Applications Open for Sustaina India Fellowships

Sustaina India is pleased to announce the third edition of Sustaina Fellowships for Collective Climate Action

What is the Sustaina Fellowship?

Sustaina India, a first-of-its-kind art x climate change initiative by Thukral and Tagra (T&T) and the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), is now accepting applications for the third edition of Sustaina India Fellowships. The Fellowship programme will support three creators over six months to realise impact-driven mixed-media and multimedia art projects at the intersection of art, climate science and research. The fellowship will culminate in a 10-14-day-long exhibition in New Delhi in January/February 2026.

What are the key goals of Sustaina India?

• To address the urgent need to catalyse pollinations across art, science and policymaking through annual fellowships, exhibitions and public programmes.
• To mobilise creators to integrate decentralised climate change awareness and sustainability conversations into the cultural fabric of India and beyond.
• To unpack the key potential of materials to tell stories of climate action and sustainability.

Sustaina India 3.0 We invite proposals that critically engage with the climate crisis and inspire bold, solution-oriented visions for the future. Rooted in a commitment to climate action, this call seeks artistic practices that challenge conventional thinking and open new ways of seeing, feeling, and responding to the complexities of climate change.

We are particularly interested in works that question the status quo, highlight resilience and adaptation, and reveal the deep interconnections between people, ecology, and systems. Whether through drawing, sculpture, installation, sound, performance, video, or through individual practices grounded in long-term research on climate resilience, adaptive intelligence, innovation, and the ecologies of care, your proposal should invite audiences to rethink their relationship with the planet and imagine just, sustainable futures.

We encourage you to explore the previous editions of the exhibition – Sustaina India 1.0 and Sustaina India 2.0 before filling the application form. Proposals based on new and ongoing projects will be considered.

LINK TO THE APPLICATION FORM 2025

Applications Due: 30 June 2025

Application Guidelines

Who can apply: Young and emerging creators currently residing in India.

Medium: While we have no restriction on the medium, the creators should use materials that have a limited or no carbon footprint.

What we offer:

• Total budget of INR 3,00,000, including production budget of INR 1,50,000 lakh to create a new project and an honorarium of INR 1,50,000 to each selected Fellow
• In-person workshop in Delhi to kick-start the Fellowship
• Mentorship from the curators of Sustaina - Thukral and Tagra to realise the final art project
• Knowledge support from CEEW — one of Asia’s leading public policy think tanks
• Opportunity to present the project at a prominent gallery space in Delhi
• Travel and accommodation during the workshop and exhibition

Selection process: The applications will be reviewed by Sustaina India's core team, which includes a jury of experts and advisors from the fields of art and climate science and communications. The selected fellows will be announced by the end of July 2025.

Sustaina India is curated by Thukral + Tagra and organised by Mihir Shah, Milan Jacob, Vidusshi Pathak, and Shruthi Chikkuraj Pillai (CEEW).

For further questions about the fellowships, write to vidusshi.pathak@ceew.in

About CEEW

The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) — a homegrown institution with headquarters in New Delhi — is among the world’s leading climate think tanks. The Council is also often ranked among the world’s best-managed and independent think tanks. It uses data, integrated analysis, and strategic outreach to explain — and change — the use, reuse, and misuse of resources. It prides itself on the independence of its high-quality research and strives to impact sustainable development at scale in India and the Global South. In over fourteen years of operation, CEEW has impacted over 400 million lives and engaged with over 20 state governments. Follow us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter) for the latest updates.

About Thukral and Tagra

Thukral and Tagra are a Delhi-based artist duo comprising Jiten Thukral (b. 1976, Jalandhar, Punjab) and Sumir Tagra (b. 1979, New Delhi). Driven by the artistic methodologies of painting, gaming, archiving, and publishing, their multifaceted studio practice reflects the scope of engagement in the cultural and political landscape of India and the world. While their early career work dealt with the intricacies of consumer culture globally, their recent interest in ecology and climate change is a revisiting of their family histories of migration and farming in the Indian state of Punjab. Through and beyond their studio practice, Thukral and Tagra create new formats of public engagement and attempt to expand the threshold of what art can do.

Tags Advocacy Liberal Arts Social Change Others