Open discussion to answer submission questions

1. Friday, Jun 30, 2023. 11:00 AM Indian Standard Time

2. Sunday, Jul 2, 2023. 11:00 AM Indian Standard Time

Online meeting location:
https://ncbs-res-in.zoom.us/j/94540646607?pwd=V1ZsRXZBRm93eTE4djhOQUJrVC9hQT09
Meeting ID: 945 4064 6607
Passcode: 230626

The Archives at NCBS (https://archives.ncbs.res.in/) is a public centre for the history of science in contemporary India. As part of its public engagement, the Archives commissions public-facing exhibitions. This year, as we turn five years old, we are delighted to announce a public call for proposals to develop “Grow’’, the working title for Season 5 of the exhibition series in our gallery space

• Jul 30, 2023 [midnight, IST]: Proposal submission deadline
• Sep 1, 2023: Winning team will be informed privately
• Sep 15, 2023: Public announcement of winning proposal and start of project
• Dec 15, 2023: Completion of exhibition prep (concept, pre-fab design etc)
• Dec 15 – Dec 29, 2023: Installation
• Jan 1, 2024  – Dec 1, 2024: Exhibition is live
• Dec 2 – Dec 6, 2024: Exhibition take-down

The Archives at NCBS has two incredible collections that pertain to Indian agriculture, related but vastly different in scope and nature. 

One is the Leslie Coleman Papers, a collection of letters, photographs and other documents about the life and work of the Canadian entomologist, plant pathologist and virologist who worked in the erstwhile Mysore State from 1908 to 1933 and was Director of its Agriculture Department for two decades. 

The other is the MS Swaminathan Papers, an expansive collection of over 48,000 objects including letters, photographs, media clippings and administrative documents related to the life and work of the Indian agricultural scientist and plant geneticist known for his involvement in India’s ‘Green Revolution’. The material in this collection is from 1933 to 2020.  

There are several fascinating points of tension, overlap and continuity in the two collections. We would like you to draw on the rich archival material in these two collections to develop an exhibition. This could bring out ideas of growth, but also development, decay, stagnation, innovation, migration, cooperation, diplomacy, geopolitics, and science, all of which are evident in the chosen collections. The idea is to use the archives to curate a story and move beyond explanations of what the collections contain. You are at full liberty to explore ways of approaching this theme, and will need to show how you will push the interpretation of archival objects to unexplored domains while pulling and teasing out new narratives from them.

Your proposal does NOT need to be science-y. But it has to tell a good story at the intersections of history, design, culture and science. 

1. Curation of content for the exhibition, including development of the narrative.
2. Design and production of the exhibition, including production/construction of exhibition material, installation and maintenance over the course of the exhibition.
3. Disassembly of the exhibition after the end date for the exhibition to restore the gallery to its original condition.

1. On-site: The main exhibition should be a physical installation that uses the Archives Gallery space. Other optional physical spaces include the Archives Reception Corridor, Archives Basement Lobby and the adjacent Amphitheatre.
   For space dimensions of the gallery and other spaces, here is the Plan view of the Archives at NCBS: http://bit.ly/ArchivesPlanView20180706.
   And here is a view of the exhibition space with the current exhibition: Ever Met An Ugly Flower? as of June 2023: http://bit.ly/exhibitionspace2023
2. Traveling/Remote:  Some exhibition components should be accessible remotely. This could be a virtual tour and/or a separate exhibition website, which will later be added to the Archives at NCBS website. Or nuggets of the exhibition distributed in other physical locations, all accessible through a common digital portal.

1. Your proposal for the exhibition should address the theme, Grow. It should also show that you have thought about narrative and the intersections of history, design, culture and science.
    
2. The applicant’s proposal should engage substantially with archival material in the Archives at NCBS, particularly from the Coleman and Swaminathan collections. Additional engagement with other archives is also welcome. 
   
   Researcher’s Guide to using the Archives at NCBS and making requests: https://archives.ncbs.res.in/access
   Full catalogue – http://catalogue.archives.ncbs.res.in
   MS Swaminathan Papers – https://catalogue.archives.ncbs.res.in/repositories/2/resources/22
   Leslie Coleman Papers – https://catalogue.archives.ncbs.res.in/repositories/2/resources/28
   
   Items from the Coleman collection can be viewed online through the catalogue. In the Swaminathan collection, Series 1 (Research Notes, Data and Photographs) is available online, along with Sub-series 2 from Series 6 (Event Coverage Photographs) – this applies to both Accession Group 1 and Accession Group 2. If you require access to items in the catalogue for which there isn’t a digital object available, you can request access using the first link above. More material from the Swaminathan collection can be viewed here:
   • ​​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsvUeO9Kh0E&t=1448s&ab_channel=BLiSCIndia
3. The applicant is expected to find ways to fit the objects to their narrative. The aim is to show ways in which one can connect objects within the Coleman and Swaminathan collections, and from various archives to each other. There is no maximum number of objects that can be used in the narrative. Applicants can use material from a variety of archives and libraries around the world.
    
4. At least 25% of the exhibits will need to be based on material from the Coleman and/or Swaminathan collections. 
    
5. The applicant is responsible for gathering content and getting permissions to use archival material or any other material. (At the time of submitting a proposal, you do not need to get permissions). Content can be contemporary or archival records – letters, newspaper clippings, annotated manuscripts, reports, photographs, oral history recordings and video recordings, equipment, specimens, original material created for the exhibition. For the use of material from other sources, the Archives at NCBS will assist the winning proposal in getting permissions and try to convince the material source to allow use of material without a fee. But the Archives will not bear any additional costs toward material use fees.
6. The Archives at NCBS can provide original records and/or high resolution digital copies of original records from our collections at no cost. It can also help with connecting with archives and libraries to provide high resolution copies of original records. To reiterate, the final responsibility and costs of printing and licensing, if any, is with the applicant.
    
7. The primary language for exhibition text is English. It should also include some Kannada translations (such as a curatorial note and captions, if any). 
    
8. The winning applicant will need to take the review committee through a virtual mock-up of the exhibition space before installation begins.
    
9. Safety standards (in civil and electrical work, for staff involved in installation as well as for visitors to the exhibition) in production must be maintained.

1. All submissions should ONLY be through our online form: https://bit.ly/grow-exhibition-2023. No other mode of submissions will be accepted.
2. Please upload all proposal documents to a cloud-based folder (e.g. Google Drive or Dropbox) from where the Archives at NCBS can download a folder of files for your submission. 
3. The proposal can be in any language so long as an English translation is provided. It should address the evaluation criteria listed below.
4. Proposal submission should be done by Jul 30, 2023 [midnight, IST] 
5. Please do not submit any financial details at this stage. For your submission, we just need to see the details mentioned in the evaluation criteria.
6. Campus Visits: Applicants are welcome to schedule visits to the Archives at NCBS if it would help in gauging the available space and surroundings. The Archives at NCBS is open Monday-Friday, 10am-5:30pm, and weekends by appointment. If you’d like to set up time to meet the team here, please send an email to archives at ncbs dot res dot in about three days prior to your planned visit (or call 080-6717-6011). 

1. Team and Experience (10%): A clearly identified lead (individual or professional organisation) responsible for delivering the project. Where relevant, please provide curriculum vitae. The team should illustrate competence and clearly defined roles – based on experience and work – towards a) curation and archival research, b) space and graphic design and physical installation work, and c) development of a coherent story.
2. Work Plan (10%): A project plan with defined timeline and tasks. Keep an eye on dates and budget (you don’t need to submit a detailed budget, but funds towards production should constitute at least 50% of the total budget).
3. References (10%): List of three references (includes at least one from a research institute). We only need contact information and not actual reference letters at this stage.
4. Design Flow and Portfolio (20%): Share a digital copy of portfolio to show previous work of individuals and/or team. Include details of at least one past project that illustrates the path from conceptual design to being realized for final product. Not all professionals who are part of the proposal team need to be represented in such an example.
5. Proposed Design (40%): Detailed proposal based on mentioned guidelines. Proposal is evaluated for attention to a)  curation (a clear sense of potential source material), b) storytelling (a clear sense of a potential narrative) and to c) design (a clear sense of how the physical and digital spaces will be used). Your proposal for the exhibition should address the theme, Grow. It should show that you have thought about narrative and the intersections of history, design, culture and science. You illustrate potential use of contemporary or archival records and original material created for the exhibition. At least 25% of the exhibition will need to be based on material from the Coleman and/or Swaminathan collections. Your proposal should also take into consideration the requirements of the exhibition location, target audience, and creative commons license for material created specially for the exhibition. It should follow the guidelines for content/narrative listed on the Grow call website, including Kannada signage. 
6. Local Collaboration (10%): Demonstration that the team can fulfill the requirements of building the exhibition at NCBS in Bangalore.