Not that Goa needed any help being cool and trendy, but OYO is on a mission to create
beautiful living spaces in Goa to further accentuate Goa’s natural
characteristics. The team has roped in students from across India for the
project and are currently busy decking up the city of Panjim and the bustling
Calangute. According to team OYO, this initiative is to give back to Goa – a
place, they admit, that has been kind to them. As a way to show OYO’s gratitude
for everything Goa, the team opines that their art was inspired by the many
colours of Goa and the famous handmade tiles, apart from the place itself.
Rohin Pinto, OYO Region Head Goa, says, “Communities have been
very supportive of all our work in Goa and we wanted to do something to make
Goa even more beautiful. We went around asking OYO’s neighbours and friends and
found these spaces and collaborated with them to make locales of Goa even more
welcoming.”
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Keeping the myriad colours of Goa in mind, the team
contemporised the tiles and added solid bright colours in the busy area of
Panjim and also worked with the marine-life on a 30-foot building in Calangute
at a location close to the beach. Goans were very supportive of the idea and
were happy to lend the team spaces and walls for the initiative.
The initiative saw team OYO collaborate with fresh talent from
MIT Institute of Design (Pune) and National Institute of Design (NID) on this
project. The visual documentation of the project was done by these students as
well as by those from Goa’s own The One School Goa. The students worked with
OYO’s design team to create these artworks. Pinto says, “The students came to
the table with no inhibitions, fluidity and the willingness to work through the
sun and humidity. A lot of hard work and planning went into the project.”
When contacted, Jahnvi Gaba, a student of MIT Institute of
Design, Pune, who was part of the team working on the Calangute wall, said, “It
feels great to know that our work will be seen on such a huge canvas. Knowing
that, over the years, people will continue walking by and admire our work is a
great feeling. I’ve always wanted to work on a big canvas like a wall and this
was the perfect opportunity for me to really show my art to the world.”
Narrating his experience, Harjot Shokey, OYO Design team member, says, “I’ve
always wanted to work on a wall this big. Climbing up the scaffolding was new
and exciting but safety had to be kept in mind. Before climbing up to any
section, I had to ensure its safety as our artists had to stand on it for a long
duration. I enjoyed the logistics of this project as much as the painting.”
The
idea is to promote these walls as a tourist attraction in Goa.
