Artists Residency program opportunity at Khoj, India

Coriolis Effect

Currents across India and Africa

Khoj International Residency program

1 – 31 August, 2015

Application Deadline: June 1, 2015

Khoj invites applications from artists and cultural practitioners for its forthcoming residency program, ‘Coriolis Effect: Currents across India and Africa’, a project which seeks to activate the social, economic and cultural relationship and historical exchange which exists between India and the continent of Africa. In part, the rationale behind Coriolis Effect is in response to Khoj’s immediate neighborhood of Khirkee Village Extension; a dense urban –village environment in New Delhi that has been home to a stream of immigrants from within the Indian Subcontinent, as well as migrants from countries such as Cameroon, Somali, Nigeria, Kenya, Afghanistan and Nepal, to name a few. This hotpot of cultural difference has long been a source of friction between residents, often bubbling into acts of discrimination based violence. This project has grown out of a series of encounters and conversations which took place in and around Khoj through 2014.

This project invites participants to unpack notions of geography, memory, cultural exchange as well as tension and fear of the ‘other’, through history. Coriolis Effect will not only use the present context of 21^st century migrations, but equally refer to various moments of exchange through history; from the recent past of the Non-Aligned movements in the 20^th century, to the cultural relationship shared exchanged by Indians and Africans from the 1^st century AD onwards. 

 

Specific areas of interest for this project include ‘Identity’- whether informed through ideas of race, ethnicity and cultural difference; or informed through notions of ‘belonging’, within the changing context of what constitutes a nation, and what delineates a city, in today’s burgeoning landscape. Identity can also be construed through understanding of gendered and sexualized spaces, in particular, the presentation of ‘masculinity’ as a trope of fear and aggression in the context of racial difference.  The project will also investigate the presence of ‘memory’, through a re-collection of this shared history, and remnants of this history in physical and intangible forms alike. A final point of departure for this project includes political imaginings, as informed through allegiances created in the late 20^th century, following the period of the Cold War and the Non-Aligned period.

Application Details

To apply for this program, please submit the following documents to ‘applications@khojworkshop.org’

·         Recent C.V.

·         A letter of intent / project proposal

·         Images or links to past work

Residency Details

Selected applicants will receive a production budget, daily living allowance, studio space and accommodation at Khoj, as well as curatorial and administrative support to realize proposed projects. Khoj supports national and international travel for selected applicants where possible. International applicants are encouraged to seek support for travel where possible.