The Zubaan-Sasakawa Peace Foundation Grants for Journalists from the Northeast, 2020-21

[For a PDF version of this call, click here]

Zubaan Publishers and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation are offering a limited number of grants for the year 2020 for journalists from the eight Northeastern states and eastern Himalayan region. The one-time grants will support the production of two articles or a photo essay comprising of ten to twelve photographs on the themes detailed below.

Details of the Grant

This grant is a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown and its impact on the world of waged work, particularly freelance and independent media work. Focusing on the Northeast and adjoining areas, this grant works in conjunction with our other grant opportunities for young researchers and women’s collectives in Northeast India.

The grant will focus on the gendered impact of the pandemic, lockdown and responses of the state. Indicative themes can be women’s work, access to healthcare, migration, LGBTQI+ rights, housing and sanitation, fundamental rights, citizenship etc.

Grantee writers will be expected to publish at least two pieces on the chosen subject, and photojournalists will be expected to publish a photo essay comprising of ten to twelve photographs in any media outlet, in consultation with Zubaan Publishers. The pieces may be journalistic reports, long interviews, visual essays or other formats that are thematically aligned with the call. Of these, one would be a 800-1000 word article and the other, an in-depth research article of at least 2000-2500 words. Mentors will be assigned to all the grant recipients for research and writing support during the grant duration.

All articles will have to be approved by Zubaan Publishers before publication and Zubaan Publishers and the grant shall be acknowledged during publication, in any media outlet or anywhere else.

Eligibility criteria

1. If you are an early to mid-career journalist from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura you are eligible to apply. The grant is also open for applicants from the hill regions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong.
2. You must be fluent in English and have demonstrated an engagement with gender in your pursuit of a career in journalism.
3. You must commit to publishing two articles (one of these would be a 800-1000 word article and the other should be 2000-2500 words) or a photo essay (of at least 10-12 photographs with explanatory captions) within the duration of the grant. The grant also allows you to develop hybrid forms within the specified timeline.

[Note: If you feel that you fit into the eligibility criteria and have an interesting proposal to discuss, which may not be in English but has the scope of being translated/adapted, please write to us at projects@zubaanbooks.combefore submitting your proposal.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, please submit proposals keeping in mind health and safety concerns (your own as well as people you may need to be in contact with) as well as travel restrictions.]

To apply:

1. Send in a grant proposal (200 words) outlining the themes of your articles/photos.
2. Submit two articles published by you in any media portal with your by-line.
3. Submit your CV and any other relevant information about yourself that you think is necessary, including proof of age.
4. Include one name of a referee, ideally someone you have worked with, along with their contact information.

Shortlist and selection of grantees

All grant proposals will be screened by a selection committee. The committee will prepare a shortlist and may wish to interview some candidates by Skype or phone. The committee’s decision will be final.

Duration

The grant will be for a duration of four months, extendable based on mutual agreement and prevailing circumstances. Two articles or a photo essay (with explanatory captions) will have to be published in this duration.

Grant

The fellowship carries a grant of Rs 30,000, less applicable taxes.

Payments will be made in two instalments: 50 per cent on approval of the project and signature of contract, and the remainder on completion of the grant terms.

Methodology workshops/webinars

All successful candidates will be required to attend a preliminary methodology workshop/webinar to discuss their areas and themes of work and to get feedback from their peers and resource people. Candidates will be required to incorporate overall feedback in their work before submission.

Interested people can send in their applications to projects@zubaanbooks.com. The last date of submission of application is 30 June 2020. Please put “Application for Journalist Grants”in the subject line.

Shortlisted candidates will be informed by second week of July 2020. 

Zubaan is an independent feminist publishing house based in New Delhi. We publish academic books, fiction, memoirs and popular nonfiction, as well as books for children and young adults under our Young Zubaan imprint, aiming always to be pioneering, cutting-edge, progressive and inclusive. For more information visit www.zubaanbooks.com

The Sasakawa Peace Foundationaddresses the diverse and complicated issues that human society is encountering in the 21st century. SPF and Zubaan Publishers work together in Northeast India, on projects linked with writers and literature. For more information visit www.spf.org

The Zubaan-Sasakawa Peace Foundation Grants for Young Researchers from the Northeast (2020-21)

[For a PDF version of this call, click here]

Zubaan Publishers and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation are offering a number of research grants for the year 2020 for young researchers from the eight northeastern states and eastern Himalayan region. The grants provide a modest fund to prepare a research paper/essay/oral history on the themes detailed below in the call.

Background

As a geographical category, the term ‘Northeast India’ can be used to refer to the territory beyond the chicken neck bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh, which comprises the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The cultures, communities, geographies of this region are similar in many ways with Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and the eastern Himalayan region. The region, in mainstream discourse, has been continually defined, described and constrained within a particular identity that in many ways deprives it of its internal richness and variety. What exactly do we mean when we speak of ‘the Northeast’? This region is home to many peoples, religions, customs, practices, languages and histories. Their collective grouping, the brainchild of colonial administrative practices that have been carried on by the present state, has also become a sort of marker of their ‘separateness’ as an entity, despite the wide internal variety. An argument that is often used to hold the category of ‘the Northeast’ together is ethnic identity — and yet, not only are these states ethnically very diverse, but ethnicity often extends beyond state and national borders into other, neighbouring territories.

Details of the Research Grant

This research grant, in its third year now, hopes to encourage young writers and researchers to contribute in the diversification of knowledge production. It is set against the broad framework/themes mentioned below which will be examined through the lens of gender in the Northeast.

We are looking for applications under the themes of:
a.    Gender and Public Space: In the last few years the question of women’s access to and claims on public space have come to attention again and again. Whether it is the ways in which women are marginalized and rendered invisible by the exercise of the NRC, or denied access to governance bodies, or targeted simply for being in the public eye in ways that society does not wish to sanction, or more recently in the protest movements on citizenship rights that they have peopled and led, women’s claiming of public space has firmly established their right to it as citizens. And yet such claims are staunchly resisted, and women are pushed back into the domestic sphere through the mobilization of systemic and cultural pressures, and more.

The recent spread of COVID-19 has resulted in further reduction of women’s access to public space. Their visibility in state responses to the pandemic (in healthcare, education, access to transportation, etc.) has been routinely left out of policy imagination and it is feared that the existing, hard-fought gains in these spheres may now be lost. Researchers working on this broad subject may choose any aspect of the relationship between women and public space, within the broad parameters outlined above.

b.   Gender and Disability: While marginalization is experienced all along the axis of gender, identities at the intersection of gender and other forms of non-normative existence, such as that of disability, are vulnerable to greater discrimination and disempowerment. Both during and in the aftermath of the  COVID-19 lockdown, for example, women with disabilities have found it virtually impossible to access any relief. Deprived of their carers (if they had any), disallowed from using touch to orient themselves, they are being pushed back into a realm of silence and powerlessness, their citizenship rights conspicuous by their absence. What have been the experiences of gender and disability, and their intersections, in the northeastern states? How have those with disabilities articulated their rights? Researchers are asked to explore these and other aspects of this particular axis of marginalization, not limited to the pandemic and lockdown period.

The grant provides financial and academic support to young researchers who may wish to look into particular aspects of the history, politics, culture of the northeastern states in relation to gender and the outlined themes.

The papers will be written in English. In subsequent years the grant may open up to other languages but for the moment it remains limited to English. All papers written with the support of the grant will be published electronically by Zubaan Publishers on various digital platforms. They may also be compiled in print form and made widely available.

The papers may be academic research papers, long-form journalistic essays or long interviews, visual essays, graphic stories on a particular subject, thematically aligned with the call. Hybrid or creative forms are welcome. Mentors will be assigned to all the grant recipients for research and writing support during the grant duration.

[Note: Papers which are a part of an ongoing or recently completed PhD thesis will not be covered by this grant.]

Eligibility criteria

1.    If you are from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura and are less than 40 years of age, you are eligible to apply. The research grant is also open for applicants from hill regions of districts Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong.

[Note: Preference will be given to candidates based locally in the areas of research, keeping in consideration travel restrictions within the region due to the COVID-19 pandemic.]

2.    You must be fluent in reading and writing English.
[Note: If you feel that you fit into the eligibility criteria and have an interesting proposal to discuss, which may not be in English but has the scope of being translated/adapted, please write to us at projects@zubaanbooks.com before submitting your proposal.]
You must commit to researching and writing a 10,000 words (minimum) essay. The grant also allows for you to develop graphic narratives, or do extended interviews, or produce creative works such as a story, in lieu of the essay, all within a specified timeline.

[Note: Since we have a limited number of grants available, we would like to encourage applicants who can commit to submitting the first drafts of their work within four months of selection. Please apply ONLY if you feel you can fulfil this criterion so as to not deprive other deserving applicants.]

To apply:

1.    Send in a grant proposal (maximum two pages) which clearly describes what you wish to do, what sources you will tap (primary and secondary), the subject of your research and a timeline.
[Note: If you are unsure about the format of the research proposal, please write to us at projects@zubaanbooks.com for a sample research format.]
2.    Submit a writing sample of roughly 500 words or a two-page spread of a graphic story, or an extract from an interview transcript done by you.
3.    Grant proposals may be creative and do not need to be written in academic language.
4.    Submit your CV and any other relevant information about yourself that you think is necessary, including proof of age.
5.    Include two names of referees, ideally people you have worked with, along with their contact information.

Shortlist and selection of grantees

All grant proposals will be screened by a selection committee. The committee will prepare a shortlist based on pre-decided criteria and may wish to interview some candidates. Interviews can take place by Skype or phone. The committee will then decide and the candidate will be informed. The committee’s decision will be final.

Duration: The first draft of the selected papers is expected in four months after the methodology workshop/webinar, details of which are mentioned below. Papers may need to be revised after the first draft depending on the feedback. Depending on the feedback, a month may be given for the required revisions.

Grant

The fellowship carries a grant of Rs 35,000 less applicable taxes.

Payments will be made in two instalments: 25 per cent on approval of the project and signature of contract, and the remainder on completion of the study.

Methodology workshops/webinars

All successful candidates will be required to attend a preliminary methodology workshop/webinar, as well as a mid-term online review where they will present a draft of their work in order to get feedback from peers and resource people. In the time remaining for the grant, candidates will be required to take the feedback on board and to finalize their papers.

Interested people can send in their applications to projects@zubaanbooks.com. The last date of submission of application is Monday, 22 June 2020.

Shortlisted candidates will be informed by second week of July 2020.

Open Call for photographers for Through Her Lens: Reframing the Domestic

Through Her Lens is a visual research programme in collaboration with Zubaan Publishers Pvt Ltd., supported by Sasakawa Peace Foundation, under the Fragrance of Peace Project.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying lockdown has confined us to the four walls of our homes. ‘Home’ or the domestic sphere is both a material space where we enact social actions and relations, as well as a concept, embodied through each person’s lived experiences.

For some, it’s a safe place signifying love and nurture, for few an extension of their individuality and for others, a place of abuse and terror. Yet for many, it’s a non-existent entity. The domestic space is also a fluid notion, where its sense and significance is continuously altering. During this year’s lockdown, we’ve witnessed several different meanings of the concept of home.

This project aims to visually manifest the experiences of women, queer and other marginalized identities within the domestic space during the current COVID-19 crisis and the contestations, negotiations, etc. that emerge from them.

The project emerges from these present challenges — the lockdown, the collapse of the ‘public’ and the ‘private’ space, the merging of paid, unpaid work, etc. Photographers are navigating their own domestic space and documenting intimate relations. This makes it a deeply personal work for anyone and the act of photography acquires new meaning. The distance between the documentarian and the subject, between the storyteller and the story has evidently collapsed.

How do you photograph your own? How do you document objectively? How do you seek consent from close relations? How do you articulate feminist ethics in photography? How do you negotiate the audience’s gaze on your private space?

We hope to engage with these issues through photography and our upcoming weekly webinar series—Through Her Lens: Capturing the lockdown with feminists researchers, activists and photographers in Northeast India.

We encourage photographers to submit their work and participate in these dialogues and try to address the challenges of documenting from within.

Theme: Reframing Domestic Space in the COVID-19 lockdown: Experiences of women, queer, trans and other marginalized identities of Northeast India.

Some experiences that can be visually articulated are:

• Women’s invisible labour (domestic and unpaid work, care work, etc.)
• Changing dynamics of family relations during extended confinement at home
• Mental health of vulnerable people during the lockdown
• Experiences of migrants (engaged in domestic work,stranded in workplaces, etc.)
• Assertions of individuality (e.g. many women have taken up cooking as a form of self-expression during the lockdown)

The photographers are, of course, free to explore the theme through their own imaginations and not be limited by this list.

Objectives

• Chronicle experiences and stories of women, queer, trans and other marginalized groups from the eight Northeast Indian states+Darjeeling Hills during the COVID-19 lockdown.
• Encourage feminist discourses in the region.
• Expand women’s photographic practices in the region and engage with visual storytelling as a form of research and archiving

Selection criteria

• Open to women, queer and trans communities from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Darjeeling Hills
• 18 years and above

Deadline for submissions

• 31 May 2020 — the submissions will be ongoing throughout the month of May 2020 and selected photographs will be displayed on a rolling basis

Submission process

• All submissions should contain the following information:

Name:

State:

Email id:

Contact no:

Social media handles:

• All submissions should consist of a short description of the images. [max 300 words]
• All submissions should consist of a short bio of the photographer. Please state your preferred pronoun in the bio. [max 150 words]
• If you need help with drafting the description and bio please feel free to reach out to us in the given contact details.
• Submissions can be made in three ways:
• Email to: herlens.exhibition@gmail.com  (Please mention the subject as Submissions for THL)

• Google Form: Through Her Lens May 2020
• WhatsApp: +91 9811664209 (Please note that if selected, final images should be sent via email in high-resolution JPEG format)

Image descriptions 

• Final images should be high-resolution and at least 2MB in size
• Images should be in JPEG file format
• Images should not have watermarks
• Images must be taken during the COVID-19 lockdown period
• Up to 10 images can be submitted.
• A photo series with a running theme is preferable rather than standalone images

After selection

• Selected images will be displayed on Zubaan Projects  social media platforms.
• The images will also be archived on the Zubaan website
• Selected photographers will receive a small honorarium and letter of participation from Zubaan

Copyright 

• All participants share the rights with Zubaan Publishers Pvt Ltd (ZPPL) for publishing the selected images on their website, social media, related accounts and communication materials, which will be used in accordance with the company’s Privacy Policy.
• Selected photos can be used by participants with due acknowledgement to ZPPL and Through Her Lens.

No Space For Work: Call for research papers on Women, Work & Violence

[Find a downloadable PDF version of this call here.]

No Space For Work: Political economy and challenges to women’s labour participation, safety and autonomy (or NSFW), a national project spearheaded by Zubaan, seeks to apply the lens of violence, and the threat thereof, to the recent patterns in women’s participation in, access to and exit from the workplace, in both the formal and informal sectors of the Indian economy. Contemporaneous work looks at falling female workforce participation through quantitative analyses that can overlook nuance in how violence and workplace and work-related hostility impacts women’s choice. The project seeks to frame violence through a broader and supra-economic understanding, not merely in terms of the physical or interpersonal violence women may face at work, but the broader structures of violence that impact women’s relationship with work, whether paid or unpaid.

This action research project bases itself in India geographically and will involve women workers in the paid, formal sectors, as well as women who do unpaid and undocumented work, and those who choose to, or are forced to, stay out of work or to exit work. The project will engage with construction, sanitation, healthcare and care work, agricultural and allied sectors, domestic work, and sex work with migration status, queer and trans identities, and disabilities as a cross cutting theme throughout.

Zubaan is opening a call for applications for the year 2020 to young researchers working at this intersection of gender and labour in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Telangana and West Bengal. The selected applications will be eligible for a small fund to prepare a research paper in tandem with our project work in these locations, that focuses on women’s experience of work and the violence thereof and therein. The research paper and the work will also have to involve findings from the participative workshops (wherever necessary) and attempt to bridge the gap in understanding quantitative and qualitative research for the particular sector in the specified locations.

DETAILS

1. Selected applicants will research and write a paper of 8000 words (minimum), collaborate with other researchers online, and attend project workshop(s) in their region of research (wherever necessary).
2. The papers will focus on supporting research that:
   1. Examines how both actual violence and the fear and threat of it, in private and public spaces, influence women’s experience of work
   2. Assesses gender-based violence, work-related hostility and structural measures for redressal through trade unions, employers and the state
   3. Seeks to build a collective nuanced understanding and definition of work, as well as its historical and continuing precarity in relation to women’s work in the current neoliberal economy
   4. Will look at the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic crisis and its effect on women’s work and autonomy
3. This call is applicable to research in the specified sectors of construction, sanitation, healthcare and care work, agricultural and allied sectors, domestic work, and sex work. Proposals for research in allied sectors (for example, women workers in mines) and overlapping sectors of work will also be accepted.
4. The researcher will also be expected to engage with (as far as possible) in-depth work around workshop areas, in collaboration with local coordinators. This may change keeping in mind the pandemic and health concerns and travel restrictions.
5. The papers may be academic research papers, long-form journalistic essays or long interviews on a particular subject, thematically aligned with the call. Hybrid or creative forms are welcome.
6. These papers will be published as part of the NSFW research project and will be used as source material for producing audio, video and graphic material for distribution in the communities engaged with the project.
7. This is a continuing call. First drafts are expected within six months of selection or by March 2021, whichever is earlier.

[Note: If you have a proposal that involves a longer engagement/case study on gender and labour within the project ambit, please write to us at contact@zubaanprojects.org.]

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

1. Sustained engagement with gender, labour and type of work/sectoral experience as detailed above.
2. Base in or currently working out of the specified project locations — Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Telangana and West Bengal.

[Note: If you do not belong to any of the specified locations but have a similar proposal focusing on women, work and labour, please reach out to us at contact@zubaanprojects.org.]

3. Fluency in language spoken in region of research/project locations
4. Experience in academic writing on work or labour in English (preferred, not mandatory)

HOW TO APPLY

Interested persons should send their applications, including the documents mentioned below, to contact@zubaanprojects.org.

5. A proposal (maximum two pages) clearly describing the research you will undertake (the subject of your research as well as the methodologies and mediums you intend you use), your sources (primary and secondary), and a proposed timeline.
6. A writing sample of roughly 500 words that has the same focus as your proposed paper OR a previous research paper.
7. Your CV and any other relevant information about yourself that might be necessary.
8. Two references, preferably from people who know your research or other work

SHORTLIST AND SELECTION OF RESEARCHERS

All research proposals will be screened by a selection committee. The committee will prepare a shortlist based on pre-decided criteria and may wish to interview some candidates. Interviews can take place by Skype or phone or in person. All interviewees will be informed of the final status of their proposals. The committee’s decision will be final.

DURATION

The first draft of the selected papers is expected within six months of confirmation or March 2021(whichever is earlier), allowing for more time if a project workshop does not occur during this time. Papers may need to be revised after the first draft. Depending on the feedback, a month may be given for the required revisions.

PAYMENTS

The selected researchers will be paid an amount of INR 35,000, less applicable taxes. Payments will be made in two instalments: 50 per cent on approval of the project and signature of contract, and the remaining on the completion of the study.

Travel and other allowances for workshop participation will be covered by Zubaan and is exclusive of the research amount.

Zubaan(regd. 2003) is a charitable trust that bolsters feminist research as a chronicler, participant and publisher of women’s movements in India. From 2012-2016, it hosted the Sexual Violence and Impunity in South Asia (SVI) project, which looked at structural and social impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence, and funded generative research on the same, across five South Asian nations. NSFW has grown out of the learnings made and capacities built through these four years of work.

In a wider bid to support creative and critical engagement in the region, Through Her Lens, a photography exhibition in Sikkim held in collaboration with Zubaan and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation under its Fragrance of Peace project, aims to explore new modes of participation with the audience by exhibiting in communal spaces around Namchi.  

As part of a series of programmes that will be held in Namchi in February 2020, the exhibition and discussion surrounding it will aim to understand the lack of visibility of women photographers in the Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills region, and develop viable strategies to support and facilitate spaces and networks for women interested in pursuing a career in photography.

Women from Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills are invited to submit images for the same. Selected works will be featured at a public exhibition in Namchi from 9-16 February 2020. Both aspiring and professional photographers are welcome to apply. Submissions can be made on either of the two themes, ‘Memory’ and ‘Migration’. For more information, visit this website.

We look forward to your submissions!

As we enter 2020 in the midst of nationwide mobilisations, the need to spark conversations and discussions on discriminatory systems is sharper than ever.

For the last year and a half, the Stepping Stones: Engaging with Youth in South Asia on Sexual Violence and Impunity and Body of Evidence projects, supported by IDRC and Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, collaborated with various youth and theatre groups, activists and artists to open up spaces for discussions on sexual violence and impunity.

These projects have resulted in engagements with queer, trans, Dalit and other marginalized groups across India and Nepal (in partnership with Panos South Asia). Performance as Resistance is a culmination of this work — performances, poetry, documentaries and artwork that question state, legal, medical and social impunity — and the showcase hopes to engage different groups and audiences to contribute to our collective understanding of justice. 

Performance as Resistance: Countering sexual violence and impunity through art, poetry, and theatre will be held over the weekend of 11 and 12 January, 2020 at Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan.  A detailed schedule of both days is linked below.

Performance as Resistance schedule

We look forward to engaging with you on difficult questions in these difficult times.

We started November on a high note by launching our new anthologies published in collaboration with the Sasakawa Peace Foundation—‘The Many That I Am: Writings from Nagaland’ and ‘Crafting the Word: Writings from Manipur’—at the Arunachal Literature & Arts Festival. The books were also launched in Imphal, and the launch was featured in local newspaper ‘The People’s Chronicle’.

As part of India Habitat Centre’s Samanvay Festival, three of our Zubaan-SPF grantees—Leki Thungon, Hrishita Rajbangshi, and Ditilekha Sharma—were part of a panel titled Our Writings, Our Stories: New Voices from the Northeast. Moderated by Urvashi Butalia, the discussion centred around their experiences of conducting research in the Northeast. The discussion was also covered by mainstream media outlets. 

Supported by the Stepping Stones and Body of Evidence projects, this month saw more performances by Shabari Rao, Padmalatha Ravi and Anuradha HR as part of the Under the Raintree Women’s Cultural Festival in Bangalore. We also continued our #WednesdaysForWomensHistories social media campaign on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Some of these essays have also been reposted to media platforms like Livemint and Raiot.

We also continued posting the e-Essays of the Zubaan-SPF grantees (2018-19) on all our social media platforms under the #WednesdaysforWomensHistories hashtag. Make sure you’re following us to ensure that you don’t miss anything.

We started October on a high note by hitting the 1000 follower milestone on Instagram! We thank you for your continued support.

Cultures of Peace is an annual, event based project Zubaan has been collaborating on with Heinrich Böll Stiftung (India) since 2011. On 12 October, as part of Cultures, we held a series of discussions in Imphal, Manipur on the intersections of feminist and ecological activism. With a set of short film screenings at Manipur University on 11 October and a following day of conversations, we discussed the role of women’s activism in raising awareness of the socio-political and ecological effects of dam construction, women’s roles in sustainable agriculture and farming practices, and how local and indigenous communities are integral to the way in which efficient conservation practices work.

Facilitated by theatre practitioner Mallika Taneja, a script development workshop was held from  22-23rd of October at the Sahbagi Shikshan Kendra in Lucknow. Through warm up exercises and open discussions, Mallika assisted the groups in creating scripts that centred around various issues like sexual abuse and violence. On the second day of the workshop, the groups presented their performances.

This month, various performances that centred around the themes of sexual violence and impunity were also held in Manipur and Bangalore under the Stepping Stones and Body of Evidence projects.

As some of you may know, we have a series on Instagram where we focus on exploring and understanding different kinds of impunities. This month, we started looking at evidence and how its collection process reinforces certain kinds of impunity. With a special focus on the evidentiary process in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, we aim to unpack the idea of evidence itself, and debunk the notion that it is neutral and objective.

In continuation of our #WednesdaysforWomensHistories series on social media, we posted three new essays written by the grantees of the Zubaan- SPF Grants for Young Researchers from the Northeast. Make sure you’re following us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook so you’re always in the loop!

We started the month on a high note by presenting at IDRC’s South Asia Regional Meeting, where we talked about our projects, their impact, and our learning outcomes.

Our new release The Many That I Am: Writings from Nagaland, published in collaboration with the Sasakawa Peace Foundation under the Fragrance of Peace project (2018-19), hit shelves in the first week of the month. Written by Anungla Zoe Longkumer, it brings together a remarkable set of stories, poems, first-person narratives and visuals that reflect the many facets of women’s writing in Nagaland.

A discussion around sexual violence and resistance was organised in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, South Asian University, New Delhi, with Urvashi Butalia, Kathmandu based theatre artist and activist Ashmina Ranjit and Mallika Shakya. The discussion, besides being centred around the books A Difficult Transition:The Nepal Papers and Silence No Longer: Artivism of Ashmina, also touched upon the personal experience and activism of the panelists.

Various performances were held in Bengaluru and Imphal under the Stepping Stones and Body of Evidence projects. In Bengaluru, students of Azim Premji University and trans activist Shilok performed pieces that looked at sexual abuse and injustice at the Undergraduate Campus, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. In Imphal, the performances were held at Law College Imphal and D.M University. Led by National School of Drama graduate Yengkokpam Purnima Devi, a team of theatre artists touched upon the justice system, the idea of the ‘perfect victim’, the state, and impunity through their performances.

September also saw the launch of our new weekly series on social media called #WednesdaysForWomensHistories, where we share e-Essays with you every Wednesday, written by the 2018-2019 grantees of our Zubaan-Sasakawa Peace Foundation Grants for Young Researchers from the Northeast. All the essays in this series centre around the broader framework of women’s multiple histories and gender in the Northeast.

Last but definitely not the least, we hit a follower milestone of 900 followers this month. Thank you for all the support!

August has been a great month for us!

In the first week of the month, 5 performances on sexual violence and impunity were held in Shillong under the Stepping Stones and Body of Evidence projects. The performances were an extension of the group’s first performance at the Guwahati Open Studio held in June. The performances also touched upon oppression, stereotypes, and the process of confronting memories of sexual violence and trauma.

Last month, we announced the grantees of the Zubaan-Sasakawa Peace Foundation grants for young researchers from the northeast (2019-2020). In August, a writing workshop was held for them in Guwahati. Through the grant process and methodology workshops, we endeavour to provide academic and structural support to the grantees.

We also continued our State Impunity series on Instagram, where we posted extracts from one of the books in our volumes on Sexual Violence and Impunity–Fault Lines of History: The India Papers II. The chapters, The chapters, written by Sahba Husain, Guneet Ahuja and Parijata Bhardwaj, looked at how militarisation and state impunity in Kashmir and Chhattisgarh has created an atmosphere of repression and violence. 

We interspersed the posting of the extracts with content from our Poster Women Archive, which serves a visual mapping of the women’s movement in India through the posters and visuals the movement has produced. The posters we used on Instagram addressed state impunity in particular, but if you want to access the whole archive, make sure you visit the Poster Women website!

We also hit a follower milestone of 800 followers! We sincerely appreciate all the love and support we’re getting.