Open Call | Entangled Ecosystems Grant | Science Gallery Bengaluru X Shared Ecologies

ENTANGLED ECOSYSTEMS GRANT

What does it mean to be entangled—with a forest, a fungus, or a changing climate? How do field notes, temperature logs, or a canopy scan reveal the pulse of an ecosystem—and the ways it is being disrupted?

Science Gallery Bengaluru and Shared Ecologies—a programme supported by Shyama Foundation–invite artists or collectives of Indian nationality to apply for the Entangled Ecosystems Grant. This is an opportunity to create a new exhibit that explores ecological connections through the intersection of art, science, and research. 

The selected artist or collective will collaborate closely with ecologist Dr Meghna Krishnadas, engaging with material ranging from plant tissues and fungal cultures to spreadsheets, models, and images of the forest canopy.
  We seek proposals that are process-driven, participatory, and immersive—projects that go beyond presenting ideas to open new pathways for discovery. The final work will take the form of an exhibit, though the medium is open to your interpretation. Whether through sound, video, installation, sculpture, or a combination of these, we encourage you to choose the format that best conveys the depth of the ecosystems you wish to explore.

The commissioned exhibit will be developed between July 2025 and February 2026, and will be unveiled in March 2026.

Timeline: 

Applications open: 11 May 2025 - 11 June 2025 [11:30 PM IST] 

Results by: July 2025 

Exhibit production: July 2025 - February 2026 

Showcase: March 2026 

WHAT MAKES A STRONG OPEN CALL PROPOSAL?

First and foremost, we prioritise works that help our audiences critically explore the processes of producing knowledge relevant to the topic of the current Open Call. The proposal should critically engage with themes of ecology, environment and the climate. 

We strongly encourage you to take a moment to explore our archive of previous exhibitions to consider the Science Gallery Bengaluru ethos before committing your valuable time and energy to the application.  

We invite proposals that may be completely physical, or are physical with a digital or online component. 

WHAT TYPES OF PROJECTS ARE ACCEPTED? 

Our approach is trans-disciplinary so we accept projects from highly diverse disciplines that could include art-works, video, performance, poetry, craft, sound, web-based work, socially engaged work, live experimentation, design, sharing of data from social science, medical, or natural science research – essentially we are not format-prescriptive!

WHAT TYPE OF DATA WILL I WORK WITH?  

Artists will have access to a range of materials generated through ecological fieldwork and analysis—Excel sheets from field studies, observational field notes, digital images (including canopy scans, species documentation, and remote sensing), temperature and humidity data from digital loggers, experimental observations from greenhouse-grown plants, collections of soil and plant tissues, fungal cultures, and processed analytical outputs such as graphs, statistical models, and visual data representations. These materials offer multiple entry points for artists to explore, respond to, or work with ecological questions and patterns.

More details about the data are given below.

1. Excel sheets of field data records: 

This is often the core data of the field ecology group. Each project and goal has specifc datsheets based on the question being asked. This can include field notebooks, sometimes for the same job as excel sheet, but also general notes.

2. Photographs:

Of people, plants, insects, canopy images, landscapes, remote sensing. Some of it is meant for curiosity, identification of species, records of research, or images that are analyzed using software (e.g., canopy openness).

3. Digital data loggers:

Data loggers monitor temperature and humidity at different parts of the systems being researched. They are often important for long term monitoring such as what we do for seedlings and about to start for older plants.

4. Plants growing in the greenhouse:

We conduct experiments to assess plant features such as their ability to use light and water, respond to soils, and compete with each other.

5. Collection of soil and plant tissues (leaves, roots):

These are collected from fields and greenhouses, often to characterize features such as tissue quality, nutrient content, chemistry etc. These 'traits' of plants relate to many functions such as efficiency of resource use, stress tolerance, competition etc.

6. Fungal cultures growing in test tubes and petri dishes

7. Analyzed data: 

These emerge from raw data - tables, statistical codes, model outputs, software, graphs (scatter plots, bar plots, regression lines, dot-and-whiskers plots, multivariate plots) - representing quantitative synthesis and formal evaluations. This is what you would see in peer-reviewed publications, reports, work presentations.

WHEN WILL I GET AN ANSWER?

Science Gallery Bengaluru and Shared Ecologies will notify applicants if their submission has been successful by July 2025. The gallery will be considering submissions during June-July 2025, so if questions about your project are identified we might contact you for clarification during this period.

WHAT IS THE NEXT STAGE?

If we think your work is exciting and relevant, we will start a conversation about your Proposal with a view to establishing feasibility in July 2025. 

ABOUT SGB

Science Gallery Bengaluru (SGB) is a not-for-profit public institution for research-based engagement targeted at young adults. We work at the interface between the human, natural and social sciences, engineering and the arts through a Public Lab Complex, ever-changing exhibitions, and mentorship programmes. 

SGB is established with the founding support of the Government of Karnataka and three academic partners—Indian Institute of Science, National Centre for Biological Sciences, and Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology. It is a member of the Global Science Gallery Network with sister galleries in Atlanta, Dublin, London, Melbourne and Monterrey.

ABOUT SHARED ECOLOGIES

Shared Ecologies is a program by the Shyama Foundation supporting initiatives at the intersection of art and ecology – through critical, creative, aesthetic approaches, and collaborations with various disciplines and knowledge systems. Through grants, programmes, and conversations, we aim to facilitate a regional and international ecology of individuals, practitioners and institutions, who share overlapping concerns, philosophies and methodologies.

ABOUT THE ECOLOGIST 

As an ecologist, Meghna Krishnadas is curious about the mechanisms that maintain diversity in ecosystems. In a different life past, Meghna was a medical doctor, but she left the hospital halls to walk the forest trails. Her transition to ecology began with the realisation that biodiversity was being lost at alarming rates. Meghna went from activist to scientist because she felt that knowledge was essential to action, but she was also increasingly driven by intellectual curiosity about the complexity of life around us. When not thinking of science and conservation, she likes to run, practice yoga and try out new fitness regimens. Good books, great conversation, and gastronomy rank high in her life agenda and someday she would like to farm (at least some of) her own food.

Know more about Meghna's work here.