Every form of art is appreciated in Goa and it is no surprise that the Serendipity Arts Festival 2017 has received a great response, with people from every walk of life pouring in to the ten venues. Simultaneously, there are various art and photography exhibitions taking place in Goa at various venues. Through this grand scale of visibility of art, the impact of this appreciation ripples across to various art exhibitions that are already underway in the state.
The first edition of the Goa Affordable Art Fest (GAAF) is being
held at Museum of Goa till February 28, 2018. This curated festival exhibits
over a thousand quality paintings, sculptures, photographs and prints drawn
from all over the country and abroad. All these works are priced within an
affordable range of Rs 3000 to Rs 1,00,000, with the main objective to enthuse
the audience to appreciate, collect and connect to art. The father-son duo of
Subodh and Siddharth Kerkar have curated GAAF. “Serendipity Arts Festival is a
big budget festival that is advertised nationally. This publicity attracts big
art collectors and also a lot of people who come down to Goa in December. GAAF
dates are clashing with the festival and here the artworks are on a platter for
art collectors,” says Siddharth.
In Panjim itself, three exhibitions are currently underway.
Fundação Oriente in association with The Al-Zulaij Collection are presenting
the exhibition ‘Goa/Lisbon/Mozambique: The Many Lives of Vamona Navelcar’ at
Fundação Oriente, Fontainhas, Panjim till January 12, 2018. This exhibition
displays 16 pieces that speak of the life and legacy of Vamona Ananta Sinai
Navelcar, a contemporary Goan artist, whose studies and career took him to
various locations in the Lusophone world, namely Goa, Portugal and Mozambique.
Vamona’s art is representative not only of his personal genius, but also of a
larger Goan reality. His art not only chronicles history, but also serves as
commentary on Goa’s complex identity.
Another notable exhibition is Pierre Legrand’s ‘Energy Fields’
at Gallery Gitanjali, Panjim till January 10, 2018. In Legrand’s work is the
story of one man’s journey of attempting to capture the inexpressible yet
innate, transferring the experience of beingness at its most cellular level of
comprehension to the public. Miriam Koshy-Sukhija, Director, Gallery Gitanjali,
says, “The gallery receives a lot of people who are here as tourists or locals
or visiting the Serendipity Arts Festival. However, since the schedule of
Serendipity is chock-a-block, it’s rare for someone to take a few minutes and
visit the other galleries and do a purchase in a hurry.”
Sooni Taraporewala’s photo exhibition, ‘Home in the City -
Bombay 1977 - Mumbai 2017’ in collaboration with Sunaparanta, Goa is on display
at Sunaparanta- Goa Centre for the Arts till January 2, 2018. the exhibition,
curated by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, comprise photographs that are personal
documents of the city’s eccentrics, children, culture, politics and much more.
Since 1977, Sooni has photographed the city where she grew up. Her images,
cutting across class and community lines, are an insider’s affectionate view.
At The Cube Gallery, Moira, ‘Outsiders’, the visual arts show,
is on display till January 5, 2018. It presents artworks by four contemporary
visual artists, Sonja Weder, Thomas Louis, Sonny Singh and Alok Johri. Curated
by Samira Sheth, the show celebrates the creativity and diverse perspectives of
these ‘outsiders’, forging their own paths of artistic self-discovery in Goa.
The Museum of Christian Art is hosting Sadhana - an exhibition
of spiritual artworks by Clarice Vaz at Church of Santa Monica, Old Goa till
January 2, 2018. Saligao based Clarice is a self trained contemporary abstract
artist who has experimented with fluid and spin painting techniques. She has
created her own unique style, which she calls syringe painting. Curated by Lina
Vincent Sunish, Sadhana is a dramatic presentation of colour and composition.
The proceeds from the fund raising exhibition will go to the Museum of
Christian Art’s Refurbishment Project.
Noted Goan artist Yolanda De Souza is currently having an
exhibition of her recent works, titled, Monsoon Clutter, which is on display at
Art Chamber Gauravaddo, Calangute till January 10, 2018. “This collection is a
body of 60 works created during the monsoons. They are random thoughts in small
format watercolour. It’s all about Goa and my connect to it and sometimes,
nostalgia,” says Yolanda.