Artist Residencies
IME is India’s only museum dedicated to showcasing the history and development of music in India. It is also one among a handful of experimental music museums around the world. The museum’s work is spread across exhibitions, programs, community outreach events and education. As an institution, it’s vision is to spread awareness of India’s rich musical heritage to diverse audiences, especially the youth. Spread across nine galleries, the museum has audio-visual interactives, a stunning display of 100+ instruments, a recording studio, instruments and memorabilia from renowned Indian musicians. Besides its nine galleries, the museum has a sound garden, a learning centre for music education, several performance spaces and a café. We encourage artists and musicians interested in doing a residency with us in the following directions:
Digital archive of Indian music – There is ample material in the museum to spark inspiration and encourage artists in residence to work on project ideas with materials in the museum and also form collaborations with local musicians for study, research or performances.
Creating an expression (performance, visual or digital) – IME provides an enriching and conducive environment for artists to immerse themselves in a musical heritage that is many centuries old and has influences from around the world. This is ideal for artists seeking inspiration from the different forms of Indian music, and to exploring local forms of music traditions and practices.
Interpreting our collection – IME invites musicologists, historians, artists and professionals working in the field of music to interpret the museum’s collection through different lenses to offer new perspectives that may broaden the scope of scholarship around the museum’s collection.
Music across borders – Music knows no borders. There are countless accounts of several path-breaking Indian musicians who’ve travelled the world and collaborated with international artists to produce seminal works of fusion in the museum. There is ample scope to research and unravel interesting stories on fusion music, the socio-political contexts in which they evolved, the influences they imbibed along the way, and its significance today that could make for a great exhibition, documentary or a paper.
We also encourage artists to go through our website and develop their own residency ideas based on their areas of interest in music and their artistic practice.
2024 Artists in Residence
Keno Langbein
Keno Langbein is a Berlin-based songwriter, rapper, and artist. He was a key member – until 2021 – of the urban-brass band MOOP MAMA known for their guerilla performances and political activism. His solo work, including the latest album Schall und Rausch, reflects a multidimensional approach to music, blending sound art, visual arts and video.
During his residency at IME, Keno explored traditional Indian music and collected field recordings.
As part of his residency showcase, Keno conceptualised a cross-cultural performance titled What If It Never Stops Raining – a music and poetry performance in collaboration with Bangalore-based artist and beat maker Joel Sakkari. The performance also featured renowned artists Bindumalini, Ditty and Mamta Sagar.
He also held a listening session for his project Rain is Coming by the Faraway Friends – which explored the intersections of music, ecology, culture and activism.
Serafin Aebli
Serafin Aebli was our Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia Artist in Residence from Zurich, Switzerland.
He is a composer and sound artist, known for his interdisciplinary approach to sound and music. His work transcends traditional boundaries as he collaborates with artists from varied artistic disciplines including theatre and dance. He explores new dimensions of sound in a variety of contexts, pushing the limits of technical possibilities and artistic expression.
During his residency at IME, Serafin explored Karnatik music with a focus on the Tala system – its rhythmic frameworks, patterns and diverse metres. He fused his learnings with his current body of work culminating in a cross-cultural performance and video installations – both titled Digi Tala.
2022 Artists in Residence
Joey Van Leeuwen
A multidimensional percussion virtuoso and composer, Joey’s musical repertoire features improvisational, classical, traditional and contemporary styles, synthesized into his own unique approach. During his stint in India, Joey received training in Karnatik music under the guidance of Sri Umayalpuram Mali, Sri Suresh Vaidyanathan, and Dr. Rajna Swaminathan and has performed with Karnatik percussionist Dr. S Ghatam Karthick. His notable performances include the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, French Quarter Fest, New Orleans Sacred Music Festival, Congo Square Rhythm Fest, and the Xerox-Rochester International Jazz Festival. He has performed with Brazilian guitar virtuoso Geovane Santos and with singer-songwriter Daphne Lee Martin as well as performed in the USA and India with his own Jazz group.
Gilles Grimaitre
Gilles Grimaitre, was our Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia Artist in Residence from Bienne, Switzerland. He is a pianist, keyboardist, composer, performer and curator active in the field of contemporary creation. As a pianist, he is a member of the ensembles/bands Collegium Novum Zürich, Shockwave, Thrips, Duo Orion, “Antoine, Françoise, Gilles & Grimaitre” piano duo and performs regularly with international ensembles and orchestras. Passionate about improvisation and electric music, he develops a personal instrumentarium made of analog synthesizers and samplers which he uses with collaborators and in his own compositions. During his time at IME, Gilles studied and explored the Karnatik oral tradition of Konnakol and also learn how to play the Mridangam.
Julius Gabriel
Julius Gabriel is a saxophonist and freelance musician was an artist in residence as part of the bangaloREsidency program spearheaded by the Goethe Institut. Julius’ work focuses on the exploration of the saxophone. He uses extended playing techniques and investigates the multidimensional unfolding of the sound of his instruments through spatial and electroacoustics. At IME, he explored reconstructing an antique diatonic sopranic saxophone along with a local instrument maker, played with local percussionists, made field and studio recordings, and took lessons in Karnatik saxophone.