Red Poppy Art House, San Francisco, among other places.

13. Satish Nandgaonkar (Mumbai, Maharashtra) A journalist with more than 15 years experience and a film society activist, Nandgaonkar has worked with publications

like The Independent, Bombay Times, The Indian Express, and the newswire Associated Press. He was the first Indian journalist to be invited to the Rotterdam International Film Festival, The Netherlands as part of its programme for young film critics. He has worked as an advisory member of the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) headed by actors Anupam Kher and Sharmila Tagore during 2004-06. He is one of the founders of the Mumbai Press Photo Contest for the Press Club, Mumbai. He contributed inputs to Ram Gopal Varma’s 1998 film Satya which depicted the underbelly of Mumbai with stark realism. He works as Senior Editor with The Telegraph in Mumbai.

14. Sudhanva Deshpande (New Delhi, India) Sudhanva Deshpande is an actor and director with the Delhi-based theatre group Jana Natya Manch, best-known for their political street theatre. He is a publisher by profession, and works as editor with LeftWord Books. He writes regularly 25

ATSA Fellows 2012-2013 –

on questions of culture and politics. He co-directed, with Sanjay Maharishi, two films on Habib Tanvir and Naya Theatre. He is a member of the Core Team of the India Theatre Forum, a network that brings together theatre practitioners on issues of common concern.

1. Alam Khorshed (Chittagong, Bangladesh)

15. Vinay Kumar (New Delhi, India) Vinay Kumar is currently Deputy Secretary, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, an Honorary Editor, Canvas and an artist. He has previously been ex-member (PC), Bihar Lalit Kala Akademi, Patna, editor Lalitya (BLKA Bulletin), Art Activism since 1988. He has also curated several art exhibitions in Patna and Delhi. He is a founder member NandLalBoseNukkadArtGallery (street art gallery), Patna. He has written on art since 1988 in Janshakti, India Today, Outlook, The Times of India and Navbharat Times.

Nafis Ahmed: 3Lectronica performance, 2012

Mohammad Khorshed Alam, also known as Alam Khorshed in the literary circle, is a Mechanical Engineer by training with a degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, who has worked for two of the world’s largest companies, namely GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, Chittagong and Canadian Aviation Electronics, Montreal. Apart from his profession he is also an engaged writer, film and theater activist and an art enthusiast with close contacts to the cultural sector of Bangladesh and abroad. He is currently running a socio-cultural organization named Bishaud Bangla in Chittagong.

2. Ashish Mehta (Pune, Maharashtra) “I really enjoyed the course. It was well structured, good reading materials and excellent tutors” – 2011/12 Fellow Nafis Ahmed: Greenitiative, 2012

“The course enabled me to figure out what my place is in my organisation and in the entire sector, and how I can make an impact” – 2011/12 Fellow “I’m no longer hesitant about what I want to do. I have enough information, knowledge and confidence to set something up on my own” – 2011/12 Fellow

3. Avinash Kumar (New Delhi, India)

Nafis Ahmed: RockNation, 2013

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A mechanical engineering graduate, Ashish has been the Administrative Head at Aasakta Kalamanch, Pune - a Marathi Theatre Group, since 2006. Ashish has been part of festival management at Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai (2008 & 2009) and Vinod Doshi Smruti Natya Mahotsav, Pune (2008, 2009 & 2010). Since March 2011, he has also been part of the Administrative office of India Theatre Forum- an Initiative of Prithvi Theatre. Ashish has also been involved with stage design, stage management and production management of plays produced by Aasakta.

Avinash Kumar is a multidisciplinary artist practicing research, design, film, digital art, performance and curation. He is the co-founder of 3 collectives - Quicksand, BLOT (Basic Love Of Things) and The Grey Garden - each of which has come to stand for different facets of creative practice. Quicksand is an innovation consultancy

that helps organizations think about the future of business and development. BLOT is an interdisciplinary performance ensemble working with electronic music, new media, and fashion. The Grey Garden brings new experiences to gastronomy and fashion. Avinash is also the festival director for culture at the UnBox Festival.

4. Azita Ebadi (Tehran, Iran) Azita Ebadi is currently responsible for the International section of Art Tomorrow, a bilingual quarterly art magazine published in Tehran. Besides she is working as a Freelance coordinator and curatorial assistance for international exhibitions. From 2004-2008 she has been working as film coordinator for The Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. In 2004 she was invited as a jury member for the Short Film Festival Interfilm. She has studied in Germany and has an educational background in Textile Engineering and further education as Multimedia Publisher.

5. Debu Bhattacharyya (Kolkata, West Bengal) A post-graduate with a specialization in Film Direction from the SRFTI, Debu Bhattacharyya operates as a full-time audiovisual producer, producing primarily documentaries. Theme Entertainment is an India-based documentary production firm, which has Debu as its chief promoter. After being selected by the British Council as the country’s Best Young Screen Entrepreneur in 2007, Debu has been intensifying efforts to boost partnerships in the audiovisual world, with a focus on SE Asia. His chief interests include developing business models to boost commerce in the audiovisual world, and in raising venture finance.

6. Diya Bannerjee (Gurgaon, Haryana) A filmmaker and a feature writer, Diya has worked with ‘Times Now’ English news channel as a programme producer. She has also worked as a senior features correspondent with Times of India’s ‘Crest’ edition — a weekly news-features journal. Presently, she is with TERI’s (The Energy and Resources Institute) Film and Television Division as a filmmaker. Diya holds an MA in Mass Communication from AJ Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre (Jamia Millia Islamia University). She also holds an MA in Film Studies from University College London, UK, as a Charles Wallace Fellow. Her interests lie in film, new media and culture.

7. Ehsan Rasoulof (Tehran, Iran) Born in 1979 in Shiraz, Iran, Ehsan now lives and works in Tehran. With a tenyear experience in writing and directing movies, after the death of his younger brother Mohsen in an aeroplane crash in 2008, he established Mohsen Foundation and Mohsen Annual Prize with his family. Then he started Mohsen Gallery which was a huge success and made Mohsen a loved brand among the young generation of Iranian artists. In 2011 he decided to invest in Mahriz Publishing and Recording Company as the major stakeholder to synergize between these artistic-cultural organizations to make a good balance and high added value for his customers and audience.

8. Faisal Malik (Karachi, Pakistan) Faisal Malik is an arts manager, director with 40 theatre productions, actor, host and TV anchor. He has a 3 year Performing Arts Certification from National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi, Pakistan, and was the only chosen participant for the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts Fellowship Program (Washington DC) for arts management from Pakistan and an internee at the Chicago Opera Theatre 28

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Company. He is also a faculty member at O & A level schools as well as universities in Karachi. In 2009, he was invited to the American Cultural Envoy’s with the State Department’s collaboration. He is currently working on “The Flying Class Room” project in collaboration with Goethe Institute – Pakistan and has renovated a bus for theatre performance, “Flying Theatre” for street theatre performances in Pakistan.

9. Mallika Taneja (New Delhi, India) Mallika Taneja is a theatre artiste and independent cultural manager living and working out of Delhi. She is a member of the Tadpole Repertory, one of the city’s most prominent theatre groups. Mallika also spends a lot of her time scheming ways to transform herself into a full time musician.

10. Mariam Mana (Kabul, Afghanistan) Mariam Mana was born and completed her education in exile. She returned back to Afghanistan in 2005 and started working as a journalist for a newspaper for 2 years. She also worked as a radio programs producer for IRIB for 2 years. She is studying international relations in Kateb University and cooperates with Afghanistan Cinema Club on Autumn Human Rights Film Festival as executive and administrative manager.

11. Mayank Kaul (New Delhi, India) Mayank Mansingh Kaul is the FounderDirector of The Design Project India, a not-for-profit organization promoting curatorial projects and critical writing related to Indian design. A graduate of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Kaul has worked in the past on Cultural and Creative Industries’ Policy, and runs an organic fashion and home textiles label, which works with contemporary Indian hand-crafts. Based in New Delhi, he writes regularly on design and craft concerns.

12. Menaka Rodriguez (Bangalore, Karnataka) Menaka Rodriguez has a postgraduate degree in Archaeology and Indian History and an MA in Arts Administration. Menaka has taught archaeology and museum studies at the undergraduate level at Madras Christian College, and has worked on projects for INTACH and the Society for South Asian Studies. She has more recently worked in the area of marketing and fundraising for a range of arts organisations including museums, arts festivals, art councils and a theatre company. She currently looks after Individual Contributions and Art Services at India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore.

13. P Madhavan (Goa, India) P. Madhavan is Practicing Daguerreotypist and Executive Director of Goa Center for Alternative Photography as a Centre of

Excellence in India to work on the alternate photography and archival research.

14. Prasanna Liyanage (Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka) Archt. Prasanna Liyanage is a Charted Architect with more than twenty years of Design Experience and the Course Director of Bachelor of Design, Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. He has 12 years experience in teaching, researching and experimenting on innovative teaching methodologies. Being a member of the academic staff from the beginning, his contribution to it has culminated in immense development in not only this course but also in promoting Design and Design Education in Sri Lanka. His passion has always been to explore the unknown and to visualize things in a different perspective from others. He believes that Art is about freedom and 29

within this field he is liberated to do as he pleases without being bound by any intellectual shackles. Presently he is pursuing Ph.D. in “Space between Body and Dress as a resource” and promoting design intervention at grassroot level to develop rural economies.

15. Ruhi Jhunjhunwala (Chennai, Tamil Nadu) Is currently working as the Associate in Programming at Ranga Shankara Theatre, Bangalore. She has a Masters in Business Administration (specialisation in Public Relations and Corporate Communications) from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication and a PG Diploma in Event Management from National Institute of Event Management. Her varied interests have driven her to undertake lots of internships including an International Youth Leadership conference in Prague, Brand Management at JWT, Communications at different NGOs and she hopes to keep learning while pursuing her decision to work in the field of Arts and Culture.

ATSA Fellows 2013-2014 – 1. Alina Mahmood Chaudry (Islamabad, Pakistan)

Alina Mahmood Chaudry studied Masters in Multimedia Arts at the National College of Arts, Lahore, one of the oldest art institutes in South Asia. She has worked with the National College of Arts, Rawalpandi, as a Research Associate and was involved with the ‘national intangible heritage archival project’ with Unesco where she had an opportunity to work with leading artists in the country. In 2010, she was awarded an internship to Germany and gained international exposure through her association with University of Potsdam & Kunstwek Institute of Arts, Germany. She is currently working with ‘Rastay’, a platform for arts and culture based in Islamabad as an arts manager. While she’s faced many challenges in her cultural context as an artist and a young female arts manager, she continues to work in the arts and is passionate about her work.

2. Ashmina Ranjit (Kathmandu, Nepal) “The arts need to be managed. We recognise the importance of it, but we don’t know how to do it. ATSA will liberate me and my practice.” – 2012-2013 Fellow “Without ATSA, I might have started to compromise my artistic vision” – 2012/13 Fellow “100 ATSA Fellows can change everything” – 2012/13 Fellow

Ashmina Ranjit is an interdisciplinary visual artist/artivist, MFA from Columbia University, USA & BFA from University of Tasmania, Australia. Ranjit’s works revolve around the crucial ongoing social/political issues of marginalized communities. Ranjit is also the founder-director of LASANAA, an alternative art space that encourages experimentation, critical thinking and cross-disciplinary interaction in the arts. With a philosophy of non-hierarchical collaboration and learning-throughexchange, LASANAA has been pivotal in inculcating creative discourse. Ranjit has collaborated with various communities on national and international levels and through the numerous artivities at LASANAA, encouraged her

ARThinkSouthAsia 2010-2014

contemporaries and budding artists to push their creative genius to the furthest.

3. Kesavan Nambudiri (Thrissur, Kerala) A civil engineer by education, Kesavan Nambudiri is involved in theatre since his school and college days. Having travelled across India as an engineer (1984- 1998), he has been exposed to the rich and diversified theatre practices of India. His creative contribution to the organization, Keli-Mumbai, as its founding member, was significant to its conceptual derivation and vision. Since 1998, he is actively involved in Kerala Theatre in several capacities like theatre documentation, art management, and writing on theatre. Since 2010, he has been the Coordinator for the International Theatre Festival of Kerala, organized by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, an autonomous body for the promotion of theatre, music and other performing arts under Department of Culture, Govt. of Kerala. He is the Director of “Theatreconnekt”, an organization working for interdisciplinary and inter-cultural dialogues and practices, documentation and art management.

4. Madhuja Mukherjee (Kolkata, West Bengal) Madhuja Mukherjee is an inter-media artist who researches and writes on Indian cinema, as well as makes experimental films, creates graphic narratives and executes media installations. Currently, she teaches in the Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and is the Joint Coordinator of the Media Lab Project, Dept. of Film Studies. Mukherjee is the founder member of TENT (theatre for experiments in new technologies), Kolkata. She has authored books on Indian film histories 31

scene through dance, discussion and reflection. She is an Odissi dancer and a published dance writer. She works on Pad. ma (Public Access Digital Media Archive), an online video archive project, where she focuses on building an archive of the performing arts. Her varied interests coalesce around dance, towards discovering an interdisciplinary approach to dance practices. Ranjana holds an MA in Arts and Aesthetics from JNU, New Delhi, and studied journalism and mass media at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

9. Ruchita Madhok (Mumbai, Maharashtra) and her first feature film Carnival (2011) along with her media installation Crumbled Papers, Fragments of Cinema, were shown at the 41st International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2012.

5. Mandeep Singh Raikhy (New Delhi, Delhi) Mandeep Raikhy is a dance artist with a particular interest in developing new dance languages through experiments with Indian classical vocabulary, particularly Bharatanatyam. After finishing BA (Hons) in Dance Theatre at Laban, London, in 2002, Mandeep worked with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company as a company dancer for many years. In 2010-11, he toured with his first full-length work, Inhabited Geometry, to various cities across the country. Mandeep currently works as the Managing Director at The Gati Dance Forum.

6. Maral Ashgvari (Tehran, Iran) Born and raised in Tehran, Maral Ashgvari, after graduating from the University of Tehran, started her career as an accountant and sales manager. Having a great passion for art, she then established Berke’ Group which is focused on promoting young and talented handcraft producers by exhibiting their works through exhibitions and sales. 32

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Besides crafts, her interest in music led to her becoming the manager of an Iranian contemporary music group, originated from the southern region of Iran. She is now working on its first official album to be published and is planning the group’s concert to be held in Tehran.

7. Menika van der Poorten (Rajagiriya, Srilanka) Menika van der Poorten combines being a single parent of two teenage sons with working in arts management, photography and photography education. She has a long history of working with Public Art institutes, cultural organizations and artists’ projects in Sri Lanka and internationally. Menika worked in London as an Arts/events officer; and Director at Women’s Photography Collective and women’s publishing house. More recently, she has been a co-curator and exhibition coordinator for the British Library touring exhibition ‘A Return to Sri Lanka’. Menika was one of the selected artists at the Colombo Art Biennale 2012.

8. Ranjana Dave (Mumbai, Maharashtra) Ranjana Dave is the co-founder of Dance Dialogues in Bombay, a supportive space that works on activating Bombay’s dance

Ruchita Madhok is the founder and principal designer of Kahani Designworks, a communication practice that specialises in creative services for the cultural sector. Trained at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London, and at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad she has worked for international design studios and cultural institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. With experience in the Middle East, UK and India, Ruchita brings an international perspective to the issues around contemporary design practice in the Indian sub-continent.

10. Sharath Nambiar (Chennai, Tamil Nadu) Sharath Nambiar is an arts manager working with Dakshinchitra, a leading cultural institution in India based in Chennai. He coordinates and oversees all programs, events, and exhibitions with the cultural tourism team, curators, archivists, programme officers, education coordinators, folk performers, reconstruction teams, consultants, researchers, and faculty and students of the arts management course run by the institution. He has earlier worked with an environmental organization. His interests are reading, writing, performing arts,

restoration of buildings, conservation, environmental activities, cycling, and trekking.

11. Tayeba Begum Lipi (Dhaka, Bangladesh) Tayeba Lipi is a visual artist and a Founder Trustee at Britto Arts Trust which is the first ever artists run non-profit organisation based in Dhaka, Bangladesh since 2002. Lipi has also worked as Coordinator Britto Arts Trust; Curator - Video Zoom Bangladesh, Sala 1, Rome; Curator Kathmandu International Arts Festival, 2009 & 2012; and Commissioner - Pavillion of Bangladesh, 54th Venice Biennale, 2011.

12. Tejshvi Jain (Bangalore, Karnataka) Tejshvi Jain is the assistant curator at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru. Besides her curatorial duties she is deeply involved in creating programmes for different visitor types. She is responsible for the creation of the NGMA ARBORETUM, a concept new to Indian museums. She was the only Indian selected in 2013 to attend NRW KULTURsekretariat’s International Visitors Programme on The Network of the Ruhr-Art-Museums - A sustainable Project of the European Capital of Culture. She was a visiting faculty at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad and Mahavir Jain College where she taught art history at the undergraduate and master courses.

13. Vikram Iyengar (Kolkata, West Bengal) Co-founder and Artistic Director of the performance company, Ranan, Vikram Iyengar is a Kathak dancer, choreographer, theatre director and performing arts researcher based in Calcutta. A Government of India National Scholarship and Fellowship awardee and an INLAKS Scholar, Vikram holds a Performing Arts MA from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He 33

has taught at BA and MA levels in the UK, contributed articles to various national and foreign publications, presented papers at international seminars, conducted a variety of workshops and worked on several arts research projects for institutions in India and abroad. Noted for the conscious bringing together of classical dance, movement and drama creating an experience of total theatre, Vikram’s production work spans choreography for stage and film, dance-theatre and dance-film explorations, and performance collaborations.

ATSA Fellows 2014-2015 – 1. Abdul Hamid Hemat (Kabul, Afghanistan)

Yashwant Parashar, Independent Consultant: Women’s Empowerment and Culture event, Bihar, in 2014

14. Virginia Rodrigues (Bangalore, Karnataka) Virginia Rodrigues plays dual roles of an Artistic Manager and Operations Head at the Indian Ensemble- a multi-lingual theatre company based in Bangalore since the last 3 years. She has been a core collaborator on several projects undertaken by the team, involving both new comers and theatre veterans. An arts graduate, she is also an actor, photographer and a documentarian who has been associated with theatre for more than a decade.

Madhuja Mukherjee for TENT: Performance by Beatrice Didier in 2013

15. Yashwant Parashar (Muzaffarpur, Bihar) Yashwant Parashar has been involved in the arts and culture sector since 1985 and has been associated with Spic Macay since then. He has coordinated Spic Macay’s ‘National School Intensives’, and started ‘Rural School Intensives’, a model being replicated nationwide by Spic Macay. He coordinated the centenary celebrations of Bihar, and was instrumental in the ‘State Anthem and Prayer’ project wherein the music was composed by Shiv-Hari (Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma and Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia). He has been associated with the music of films like ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ and has written in several publications on music, music electronics, and arts subjects. 34

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Ruchita Madhok for Kahani Designworks: Design of audio guide experience and multilingual maps for Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai City Museum, 2014

Abdul Hamid Hemat works in sculpture, painting, calligraphy, photography and graphics. He is currently a Media Officer at the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (www.akdn. org/AKTC) in Kabul. Before this he worked as the senior creative designer at Moby Group. These professional roles, which expand his creativity under tight deadlines, stemmed from his interest in art. Hamid Hemat was first inspired to study art in 2001 upon watching videos of the Taliban’s destruction of the Buddha statues in Bamiyan. The devastation of such broken heritage sparked his interest that he was later able to pursue following the fall of Taliban. Hamid Hemat received his Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from Kabul University and he is currently working on his Masters degree in Art History.

2. Archana Thapa Uprety (Kathmandu, Nepal) Archana Thapa Uprety is an independent scholar and director of Akshar Creations (www.aksharcreations.com), a publishing house in Nepal that focuses on themes of women, gender and issues from the nonmainstream genres and traditions. She has edited and published two collections of Nepali women’s personal narrations: Telling A Tale and Swaastitwako Khoj. Futhermore she has performed in the stage adaptation of Telling A Tale. Thapa Uprety was the senior member of the team that drafted the Five Year Strategic Plan (2014-19) of National Women Commission, Nepal. At present, Thapa Uprety is working on a collection of migrant Nepali workers’ personal narrations. She has published academic papers and articles in national and internal journals and magazines. She holds a Ph.D. degree and her dissertation

is titled Tracing Contemporary Gender Representations in Mainstream Nepali cultural Texts.

3. Aruna Ganesh Ram (Chennai, India) Aruna is a director, deviser and designer in Theatre Arts. She is the Artistic Director of Visual Respiration (www.visualrespiration. com), a performance group committed to engaging with audiences in unique ways. Ganesh Ram has been involved in theatre for the last 10 years with Landing Stage Youth Theatre Group in Chennai, training young enthusiasts and actors. She holds a Masters degree in Theatre Practice from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Her recent performances include Re:play (2013), Visual Respiration, the performance (2013) and Swami and Friends (2011).

4. Ashvin Rajagopalan (Chennai, India) Ashvin Rajagopalan founded Ashvita, a fine art gallery, retail store and restaurant brand with three locations in Chennai. He has curated around 50 shows of modern and contemporary Indian art. Rajagopalan has worked with emerging artists in Chennai and has authored two books on artists C Douglas and C Krishnaswamy. Recently Rajagopalan has been made the Director of the Piramal Art Foundation (www. piramal.org.in) which is based in Mumbai and houses one of the most important collections of Modern Indian Art. His role in the foundation includes acquisitions, documentation and research, curation and building an art programme. He is a graduate of Fine Art from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York.

5. Avani Rao Gandra (Hyderabad, India) Avani Rao Gandra is an artist, photographer and founder of ICONART (www.iconart. in), a contemporary art gallery based in Hyderabad. From 2009 to present she has conducted around 70 art shows and workshops, curated 27 art shows on painting, printmaking, sculpture, new media and installations. Rao Gandra started the ICONART Artist in Residency program in 2011, providing studio spaces for artists to work and participate in workshops. She further has worked as art critic for Indian Express and contributed articles to magazines like Marg, Art India, Art & Deal. Rao Gandra holds a Ph.D. in Contemporary Andhra Painting from Osmania University.

6. Bandhu Prasad (Thiruvananthapuram, India) Bandhu Prasad is an arts manager from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, focusing on performing arts and art festivals. In 2011, along with his long term colleagues, he cofounded Trivi Art Concerns (www.triviart.org) a group that focuses on arts management, art festivals, art workshops, art in education and theatre productions. While pursuing his graduation in Law, he started his arts management career with Abhinaya Theatre, Thiruvananthapuram and was instrumental in shaping the group into an internationally reputed professional ensemble. Prasad has been working with various theatre groups, art festivals and institutions based in Kerala and other parts of the country for more than a decade, including Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Footsbarn Travelling Theatre (France), Hay Festival Kerala, India Theatre Forum and International Film Festival of Kerala.

7. Faezeh Aarabi (Tehran, Iran) Faezeh Aarabi is actively engaged in art and cultural activities in Iran. She currently works as the projects manager 36

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at Derangmusic platform, a non-for-profit dynamic platform for cultural exchange through music in Iran. Before that she worked as a management consultant and trainer for both Iranian and International firms in Iran for several years yet her passion for art has led into incorporating her expertise into the art and cultural sphere of Iran for these past few years. She co-founded Berké in 2012, a group that promotes young Iranian contemporary makers and artisans through exhibitions and sales. Aarabi has studied in different majors; from software engineering and accounting in bachelors, to urban management and business administration in masters to becoming a PhD student in organizational behavior at University of Tehran.

8. Kamal Deep Pruthi (Bangalore, India) Kamal Pruthi is the founder and artistic director of the Museum Theatre Com-pany (www.facebook.com/MuseumTheatre). His specialization lies in children theatre, storytelling for kids and adults. Currently, Pruthi is the artistic curator of the Short and Sweet Festival (http://www. shortandsweet.org), a theatre festival in Bangalore. Pruthi has been involved in theatre since 1999. He experiments with performances in unconventional spaces like under construction sites and isolated buildings, thereby breaking away from the conventions of auditoriums. He has been instrumental in the founding and moderating of a literary forum called Garma Garam Chai for the promotion of new translators, authors and playwrights. His latest initiative is a theatre internship programme for new comers. Being a German-Hindi translator, Pruthi has four unpublished plays in English, Hindi and German to his credit.

9. Kavita Shah (Vadodara, Gujarat)

11. Niranjani Iyer (Delhi, India)

Kavita Shah is a visual artist, educationist, founder member of Chhaap - Foundation for Printmaking Trust (www.chhaap. com) and a board member of Res Artis. She works as an Associate Professor in College of Architecture. Shah has received many awards and participated in national exhibitions, like Triennial-India and Bharat Bhavan Print Biennial. She has given illustrative talks in MPCVA, NGMA Mumbai and Impact 5, Tallinn/Estonia. Shah was artist-in-residence in Finland and Italy, worked in Atelier in Paris and at Robert Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop, USA. She has compiled several international print portfolios: Footprints, Ganjifa, Snakes and Ladders and Chess. Footprint was shown in Southern Graphic Council, Kansas and Ganjifa was shown at Impact 6 and University of the West of England, Bristol/UK. Shah holds a Masters degree in Printmaking.

Niranjani Iyer is a dancer, actress, director; she is currently working on creating a theatre festival in the Himalayas. Iyer has performed at various dance and theatre productions including Gagawaka at theLalit Kala Akademi, directed by Vivan Sundaram and Afterlife of the birds directed by Oroon Das. Iyer holds a Masters degree in Theatre Studies from Sorbonne University, Paris and a Diploma from the International Theatre School Jacques Lecoq, Paris. She lives and works out of Delhi, Paris and Dharamshala.

10. Mary Therese Kurkalang (Delhi, India) Mary Therese Kurkalang is founder and director of KHUBLEI (www.facebook.com/ Khublei) which promotes and organizes events in the arts, publishing, design and social development areas. For the past few years, and especially through KHUBLEI, Kurkalang is working to actively promote the cultures of the North-Eastern states of India, and raise awareness on issues related to these states. Born in Shillong, Kurkalang has lived and worked in Delhi for the last sixteen years in NGOs, international cultural centres and in the publishing industry. Her previous experience includes working with Samanvay: IHC Indian Languages’ Festival, Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council, GoetheInstitute, German Book Office in New Delhi and No man’s land, a trust showcasing the culture of South Asian countries in India.

12. Priyanka Patel (Mumbai, India) Priyanka Patel is the founder-partner for The Looking Glass (TLG), an initiative towards integrating arts, psychology and education. She is a psychologist and a trained classical dancer, who has worked extensively with theatre techniques, music, movement and visual arts in therapeutic settings. Through The Looking Glass, she has toured the US with her works and conducted range of workshops for children and adults in both, India and abroad. Patel has developed curriculums for arts integration with schools catering to differential learning abilities and has regular arts appreciation programmes for children and adults. As the Project Head for Arts Academy - Salaam Bombay Foundation, a NGO she planned, curated, organised and executed a range of programmes which helped build life skills amongst children from lesser privileged backgrounds. She holds a Bachelors degree of Mass Media (Journalism) from Ramnarain Ruia College, Mumbai.

13. Raania Azam Khan Durrani (Karachi, Pakistan) Raania Azam Khan Durrani is a ceramic artist, an art administrator and Visual Art Outreach Director at PeaceNiche (www. peaceniche.org) where she focuses on developing public art and cultivating a new 37

audience for the arts in Pakistan. Significant projects at PeaceNiche are Party in the Park, Jumma Hafta Art Bazaar, Pop-up shops and Hands-on. Khan Durrani has taught ceramics at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture for seven years and has exhibited nationally and internationally. In 2004 she attended an artist residency in Nepal, which led her to co-found the Commune Artist Colony in Karachi, a multifaceted creative gathering space for artists she directed until 2008. Khan Durrani attended the Goshogowara International Woodfire Festival in Aomori, Japan, in 2008, followed by a solo show at Canvas Gallery, Karachi. In 2010, she participated at the Mungyeong Tea-Bowl festival, in South Korea. Khan Durrani studied Visual Arts and Writing at the Bennington College in Vermont, USA.

14. Sayed Badrul Karim (Dhaka, Bangladesh) Sayed Badrul Karim is a freelance photographer and videographer interested in documentary and art photography. Currently he works on a project of the visual documentation of the archaeological heritage of Bangladesh. Badrul Karim began his photography around 20 years back and his works have been published and exhibited by World Press Photo (The Netherlands), Saudi Aramco World (USA), National Art Gallery (Malaysia) and Liberation (France). His previous experiences include Project Coordinator at PROGGA, a non-profit organization based on research, advocacy and training, photo journalist for Daily Jugantor, a bangladeshi newspaper. Badrul Karim holds a post-graduation Diploma in Journalism from Bangladesh National University and a Diploma in Photo Journalism from Pathshala South Asian Institute of Photography.

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15. Sumona Chakravarty (Kolkata, India) Sumona Chakravarty is an artist, designer, founder and director of Hamdasti (www.hamdasti.com), a platform for collaborations between artists, designers, communities and government departments, which she developed through being selected as a finalist for the Dean’s Cultural Entrepreneurship Challenge at Harvard University. Chakravarty explores the role of participatory art and design practices in creating spaces for civic engagement and reactivating the public domain. Working across diverse fields such as art education, cultural development, communication design and theater, she tries to find a balance between incremental shifts catalyzed by art, and systemic changes created through social work. Chakravarty holds a Bachelors degree in Art and Design from Srishti School of Art Design and Technology, Bangalore and a Masters degree focused on art and design for civic engagement from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

“At first I was intimidated by the volume of knowledge and experience in the group. Now all 15 have bonded, and formed a support structure I can call on” – 2011/12 Fellow

Secondments of ATSA Fellows – Overview ATSA Fellows 2010-11

ATSA Fellows 2011-12 Abantee Dutta

The Tanzplan-Deutschland, Hamburg

Anil Cherakupulli

Loupe Filmproduction, Berlin Andreas Müller-Pohle, Berlin

Ashwath Bhatt

TuT, Hannover (http://www.tut-hannover.de)

ASM Rezaur Rehman

Kampnagel, Hamburg

Dr. Johanna de BruinRajagopal

Helmut Newton Foundation / Museum for Photography

Gurmeet Singh Rai

Wartburg Foundation, at the Wartburg Klassik Stiftung, Weimar Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Berlin Topography of Terror Documentation, Berlin

Mallika Prasad

Ehrliche Arbeit, Berlin

Nafis Ahmed

ClubCommission, Berlin

Priya Pall

Haus der Kunst, Munich

Akshay Pathak

n/a

Amrita Gupta Singh

Kunsthaus Dresden (Center for Contemporary Art)

Anupa Mehta

Institut fuer Kulturkonzepte (IFK), Hamburg

Anupama Prakash

Kampnagel, Hamburg

Archana Prasad

Open Design City, Betahaus Arttransponder, Kolonie Wedding

Bhavna Kakar

Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin

Himanshu Verma

n/a

Karma Wangchuk

Technical University of Munich, Germany in the field of Restoration and Conservation

Radhika Borde

Adivasi Koordination, Kassel Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen

Renu Oberoi

Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin

Rashmi Dhanwani

Sayak Mukherjee

Ufafabrik, Berlin

Berliner Festspiele meetings with: Deutsche Oper Berlin, House of World Cultures

Sithumini Rathnamala

Werkleitz, Halle

Sandhya Kumar

Bethanien, Berlin

Hasan Zakizadeh

postponed

Satish Nandgaonkar

Geo Magazine, Hamburg FC Gundlach Foundation

Sonal Jain

KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

Sudhanva Ranade

Uebersee Museum, Bremen

Sudhanva Deshpande

Sabisa Collective, Berlin Theater an der Parkaue, Berlin

Suresh Jayaram

Skulpturenpark Berlin_Zentrum, Berlin

Vinay Kumar

postponed

Vidya Shivadas

NGBK - Neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst e.V. Berlin

40 ARThinkSouthAsia 2013 -2014

ATSA Fellows 2012-13

ATSA Fellows 2013-14

Ashish Mehta

Hamburger Sprechwerk

Alina Chaudry

New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK

Avinash Kumar

European Media Art Festiaval Osnabrück

Ashmina Ranjit

n/a

Kesavan Nambudiri

Residenz Theater, Munich; Volkstheater, Munich

Azita Ebadi

Meetings: abc Berlin, Berlin preview, Berliner liste (all art fairs in Berlin), IFA Gallery Berlin, workshop-conference in Bonn, NBK, Freies Museum Berlin, Transmediale, T.A. Art Project, Martin Gropus Bau, Goethe Institut, Platform3 Munich

Madhuja Mukherjee

FROBENIUS-INSTITUT at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main; Berlinale

Mandeep Raikhy

HZT Berlin

Debu Bhattacharyya

Several visits of organizations (television industry): Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, ARTE TV

Maral Ashgevari

Artsadmin, London

Multiple visits of various film-related institutions in Berlin (e.g. onlinefilm.org)

Menika van der Poorten

Belfast Exposed, Belfast

Diya Bannerjee

Ranjana Dave

Uferstudios - Space for Contemporary Dance, Berlin

Ehsan Rasoulouf

postponed

Faisal Malik

Munich Dance Theater Sasha Waltz & Guests in Berlin

Ruchita Madhok

Mallika Taneja

Volksbühne Berlin

Networking visit: Frankfurt Book Fair, Bauhaus Archiv, Berlinische Galerie, Studio Roseapple, Luz Communication, Bureau Mueller Communication, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Hamburger Sprechwerk

Mariam Mana

BFI London Film Festival

Sharath Nambiar

Hessenpark Open Air Museum at Hesse

Mayank Kaul

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, BauhausArchiv / Museum für Gestaltung in Berlin, Bauhaus Dessau, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

Tayeba Lipi

Gasworks, London

Tejshvi Jain

Museums and Galleries Scotland

Vikram Iyengar

Radial System V, Berlin; Hamburger Sprechwerk, Hamburg

Meneka Rodriguez

Muffartwerk Munich Meetings with art organizations: RADIALSYSTEM V, International Theatre Institute, Stadtmuseum - City Museum Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Radial Foundation, Hebbel um Ufer, K&K Kulturmanagement and Kommunikation, Deutsche Oper, Dock 11, Culture Project and Werkstatt der Kulturen (WdK)

Virginia Rodrigues

Salz & Pfeffer Theatre, Nuremberg

Yashwant Parashar

Alba Kultur, Cologne

Mohammad Khorshed Alam Shaheen

Pavillion Hanover, SAVVY Contemporary, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlinische Galerie , Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK), Brotfabrik Galerie, Asian Museum, Zentrum fur Kunst und Urbanistik (ZKU), Prinzessinnen Garten

P Madhavan

Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin Museum of Photography, Berlin

Prasanna Pitigala Liyanage

Kunsthaus Bethanien/Kreuzberg,Berlin

Ruhi Jhunjhunwala

Schone Aussicht Festival at Junges Ensemble, Stuttgart

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ATSA Impact Study and Evaluations by Sue Hoyle – The Fellowship programme has been evaluated independently by Sue Hoyle, Director of the Clore Leadership Programme, UK. “Outside India, there are a variety of professional development programmes for arts managers and leaders, which, like ATSA, aim to develop skills, knowledge, networks and experience. One original feature of the ATSA course – and which distinguishes it from many others - is that it is supports artistic ideas as well as individuals: it places Fellows’ own projects at the core of the learning. Each module gave Fellows the tools to help them realize their ideas.” – Report 2010-2011 “The very practical focus on the real world of arts management - rather than theory - helped Fellows develop their skills, knowledge and confidence.” – Report 2010-2011 “The introductory course for 2011 Fellows was an undoubted success, with a 94% approval rating (up from a very satisfactory 86% in the previous year).“ – Report 2011-2012 “There are many examples of the difference ATSA has made to individuals. Time and time again, Fellows said that what ATSA had brought to them above all was clarity – it has crystallised what they want to do, and how they can make a difference to their communities through culture.” – Report 2012-2013

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What ATSA has given to the fellows: • “Clarity, confidence, courage • Ongoing support from members of a peer group who will be friends for life • Skills to build sustainable businesses, taking forward projects which had been rigorously tested on the ATSA course • Broader perspectives and a better understanding of professionalism in arts management, informed by course tutors and direct observation of different organisational cultures and practice whilst on secondment” – Report 2012-2013 “The most highly valued skills Fellows acquired through ATSA were in strategic and financial planning, and for some, in marketing. They have developed sustainable business models; from observation and through experience, they have learned how to cope with failure, or temporary set-backs, and they have gained a huge amount of intangible learning.” – Report 2012-2013

“It was clear from the group’s discussion on the last day of the course that the Fellows have already started to create a self-sustaining network of peers and that the learning they gained from the course will be cascaded through their projects, organisations and networks. They are keen to create an on-line group and to mentor one another, and – where geography allows – they will meet together to share progress during the Fellowship and beyond. Some are already discussing projects on which they will collaborate.” – Report 2010-2011

“ATSA has given Fellows a structured way of thinking; it has helped them make the right connections; it has enabled them to plan in the long term, and to aspire to great things.” – Report 2012-2013

“I heard many different examples of ways in which ATSA Fellows are working together, across disciplines and across geographical divides.” – Report 2012-2013

“The course brings benefits to the individual, to the cultural sector and to the founders of this important strategic initiative. It helps arts practitioners understand the value of professional management and gives them the tools to turn their ideas into a reality.” – Report 2012-2013

“ATSA will help cultural organisations and projects survive and hopefully thrive. Furthermore, ATSA has created 45 skilled managers who are connected to one another. (…) It has created a self-sustaining network, which in time will extend further across South Asia, and thus strengthen not only the creative and the cultural economy, benefitting local communities, but also enhance cultural relations across a wide geographical area.” – Report 2012-2013

“This report demonstrates how the Fellows are already providing an excellent return on the investment made in them. ATSA participants are aware of the responsibility of being a Fellow, and want to pay back.” – Report 2012-2013

Case Study 1 – Archana Prasad 2010/11 Fellow

However, as her team grows, new issues are emerging, such as how to open a bank account, how to recruit and manage a team, how to work with volunteers, contract negotiations, governance and working with advisers. Archana would welcome opportunities for further professional development in these areas.

Background Information

ATSA: the immediate benefits

Archana gave up her job as a Design Researcher with Microsoft India to become an artist. A year later, in the face of difficulties in exhibiting her work and meeting peers in the field, she founded the Artists Collectives Jaaga and Samuha. For Archana, ATSA came just the right time. She was learning on the job, her projects were “exploding”, and she needed to codify the management tools required to keep things on course, so that her ideas could succeed. She looked to ATSA to equip her with knowledge of legal structures and finance, and to provide a networking opportunity with peers across South Asia.

The residential course met Archana’s expectations, providing useful tools on: • How to handle finances: Archana gained a sense of control over Jaaga’s finances and realised the need to initiate an auditing cycle; • Legal structures: how to choose what was best for Jaaga; • Internet: an essential part of Jaaga’s publicity and marketing strategies, and core to the whole vision – Archana wrote recently “The Internet is the soul of Jaaga” • The most immediate benefit seemed to be the networking opportunities that ATSA offered.

Impact

In Berlin, Archana divided her month equally between secondments to betahaus, which provided a useful model of a coworking space, and Arttransponder, where she saw how to manage an entire project with a collective voice.

Practical Difference

Archana does not work in isolation – she is instinctively collaborative and is keen to expand the creative community in Bangalore. Her ATSA friends are involved and she is collaborating with Suresh’s gallery (1 Shanthi Road) and with an artist collective Bar 1, to produce newsletters and events and to develop understanding and support for each other’s work, space and efforts.

Her time in Berlin wasn’t entirely successful. She recalled that when she made a presentation about her work on the last day of her secondment to betahaus, they realised - too late – what she does. Perhaps her secondment hosts could have made more of her skills and experience. However, there were many useful elements of the ATSA programme, which have informed the way in which Archana has developed Jaaga.

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Archana said that it took her a year to understand the real value of ATSA. The business plan she prepared during the residential course proved to be invaluable, and she constantly refers back to it. She now feels she can build up a programme and “sell” it to others. She has to persuade people to invest to Jaaga and help her meet the running costs of 2,500 euros a month.

In Jaaga, Archana is aiming to realise an extraordinary vision, to nurture creative endeavours and to promote art and culture that use digital technology in news ways. Jaaga’s unique Living Building, a community art installation made of palette rack-shelving, provides a dynamic environment in which artists can work, which is constantly evolving in response to its inhabitants and its surroundings. This inspiring vision needs to be underpinned by practical management skills if it is to be sustainable, and ATSA has helped by providing these skills.

Learning More than anything else, ATSA trained Archana in a structured way of thinking, which has really helped her in assessing the business viability of Jaaga, and in persuading others to support it. ATSA has given her a good foundation of skills.

Case Study 2 – Renu Oberoi 2010/11 Fellow Background Information Renu Oberoi is the Head of Programmes for Habitat World at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, which aims to create an environment that brings together individuals and institutions working in diverse habitat-related areas. Her background was in hotel management, but because of her passion for the arts, she had made a career shift. With no formal background in the arts, Renu saw ATSA as an opportunity to study arts management in a structured format. She hadn’t had any training for 10 years, and was keen to “go back go school” with ATSA, to take a fresh look at her work and to find focus and direction. Her other objective was to meet other arts managers in the field and to learn from them.

ATSA: the immediate benefits The residential course helped Renu looks at familiar management tasks “through a new prism”. She particularly valued the sessions on strategic planning, marketing and social media, which had a bearing on how her team at the Centre communicated about their programmes. Her expertise is mainly in the performing arts, and the interaction with other fellows on the course enlightened her about the visual arts field. She felt “privileged” at being able to share her learning from the ATSA residential course with the rest of her team: “I will now be able to take a shared decision with my

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team, applying the learning from the course, which will give its due weightage rather than taking decisions on just ‘feel good’ factor”. On her first visit to Europe, for the secondment in Germany, Renu felt she gained the most significant learning from ATSA. Based at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, she had the opportunity of learning more about programming, funding and community outreach, as well as undertaking specific assignments on areas such their website and fundraising. The Haus introduced her to other cultural institutions and spaces. This all proved to be extremely useful in informing Renu’s understanding of how to develop the new cultural centre, Epicentre, in Gurgaon.

Practical Difference

she discovered about other systems and working processes. She made contact with institutions in Berlin with whom she feels she’ll be able to work in future, and she found out about ways in which she can integrate the community in the programming of Epicentre. Most importantly of all, Renu feels, has been the networking. ATSA has built bridges across India and she now has life-long friends in Bangalore and elsewhere, who will support her throughout her career.

Impact As a result of ATSA, and in particular the interaction with other Fellows, Renu feels her perspectives have widened. “I think more openly, I think out of the box”. The learning from ATSA isn’t always tangible: ATSA, for Renu, was a wake-up call – she feels that if you don’t move with the times, you can end up being in a “dodgy, stodgy place”. ATSA will have a positive impact on her institution in the long-term, she feels, because she has introduced strategic planning processes which will make it more sustainable, and distinctive from other institutions.

The key impact of Renu’s stay in Berlin was realising the importance of communication in developing a cultural centre, and how to use different tools on the internet. She learned also about how to build an idea holistically, how to strengthen marketing and the promotion of event and how to undertake a SWOT analysis of prospective programmes.

Learning Renu feels that ATSA, and especially the period in Germany, exposed her to a different organisational culture and

Case Study 3

running of every department: Accounts, PR & Marketing, Programming, Operations and so on. She also interviewed people from the Haus of the Berliner Festspiele, under whose aegis the ILB comes.

– Rashmi Dhanwani 2011/12 Fellow Background Information When Rashmi applied for the programme in 2010, she was one of the youngest Fellows, at 26. Already Media and Communications Manager for the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai (NCPA), Rashmi was managing the PR & Corporate Communications profile for the NCPA. This wide-ranging job included handling all the NCPA’s communication strategy, media relations, on-line activity including web updates, social media marketing and any new web initiatives. The project Rashmi wanted to develop was NCPA Chalk Talk, which was something she’d initiated two years earlier with the aim of making art more accessible through a series of lectures and on-stage conversations with outstanding figures in the performing arts, literature, criticism, film and so on.

ATSA: the immediate benefits When she started the programme, Rashmi was keen to get a sense of the big picture, beyond her own institution; understand what value she brings and how to do things better, achieving high professional standards; find out more about project management; and learn how to reach new audiences. When I interviewed Rashmi at the end of the first residential course in March 2011, she said she felt the course had helped her figure out her place in her own organisation and in the entire cultural sector, and allowed her to work out how she could 50 ARThinkSouthAsia 2010-2014

make a difference. She spoke very positive about the networking opportunities that ATSA had offered. Through interaction with the other Fellows, and the visiting Faculty, she had gained a broader perspective on how people run organisations across India and the challenges they face. She had been introduced to certain concepts such as SWOT, vision, mission and so on, and she had stepped back, got out of her “zone” and been given some breathing space to reflect and learn. She would have liked to have spent more time on marketing, but recognized that there were time limitations on the course and the key challenge for her going forward was to stay updated on new developments. Rashmi was keen to undertake her secondment in Berlin, as she felt the opportunities there, in an evolved arts scene, would be most closely aligned with her projects. She was keen to look at community outreach and audiencebuilding across genres and institutions. As a result, the structure of her secondment was different from most of her peers. Given that the nature of her project and the NCPA is so broad-based, it was difficult to be aligned with one single institution. Accordingly, her period in Germany was a mixture of interviews and observation. For the first half of her secondment, Rashmi was attached to International Literaturfestival Berlin (ILB) as a “fly on the wall”. Whilst there, she interviewed everyone from the newest intern to the Festival Director, asking them how they managed the festival and the challenges they faced. She found out more about the day-to-day

For the second half of her time in Germany, Rashmi set up interviews with top arts institutions in Berlin, and also policy makers, companies, sponsors and journalists. The institutions she interviewed included the Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Oper, Staatsballet Berlin, Komische Oper, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Hebbel um Ufer, Interweaving Performance Cultures at Freie University, K&K Kulturmanagement and Kommunikation, Tanzbüro Berlin and Uferstudios. The period in Germany had a significant impact on Rashmi. In the report she wrote on her secondment, she identified a number of things she’d come to realise, amongst which: • Every institution is a product of its own culture i.e. You can’t replicate the structures and systems of a specific culture elsewhere but “What you can do is take best practices and bring them back into your institution, but allow the best practices and new systems to adapt to the base structure of your institution. Naturally adapt, not force”. She also realised the importance of understanding different cultures, which can otherwise create barriers within or across institutions. • Institutional co-operation is very important in the area of audience building – in which each institution has a key role to play in community engagement. “In a place like India, a project like the one I am trying to do …will take a few decades. I became more realistic about what I can achieve and do”.

• German efficiency is a trait of the culture and its systems, and in practical terms it is about thinking through the last detail and putting the right level of resource behind it. She compared the remit of the Deutsche Oper Berlin with around 500 staff with that of NCPA, with a much broader remit and more active programme and only 260 staff. Rashmi concluded, “In a country as big as ours, we often fail to realise that we need more people to do a better job and to achieve better results. We expect too much from our small teams”. • The key to the success of a project lies in its leader, in the vision of the creator: “His/ her vision, or the lack of it, is what plays out on the stage”. • An arts institution has a role to play beyond enabling artistic excellence, as a catalyst for social change and thought leadership. The experience in Germany undoubtedly helped Rashmi grow professionally: “It reaffirmed my belief in the role of outreach in audience building. It helped me find a pattern in the participatory model. It enabled the painting of a larger picture, where it all makes sense. It gave a roadmap”.

Practical Difference The whole ATSA programme - residential course, secondment and interaction with other Fellows and the ATSA team - has had an immediate impact on the scope of Rashmi’s work and the way she undertakes it. It also enabled her project, Chalk Talk, to become much bigger, more inclusive and connected to a higher purpose. (…) Some examples of her achievements since starting the ATSA programme: (…) setting up a new outreach department; continuing to ensure high visibility for the events and NCPA brand; and scaling up the web profile

to include newsletters, increased marketing through social media; and webcasts.

Learning In retrospect, the most important things Rashmi learned about arts management from the ATSA programme were: • Be realistic • Ensure you are aligned with the goals/ vision of the head of the institution • The importance of strategy and plans • The value of marketing and education • The need to constantly question why you are doing what you are doing, so as to not lose sight of the big picture

Impact As a result of ATSA, Rashmi feels her performance is stronger in the following areas: • Strategic planning • Policy development • Project management • Business growth • Financial planning and financial management Rashmi’s line manager and mentor Romit Chaterji notes that, following ATSA, Rashmi has grown stronger in terms of confidence, communication skills, networks and personal profile. “Besides the traits listed, one significant area that I could add, is greater understanding of modern practices in the management of cultural institutions”. For Rashmi’s part, in terms of personal skills and attributes, she feels she is more ambitious, has more confidence, her profile is enhanced, she has wider networks and is better at partnership/ team-working and she is able to be more innovative and promote out-of-the-box thinking. She has gained support from her fellow Fellows and stayed in touch with almost everyone. In fact, she even visited Dr Hanne’s Kattaikuttu Sangamam in Kanchipuram. 52

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Rashmi told me she has been able to achieve so much at work because ATSA helped her trust herself. Before ATSA, she questioned whether what she was doing was right, but now, with greater confidence, she knows she was. “I realised I was not wrong, I was never more right”. Romit Chaterji concludes: “Rashmi has grown as a Professional Manager, post her exposure to the ATSA Fellowship. Her perspective, regarding the management of a cultural institution like the NCPA where she is employed, has widened considerably. She has been exposed to new concepts and techniques which she is applying to her job (….) ATSA has definitely helped her define a career path and role for herself in the future”.

Case Study 4 – Abantee Dutta 2011/12 Fellow Background Information Abantee combines two professional backgrounds: she is an independent law practitioner and a dancer, and attached to the GATI Dance Forum as researcher and legal consultant. When she applied to ATSA, Abantee was committed to the creation of an Indian Dance Network, under the aegis of GATI, which would bringing together the contemporary dance community in order to create a strong lobby for dance. Amongst its many aims, this new network would help bring about legislative change, promote dance education and develop audiences, encourage exchange and the development of collaborative projects and explore ways of sharing resources and information. Abantee, and her colleagues at the Gati Forum, realized that critical to the success of their project would be the ability to win over politicians.

ATSA: the immediate benefits ATSA came at just the right time for Abantee. She was in transition, looking at how to bring together her legal expertise and experience as a dancer. She was at a turning point, working on the first dance network seminar, and wanted to understand how the arts world works more broadly. Through ATSA, it seemed as though she would gain the skills, perspectives and networks she might need. Abantee and her colleagues at Gati had been working on a project-by- project basis, with each person responsible for individual project budgets and no-one having oversight of the big picture. The

elements of the residential course which were most relevant to Abantee were financial planning and cultural policy - the latter, because it helped her understand the context for her network’s ambitions, and the former because, as a result of the gentle questioning of Sandeep and Divya, she started to look at her project more objectively, and see the need to stay true to her vision, whilst keeping her feet on the ground. She realized that the Gati team needed to have collective responsibility for finances and not leave everything to their accountant. She understood the need to translate broad goals into specific activities. Also, the rigour with which the course at Manesar was organized showed Abantee the need to be disciplined in the way she approaches projects. Perhaps most importantly of all, Abantee found meeting the rest of the group an enriching experience. Given some of them were very experienced, she was at first rather intimidated by the volume and level of their knowledge, but now they have become firm friends and a support structure for her, especially at watershed moments when her project felt stuck. She learned a lot from visiting Hanna’s project, and Gurmeet, in particular, has been a mentor for her, and helped her discover new networks of support. In turn, unanticipated work has come to her through the ATSA Fellows with, for example, Gurmeet inviting her to join the team drafting a cultural policy for Punjab.

The secondment in Germany was a very significant learning experience for Abantee. She was attached to K3 in Hamburg for 5 weeks and during this time undertook a critical assessment of Tanzplan Hamburg, and was mentored in a non-judgmental way by Dr Kerstin Evert. From watching her in action, she learned about commitment, perseverance and patience. She found that observing someone else’s process had great practical benefits, including: • Gaining access to a wider network of dance plans across the world • Interaction between Gati and other dance networks, creating opportunities to share good practice, and to learn from one another • Aspiration for future collaboration between the Gati summer dance residency and the residents of K3

• • •

Creating a plan for revitalizing the existing performance infrastructure in New Delhi in consultation with the Sangeet Natak Academy Recording the stories of emerging artists and incorporating them in a travelling day-long workshop, which will help create a community of dancers Undertaking a comprehensive review of state schemes and policies for dance and investigating their relevance to education, showcasing and archiving

importance of the ATSA community in supporting WRAP and Abantee in particular. The benefits have not only been felt by Abantee. The connections she made across India and in Germany will continue to give rise to new opportunities for Gati, and they hope to collaborate with K3 in the future. “I must say, for myself, that my world expanded through Abantee”, writes Anusha. “The new perspectives she brought to GATI after ATSA fuelled me in many ways”.

Amongst the many individuals and organisations which have supported Abantee, she acknowledges the contribution of the ATSA programme itself “which triggered this journey and has made the realisation of the idea possible”

Learning In Hamburg, Abantee made a great many contacts in the dance community; learned about the federal form of governance in Germany and how to lobby politicians effectively; and understood the need to be realistic in terms of the time needed to achieve change. Abantee returned to India and renewed energy, a shift in her mindset and a new focus for her project.

Practical Difference When she returned to India, Abantee realized India Dance Network could no longer be a project with a limited duration. “It is an endeavour and a commitment of creating a sustainable environment for dance in India to enable artists to aspire for their artistic excellence”. She has secured support in India for her project from bi-lateral agencies like UNESCO and Pro-Helvetia and national organisations like the Sangeet Natak Academy. Her idea has been renamed as W.R.A.P. (Working in Research and Policy) and its first pilot in Delhi, will focus on: 54

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The secondment to K3 gave Abantee the space and time to reflect and research her own project, in a context that was both different and yet similar. She feels that the one universal truth that she learned from her time in Germany was that governments only invest if they see tangible results in the future. “There were not ‘tangible outcomes that my project had articulated except for a plan, which in government parlance does not translate to ‘development’, no matter how noble the cause may be”. A nagging thought that her mentors had warned her about rose to the surface whilst she was in Germany “Are we trying to achieve too much in too little time”.

Impact Anusha Lall, Director of GATI, feels the most visible benefits to Abantee in terms of management skills and capacity, have been in her understanding of policy development, communication and public relations. She feels she is stronger in terms of partnership/team working, presentation skills and networks. Anusha highlights the 55

This brochure has been designed by the team at Kahani Designworks, Mumbai. Ruchita Madhok, Principal Designer of the studio has been an ARThinkSouthAsia Fellow for 2013-2014

supported by

ARThinkSouthAsia C/o Khoj International Artists Association S – 17, Khirkee Extension, New Delhi 110017 P +91 11 65655874, +91 11 29545274 E atsa@arthinksouthasia.org www.arthinksouthasia.org