Sahapedia Fellowships is a collaborative project to encourage fresh research on tangible and intangible heritage across India and South Asia. The Fellowship is a way to both support research on the arts and cultural diversity of India, and to encourage field practitioners and young scholars to identify from their perspectives what needs to be documented and curated curated in the format of multimedia modules (comprising article, image galleries, videos and interviews) and made available on the Sahapedia web portal, contributing to the online resource. Offered annually, the Fellowship supports people in their work with communities and practices that often do not get the attention they deserve.

The Fellowship encourages relationships between those in the field and those in the academy. Through this initiative, Fellows are encouraged to conduct documentation and critical research in diverse areas of cultural knowledge, while interacting with and enhancing networks that contribute to their creation. Sahapedia team members and experts affiliated with us mentor the Fellowship candidates during their research and through the process of editing and reviewing their writing and recording. As a result, the project facilitates connections between practitioners and researchers and strengthens the network of culture knowledge bearers across India.

Since its inception in 2017, and conducted in partnership with UNESCO India, Ministry of Culture, Government of India and HT Parekh Foundation, there have been four editions of the Fellowship programme and has been offered in English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, and Malayalam. 

• During its first edition (2017-18), the Sahapedia-UNESCO Fellowship was funded internally and supported 115 Fellows.
• The second edition of the Fellowship (2018-19) was offered to 72 applicants and was funded by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India under its scheme of Financial Assistance to Cultural Organisations with National Presence.
• The third edition of the Fellowship (2019-20) was offered to 50 applicants and was funded by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India under its scheme of Financial Assistance to Cultural Organisations with National Presence. 
• The fourth edition of the Fellowship (2020-21) was offered to 30 applicants and was funded by HT Parekh Foundation.

Look for the space for the upcoming editions!