After hosting two successful editions of Sensorium previously, Sunaparanta came alive with
installations, mixed media work, sculptures, paintings, videos by some of the
most celebrated and talented artistes from across the world, in the third
edition of Sensorium that commenced on January 19, 2018. Over the last 45-odd
days, the exhibition has seen a constellation of Indian and international
contemporary visual artistes, present their works in Goa at Sunaparanta.
Sensorium 2018 concludes this evening with a performance by Mithu Sen.
Speaking about the inception of Sensorium, Siddharth Dhanvant
Shanghvi, who co-founded the arts initiative to help showcase the best of
Indian and international art, opines that the idea was to expose the audience
to cutting edge art practices and inspire younger generations of Goan artists,
among all artists in general, to consider new mediums such as video and
performance art. Shanghvi says, “The idea is to always try and bring new forms
to the fore so audiences are engaged. This time, we had music performances and
a film festival that were immensely popular.”
The smooth management of the festival has done well to conceal
the hardships that the team braved behind the scenes to put together a stellar
show. The curatorial process was a challenge, especially as the team was also
dealing with international galleries, apart from their Indian counterparts. But
now that the show is coming to an end, Shanghvi, along with Dipti and Raj Salgaocar,
Patrons, Sunaparanta, feels that it has been hugely rewarding. Shanghvi says,
“Goa has a tremendously sophisticated audience. Since Sunaparanta now develops
and loans shows across the world and in major Indian cities, we are always
grateful for the amazing mix of visitors we have in Goa, young artists,
writers, those who dropped out of big cities, expats, it’s an electric mix. And
I don’t see this in any other place in the country. I bow before the enthusiasm
of our audiences.”
Sensorium
2018 opened with a performance titled ‘An Homage To Omar Khayyam’ that
consisted of performances by artistes from across the world. The collection of
art installations and performances included Riyas Komu’s My Father’s Balcony, a
sprawling installation made of recycled wood and metal; Desmond Lazaro’s Cini
Films, a series of 16 paintings imitating polaroid photographs that was a
meditation on migration; Sohrab Hura’s Sweet Life, a composite of two bodies of
still and moving images; Dhruvi Acharya’s graphic paintings; Yamini Nayar’s
photo-based work On Form And Growth that combines architectural still life with
abstraction and design to create poetry; Julien Segard’s installations that
were made up of found objects gathered from walks in and around Panjim and the
screening of award-winning film director Dan Wolman’s film, ‘An Israeli Love
Story’. The festival concludes today with artiste Mithu Sen’s special musical
performance.
