Prakriti Foundation Residency

Production residency

Residency brief

Prakriti Foundation was founded in Chennai in 1998 to host events enquiring into cultural heritage and inheritance in order to change and enlarge the cultural scene of Chennai. Since its creation, Prakriti has been a free space where scholars, researchers, artists, critics, poets and filmmakers could present their work to those who engage with it on serious terms. The Foundation organizes four festivals and events across various performing and non-performing art forms, among which are lecture demonstrations, poetry readings, film screenings, and intimate performances.

The French Institute in India is one of the major supporters of the Prakriti Excellence in Contemporary Dance Awards (PECDA), a national-level biennial award for contemporary dance (one-of-a-kind in South Asia). PECDA is a platform for Indian contemporary dance forms, exposing artists to a wider audience and network. With Villa Swagatam, French practitioners will be able to experience this vivid scene, and discover and engage with new, emerging forms of expression, which weave their own language and grammar in India.

The residency offered under the umbrella of Villa Swagatam is a unique opportunity to experience the local traditions of Tamil Nadu in the fields of literature, poetry and performing arts, and engage with forms of expression which weave their own language and grammar in India. The residency is designed for writers, poets, performers, spoken word artists, theater practitioners or any professional engaging with the text in a performative approach.

  • Thematic focus Literature, Poetry, Spoken words, Performing arts
  • Location Chennai or Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu)
  • Dates Between October 2024 and February 2025
  • Length of stay 2 to 3 months
  • View Our Laureates

Our Space

According to the nature of the selected project, the residency will either take place in Chennai - the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state – or Nagapattinam – in a refurbished heritage home located at the heart of the region, in a quiet agrarian village. The resident can choose to spend his time in either of the spaces or both.

Fu Le

Filmmaker and choreographer

During my residency in Tamil Nadu, I aim to create a dance film that explores reality perception through infrared spectrum photography. This technique reveals an invisible dimension, giving bodies a ghostly, marble-like appearance. By shifting the lighting spectrum, I want to extend our vision and delve into the effects of fantasy and AI on our perception.

Fu LE is a filmmaker, choreographer, and director of the Tetrapode dance company in France. He graduated in sculpture at the Art Crafts National School in Paris, he then trained in physical theater and in contemporary dance in Argentina, Belgium and Switzerland. He then pursued his research in Taiwan, questioning social issues linked with urbanisation. Fu Le produced a dozen of dance films awarded worldwide. He founded in 2020 the Tetralab - international screen dance laboratory, and he is now associated artist in residency at La Maison de la Danse - Istres