Space118 Fine Arts Grant: 2024-25
Space118 Art Foundation invites applications from artists all across India, for a production grant towards the realisation of an ongoing or a newly conceived project. The grant entails two online Mentorship Sessions (plus a review session) with a senior or mid-career artist who the Jury deems suitable for them. Apart from the grant bursary and the mentorship sessions, the recipients are also getting a chance to exhibit their work through a ‘Virtual Open Studio day’ that will be available to access on Space118`s social media handles- Instagram and Facebook. Grant amounts awarded are between INR 15,000/- to Rs. 1,00,000/-
The proposed budget is vetted by the JURY MEMBERS consisting of Lekha Poddar, Sabih Ahmed, Sakshi Gupta and Soumya Sankar Bose in consultation with the selected grantees and Space118 before the commencement of the grant.
Our MENTORS for the year 2024-25 grant were Pushpmala N, Monica Narula, Lekha Poddar, Mahesh Baliga, Mithu Sen, Shaina Anand and Jeebesh Bagchi
Space118 Fine Arts Grant Winners 2024-25:
Swarnendu Chakraborty (b.1997, Ghatal, West Bengal, India) has pursued BFA from I.C.A.D, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, 2019 and M.F.A from S.N. School of Arts and communication, University of Hyderabad, 2022. He was a part of an international student exchange program, 2022 between University of Hyderabad and l’École des Beaux Arts à Bordeaux, France, focusing on new ways of exchange possibilities through visual art forms and new media-based practices.
Swarnendu Chakraborty lives and works in Medinipur, West Bengal, India.
Sourav Sil (b.1994, Kolkata, West Bengal, India) studied BE in Civil Engineering at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, 2016; and has pursued M.Des in Photography Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 2021. His works have been exhibited in group shows at Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai, 2020 and Museo Cabanas, Guadalajara, 2019. He is a recipient of the Young Writers Award, 2022 in Lens-Based Practices supported by Critical Collective and Murthy NAYAK Foundation. He has been managing visual design, media and archives at the Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation since 2021. Through his practice, he tries to explore the interstices between reality and representation, document and fiction, and history and memory. He primarily works with the still and the moving image.
Sourav Sil lives and works in New Delhi, India.
Asavari Gurav (b. 1997, Goa, India) has pursued BFA in Painting and MVA in Graphic Arts from M.S. University of Baroda, 2021. Her works have been exhibited in a solo show at IIC Delhi, 2023 and in group shows at IIC Delhi, 2023; Space studio Summer Residency, Vadodara, 2023; Museum of Christian Art, Goa, 2022; Sunaparanta Centre of Arts, 2022; Goa Open Arts work at Sunaparanta, Goa Centre for the Arts, 2021. Being a multidisciplinary artist, performer, poet and educator, she has exhibited and performed in Goa, Baroda, Delhi and Ahmedabad. Memories of objects, events and happenings are captured in Asavari’s works. She is interested in representations of women and myriad characters, often performers lost in action. The images evoke stories with references to her land, identity, body, history, folk, cultural and socio-political sources. Working with site specific and research based projects, she wishes to merge art and life.
Asavari Gurav lives and works in Goa, India.
Jatin Gulati (b. 1992, Haryana, India) studied B.Arch. at Murthal University, Haryana, 2015 and graduated in photography from Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, Dhaka, 2020. His recent curation includes this beautiful place, CISA, Khoj International Artist Residency, 2023. Jatin works at the intersection of photography and drawing. His interest lies in speculations around human and non-human histories constructing alternative narratives of the present. He experiments with formats such as archives, documents, textual records, maps and various representations of geography, imagining scenarios that blur the boundaries between fact and fiction.
Jatin Gulati lives and works across Delhi and Bangalore.
Skarma Sonam Tashi (b. 1997, Sapi, Kargil, Ladakh, India) has pursued BFA from IMFA, Jammu, 2019 and MFA, Kalabhavana, VBU, Shantiniketan, 2021. His works have been exhibited in solo shows at Ladakh Art and Media Organization (LAMO), 2022 and group shows in various cities of India including Delhi, Kolkata, Kerala, Gujrat, Hyderabad, etc. He has received- Lalit Kala Academy Scholarship 2021-22; 63rd NEA, Lalit Kala Akademi 2023; “Art For Hope Grant” Hyundai 2024. He participated in the India Art Fair 2024 through Sa Ladakh. Tashi’s artistic practice is deeply inspired by the landscapes of his native place – Ladakh. He utilizes recycled materials (i.e. egg trays, cardboard, and papier-mâché) as metaphors for the delicate mountain-scapes of Ladakh. By articulating architectural patterns, he explores the sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyles that have thrived in Ladakh for centuries.
Skarma Sonam Tashi lives and works across New Delhi and Ladakh.
Ritika Sharma (b. 1994, Delhi, India) has pursued BFA and MFA in Painting from College of Art, Delhi, 2017. Her practice is recognized and supported by India Artist’s Relief Fund, MAP and 1Shanthi Road, 2021; Khoj Support Grant, Khoj, 2020; Research Scholarship, Lalit Kala Academy, 2018, Young Artist Award, 2017, Sahitya Kala Parishad; Young Artist’s Scholarship, 2016, Indian Ministry of Culture; Contemporary Women’s Artist Awards, 2015, Artscape, Chandigarh; etc. Ritika finds her interest in investigating everyday practices, experiences, observations, local spaces, and their involved politics through her mixed media works.
Ritika Sharma lives and works in New Delhi, India.
Sriparna Dutta (b. 1992, Kolkata, India) pursued BFA from Govt. College of Art and Craft, Kolkata, 2016 and MFA in Painting from the University of Hyderabad, 2019. Her works have been exhibited in solo and group shows in India and abroad. She is a recipient of many national and international awards i.e. Birla Award 2024; JK Paper Award (Honourable Mention), Anant Art Foundation, 2024. She has also participated in 17th Crack International Art Camp, Bangladesh, 2023. She works with female narratives and is actively involved with the local community. Her mediums include paper, textiles, and soft stitched sculptural form.
Sriparna Dutta lives and works across New Delhi and Kolkata.
Jury Members for Space118 Fine Arts Grant: 2024-25
Lekha Poddar (b. 1950, Kolkata, India) is a philanthropist, businessperson, and an avid art collector.
Lekha harnessed her passion for Contemporary Art together with her son Anupam Poddar. They established the Devi Art Foundation in 2005. Their collection of Contemporary Art ranges from India, South Asia, Central Asia and Iran. There is also a substantial collection of Vernacular Art From 2008 to date. Lekha sits on the board of the Tate South Asia Committee and as an Foundation has held more than 18 major exhibitions, most of which are from their collection.
Lekha Poddar lives in New Delhi, India.
Sabih Ahmed (b. Born 1984, India) is an independent researcher, and the Associate Director and Curator of Ishara Art Foundation in Dubai.
His curatorial work and research focus on modern and contemporary art of South Asia through diverse itineraries, languages and inter-disciplinary formations. Prior to joining Ishara, he was a Senior Researcher and Projects Manager at Asia Art Archive from 2009 to 2019 where he was involved in the establishment of AAA in India (AAA in I) in New Delhi.
He has served as a Visiting Faculty at Ambedkar University Delhi from 2014 to 2019 and is on the Advisory Board of Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation, Delhi. His writings have been published by Art Cabinet, Mousse, The Whitworth and Oncurating.
Ahmed has been involved with a number of independent curatorial projects, he has led research projects focusing on the digitisation of seminal artist archives, digital bibliographies of art across languages, and has organised colloquia and seminars around artistic, archival and educational resources globally.
Sabih Ahmed lives and works in Dubai, UAE.
Sakshi Gupta (b. 1989) received her MFA in Sculpture from College of Art, New Delhi in 2004. Her works have been exhibited in solo shows at Experimenter, Mumbai, 2023; Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, 2017; GALLERYSKE, New Delhi, 2015; and Tilton Gallery, New York, 2013. Her selected group exhibitions include Columbus, 2017; ‘In the Depths of Our Crater Lake, All is Silent’, Beirut, 2015; ‘Passage to India,’ Staatliches Museum Schwerin, Schwerin, 2015; ‘Nothing, No Thing,’ curated by Bose Krishnamachari, Art Stage, Singapore, 2014; ‘Shadow Lines,’ Biennale Jogja XI, Jogja, 2011; ‘Homespun,’ Devi Art Foundation, Delhi, 2011; and ‘Paris-Delhi-Bombay,’ Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2011.
Sakshi was awarded a virtual residency with the British Council where she made an installation for their new HQ in London, 2020. She was the recipient of the Visiting Artist Fellowship, Harvard University, 2019, the Illy Sustain Award 2011, the Civitella Ranieri Fellowship 2011-12 and the Inlaks International Scholarship 2007.
Sakshi Gupta lives and works in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Soumya Sankar Bose
Soumya Sankar Bose (b. 1990, Midnapore, India) reconstructs archival materials and oral history into photography, films, alternative archives, and artist books. Bose’s hybrid mode of practice interweaving long-term research and engagement with local communities including his own family history accentuates certain subaltern experiences of the marginalised yet resilient in Post-Partition Bengal. Enmeshing fiction and reality, Bose’s work opens up daring realms of memory, desire, vulnerability and identity.
Soumya Sanker Bose was awarded Magnum Foundation’s Social Justice Fellowship for Full Moon on a Dark Night in 2017 and received the Louis Roederer Discovery Public Award at Rencontres d’Arles for A discreet exit through darkness in 2023.
Bose also received The Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (Amol Vadehra Art Grant), The Agroecology Fund, Murthy Nayak Foundation Photobook Grant, Henry Luce Foundation grant and India Foundation for the Arts’ grant. Where the Birds Never Sing was selected as PH museum’s Best Photobooks of 2020 and shortlisted for the Paris Photo – Aperture Foundation First Photobook Award as well as the Lucie Photo Book Prize 2021. Bose’s work has been reviewed by The New York Times, Art Review Asia, NPR, Granta, BBC, The Caravan and Indian Express among many others.
Soumya Sankar Bose lives and works in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
