FICA INLAKS GOLDSMITHS SCHOLARSHIP 2018-19 | Lalthlanchhuaha (Thlana Bazik)
We are delighted to announce that Lalthlanchhuaha (Thlana Bazik) has been selected as recipient of the FICA Inlaks Goldsmiths Scholarship 2018-19, Supported by The Raza Foundation.
The prestigious scholarship, made available through the collaboration of the four organisations – Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation, The Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art, The Raza Foundation, and Goldsmiths, University of London – is given for a recipient to participate in the one-year M.Res at the Curatorial/Knowledge programme at Goldsmiths. The programme takes place in the world’s only dedicated PhD programme for advanced contemporary curatorial research.
The scholarship supports an Indian candidate with an interest in the curatorial, both as the practice of exhibition-making and putting various things on display, but more importantly, in the curatorial as a system of knowledge production in the different assemblages of knowledge that curating as a working principle has brought to the field. The programme, housed at Department of Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, is led by distinguished scholars in the field, including Irit Rogoff and Stefan Nowotny.
The jury for 2018-19 included members of FICA and Inlaks, along with Prof. Stefan Nowotny of the Curatorial/Knowledge Programme at Goldsmiths. The jury was impressed by Thlana’s research proposal titled Of a Cave that Borrows: Rethinking Collective, Collection and Collecting. Continuing his exploration on the question of identity stemming from his own location as a member of the Mizo tribe, Thlana remains interested in new modes of understanding and inviting new models of collaboration. In his re-imagining, the collective gathers in the cave of learning (the Mizo word for cave is Puk, also meaning 'to borrow') - a platform for transformation and inspiration, as cave dwellers who meet to retreat and meditate, to express and to denounce, to transform and to conceive a new line of questioning.
The research would focus on the alteration of perceptions and problems related to the notions of ‘the Other’, and the studies and (self-)knowledge that surrounds it. Via the Curatorial, the gaps of knowledge can be filled and re-evaluated through art. By shifting the ‘perceived’ marginalised to the centre and vice versa, and accepting the instability of the very term marginalisation, Thlana proposes a change in presentation of the resultant collection as well. The Curatorial leads to more organic and dynamic formations and exhibitory structures that involve the community it addresses to a greater and more effective extent. It explores issues of representation, and how art can remedy the trauma of history by acting as a reconciliatory bridge between history and identity.
We wish Thlana all our very best for his time in London, and that he has a fruitful and productive time at Goldsmiths.
About the Recipient:
Lalthlanchhuaha (Thlana Bazik) is an artist from Mizoram and based in New Delhi. He completed his MFA from College of Art, and more recently an MPhil in Visual Studies from the School of Arts and Aesthetics (SAA), JNU. Thlana has participated in a number of shows including “Indie Comix Festival”, Delhi Edition (2018); “India Re-Worlded: Seventy Years of Investigating a Nation”, curated by Dr. Arshiya Lokhandwala at Gallery Odyssey, Mumbai (2017); “Urban Implosion: Asian Cities”, ACC Arts Space Network , Gwangju, South Korea (2017); amongst others. He has been a part of the Students’ Biennale: Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi (2016). Thlana’s publications include “Se Lu nge Tumpang Sial: An analysis of Sial lu (and its critique) as an Iconography in Mizo Art”, Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies, Mizoram University, 2016.
About the Scholarship:
This unique programme brings together three foundations committed to Indian art and scholarship – Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation, The Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art and The Raza Foundation - to provide a fully-funded opportunity to study at the prestigious Curatorial / Knowledge programme at Goldsmiths. The Grant is a testimony to the synergy between organisations working in the Indian context to create education opportunities for worthy candidates in the field of art.
The open-ended programme, housed in the Department of Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, is geared towards supporting the scholar develop a thesis. Varied inputs ranging from seminars in Curatorial/Knowledge, one-on-one mentoring, and access to any graduate courses and seminars in the Department of Visual Cultures, are provided to support this process. The scholarship is for a one year full-time course, starting September 2018.