After teasing the Goan literati and
thinkers over the last one year by having multiple events, such as the book release
of ‘From Mind to Keyboard’ edited by Sheela Jaywant held in July, a book reading
and discussion of ‘Guru Nanak, the Thinker and the Poet’ edited by Astri Ghosh,
in August, the Shakespeare Festival held in October, etc., The International
Centre Goa in association with Goa Writers’ Group culminated the affair in the
Goa Arts and Literary Festival 2016 held last week. Held from December 8 to 11,
GALF 2016 saw a host of big-wigs of the literary world from across the nation
and abroad, interact and exchange knowledge and ideas with the students,
authors and thinkers in Goa. The festival witnessed the attendance of authors
and thinkers from eight countries including Portugal, Brazil Bangladesh, USA,
UK, Australia, Singapore and Canada.
Post its inauguration by Jorge Barreto
Xavier (former Secretary of State for Culture, Portugal) and P. Sivakami
(acclaimed writer and activist), the festival was opened to the Goan audience
with the unveiling of the official festival artwork by eminent modernist, Padma
Shri Laxman Pai. This year, the festival had special focus on art, poetry and
literature from the North-Eastern states of India and therefore, featured an
exclusive pavilion under the aegis of North Eastern Council, Ministry of
Development of North Eastern Region. This included a special stage dedicated
for readings and discussions from a contingent of eminent writers, poets,
artists and musicians from Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal
Pradesh and other north eastern states. The focus continued in the form of a
performance by Manipur based folk rock band, Imphal Talkies, in the evening of
the inaugural day. GALF 2016 honoured Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Bob
Dylan, with a concert headlined by his greatest fan in India, the legendary
rock musician from Meghalaya – Lou Majaw.
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GALF 2016 also paid special attention to
children, and school and college students. Leading authors for young people –
Samhita Arni, Mariam Karim Ahlawat, Jerry Pinto, Arshia Sattar – were available
in specifically tailored programmes that will be accessible to the youngest
visitors. The festival featured prominent book releases including ‘Courage
& Commitment’ – an autobiography by former Governor and Union Minister,
Margaret Alva. GALF 2016 served as platform for other launches, by Australians
of Goan origin – Roanna Gonsalves and Cyprian Fernandes; and a host of book
releases by Goa based authors Bina Nayak, Hema Myer Sood, Odette Mascarenhas,
Kiran Budkuley, Ivan Arthur, Manohar Shetty, Aloysius D’souza, Fernando Jorge
Colaco, Vincy Quadros and Jayanti Naik.
Akin to previous years, GALF 2016 continued
to host Dr Ambedkar Memorial Lectures by Pondicherry based Dr Aloysius. G and
Mumbai based Advocate Suresh Mane. The art gallery at the festival featured ‘Somewhere
in Delhi’ – a display of a collection of 30 large format photographic prints on
Muslin Khadi – a collaborative work between Mayank Austen Soofi, a Delhi writer
and photographer, and Anna Gerotto, an Italian designer. Goan artists led by
Rajesh Salgaonkar showcased their paintings at the gallery. At the lawns of the
venue, the festival hosted Open Mike Extravaganza Open Sky Slam, an art
community based in Bangalore that showcased an open mic session of poetry,
music, theatre, dance, stand-up comedy and magic.
In a nutshell, GALF 2016 showcased and
highlighted writers and poets from a wide range of languages: Hindi, Urdu,
Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali. As always, there was a considerable
focus on the languages most used in Goa: Konkani, Marathi, English and
Portuguese.
