Call For Application: Toto Awards, Gender Bender, Coffee For Contracts

There is a variety of opportunities around for musicians and other artists to benefit from. We have highlighted some of them below and invite you to write us at info@thewildcity.com and amaan@thewildcity.com if you'd like us to include any that we are missing out.

Gender Bender 2024

Started as a showcase of grantees in 2013 by Sandbox Collective and Goethe-Institut, Gender Bender has evolved into a full-blown festival in Bangalore around having conversations around gender and expanding its understanding through art. Returning for its 10th edition (for which it is crowdfunding here), the platform is offering a grant of up to 75,000 INR towards the creation of works that re-examine and re-imagine gender. The new and original work around gender can be from across any discipline, "from dance to drawing, photography to pottery, mixed media to mime, and everything in between". The finished project will be presented at the annual festival alongside other performances, exhibitions, panel discussions and workshops.

The last date for application is 31 August 2024. For more information, head here.

Watch the music video for 'Transgression' by Inner Rhymes, which was made with the help of Gender Bender's grant:

TOTO Awards 2025

Toto Funds the Arts returns for its 21st edition distributing awards of 60,000 INRs each to two winners in the categories of music, photography, creative writing in English and short film alike, alongside one winner each for creative writing in Kannada and digital art. The Toto Music Award continues its legacy as one of the longest-running supportive awards for independent musicians in India. For its upcoming 2025 edition, the award invites musicians aged 18-29 with Indian citizenship to submit their original works, embracing all backgrounds and genres.

The application deadline is September 15. To apply and for more information, head here. Listen to a work from one of the last year's winners of the Toto Music Awards, Kinari:

Coffee For Contracts

The head honcho behind the platform Artistik License, IP lawyer Manojna Yeluri has brought back her annual tradition of 'Coffee For Contracts'. Through the month of July, Manojna offers one-to-one sessions to help answer your queries or even advise on any struggles (albeit without automatically establishing a client-lawyer relationship) around intellectual property, its laws and legal disputes. All she asks for in return is that you buy her a cup of coffee the next time you meet. 'Coffee For Contracts' forwards Artistik License's effort in dispelling the inaccessibility around legal help within the context of arts and uses its consultations as an exercise of collating common problems and queries to further dive into over its blogs or Insta-guides.

To apply for a consultation as part of Coffee For Contracts, head here. For more information follow Artistik License.