The Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation (SSAF) and Asia Art Archive (AAA) in India are pleased to announce the SSAF–AAA Research Grant for Archiving Histories of Art, Ideas, and Visual Culture 2025.

GRANT FOCUS FOR 2025

We invite proposals that interrogate how visual and cultural print materials of different kinds—books, journals, magazines, broadsheets, posters, pamphlets, books, ephemera, etc.—contributed to, constituted, and were embedded in the cultural politics of a historical moment. Preference will be given to proposals that focus on materials in regional languages that are not reachable or are out of circulation, and are not easily available or located in public collections, with an intent to make these materials accessible to the best extent possible, and in meaningful and productive ways.

The areas of research may include, but need not be limited to:

• Social or political movements that extended to print culture, and the visual, literary, and political histories therein.
• The intellectual contribution of artists, activists, poets, writers, editors, designers, or publishers who played an important role in the evolution of print and visual cultural materials, and the debates involved.
• The movement of ideas on art, literature, poetry, aesthetics, and cultural practices within print culture, and as they occur via translation between languages and contexts.

SELECTION PRIORITIES

• Research that aims to unearth otherwise inaccessible cultural materials, and that preferably engages with regional languages, materials, and milieus.
• Research that is interdisciplinary and deploy innovative methodologies, with clearly defined objectives and outcomes.
• Research proposals that clearly outline the relevant area of research, and are feasible for completion within the given duration of the grant.
• You may refer to the project proposals of past grantees on the website

Six candidates will be shortlisted for interviews on the basis of their applications, and they will be interviewed online in October 2025. One grantee will be selected from among those interviewed by a panel consisting of one external jury member, one member from SSAF, and one member from AAA in India. The selected grantee will be informed by the end of October 2025.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Eligibility Criteria
Individuals who are Indian nationals residing in India, or collectives whose members are all Indian nationals residing in India.

Deadline for Applications: September 15, 2025

Duration of Grant: November 1, 2025 – October 31, 2026

Grant Amount: Up to INR 3,00,000

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

A completed application form detailing:

• Applicant details (name, contact information, etc.)
• Project details (title and brief description of project)
• Referee details (name and contact information of one referee)

Documents to upload in a single PDF file not exceeding 50MB:

• A two-page CV and a selection of two of your most relevant publications, or a portfolio of recent projects. If applying as a collective, please submit a portfolio of the collective’s activities as well as CVs of at least two members.
• A project proposal that includes:

(i) A description of the proposed research with context of its relevance, an elaboration of the

research methodologies to be used, as well as the intended form of the final research outcome.

(ii) An indication of sources, collections, and interlocutors the research will involve.

(iii) No more than ten images of proposed research material.

• A tentative timeline for the project’s realisation and a budget of estimated costs based on the project proposal and timeline.
  Project proposals may be submitted in English or any Indian language.

Application Deadline: Monday, September 15, 2025

We encourage applicants to reach out to us at [email protected] and [email protected] prior to submitting the application to discuss any questions, clarifications, or concerns. Late submissions will not be considered.

For more details about the grant and submission guidelines, visit the link below.