India Foundation for the Arts

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is an independent, national, not-for-profit, grantmaking organisation based in Bangalore that supports practice, research and education in the arts and culture in India. Set up as a Public Charitable Trust in 1993, we started making grants in 1995. We have supported over 600 projects disbursing over Rs 25 crore (USD 3.5 million) across the country. The outcomes of these projects—as books, films, performances, exhibitions and archival materials—have been circulating in the public domain through showcases, presentations, seminars, screenings, lecture demonstrations and festivals, helping widen access and encouraging broader participation in the arts.

We believe that the arts and culture are essential to our individual and community lives, and for a more equitable and just world. It gives meaning to our existence and enables us to enquire into our past, critique our present and imagine collective futures. It connects us through shared experiences—to question, resist, and build. The arts makes us human, makes us more.

We support critical work that challenges dominant narratives and speaks truth to power. We focus on journeys that seek unheard voices and untold stories, which are often ignored or erased. As a facilitator, catalyst and provocateur in the field, we enable investigations, explorations and experiments that push boundaries of knowledge and practice.

We fund projects under five key programmes—Arts Research, Arts Practice, Arts Education, Archives and Museums, and Project 560, especially encouraging work in Indian languages other than English.

Arts Research: To critically enquire into the various histories and artistic practices in India
Arts Practice: To challenge prevalent idioms and conventions of practice, counter market norms and push new boundaries in content, form and medium
Arts Education: To place the school teacher at the centre of its work and supports arts-based training and grants for teachers and artists at government schools across and beyond Karnataka
Archives and Museums: To energise museums and archives as platforms for dialogue and discourse
Project 560: To encourage artists, scholars, institutions, neighbourhoods and citizens to engage creatively and critically in the city of Bangalore