Among the
myriad events, performances and art installations that have already exceeded expectations at the
ongoing Serendipity Arts Festival 2017 (SAF), one installation has left Goans
very impressed, especially those from the bustling town of Mapusa.
Mapping Mapusa Market
is an installation by artist Orijit Sen that originated from a project that the
artist has been working on since 2013, involving explorations of the old Mapusa
market in North Goa. These explorations involve a mix of visual documentation,
socio-historical mapping and graphic narration, and delve into the social,
cultural and economic functions that the market performs for the people of Goa.
The market is like a
microcosm of something much larger. As a space that accommodates everything,
from locally grown pumpkins and hand-crafted products to imported wines and
Chinese electronics, it bears a network of relationships with places close by
and far flung, reflecting Goa’s unique history as well as its place in the
modern world.
Orijit is a graphic
artist, cartoonist, National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad alumni and
also one of the founders of People Tree, a collaborative studio and store for
artists, designers and craftspeople. His pioneering ‘River of Stories’
(Kalpavriksh 1994) is considered to be India’s first graphic novel.
“I have always been
very much in love with the Mapusa market, and over time, I have explored a lot
of its corners, aspects and also discovered many interesting things through the
market,” says Oirjit, while speaking about the reason behind choosing this
particular place for his project.
So when in 2013 Goa
University suggested that he teach a course for the students, he decided to do
an outdoor project instead, which he called ‘Mapping Mapusa Market’. He started
by making a visual map of the flower market, the covered section that was
originally built as the fish market. Even though it’s called the flower market
and does have people selling flowers, there are also local women selling
various traditional Goan items such as coconut jaggery, kokum, vinegar,
jackfruit leaf plates, coconut oil, home-grown vegetables and fruits, to name a
few.
“One of the reasons
why I chose Mapusa market and started documenting it is because I somehow
developed a liking for the place as a safe-house of Goan culture. The Mapusa
market is always under threat. The Mapusa Municipal Council came up with a plan
and wanted to demolish the flower market. I took up this project because I
wanted to create public awareness that a place like Mapusa market is an
important cultural resource in Goa,” states Orijit.
“Marketplaces
fascinate me. The vendors in the market are the ones that maintain and preserve
knowledge about our culture. It therefore stays and is passed down within our
community and isn’t lost. Some of the vendors that occupy the space in the
market have been doing it for several generations,” he adds.
His art installation
at the Serendipity Arts Festival is a game based installation which is a
visually rich artwork with a lot of details about the market. “It’s like a map
that one can walk through. It is laid out horizontally and isn’t up on the
walls. One can walk between the alleys and lanes and can see all the things in
the market. So I’m hoping it will be exciting and interesting to the people
that visit my art installation at the festival,” adds Orijit.
When asked to
elaborate on the experience of working with students, Orijit reasoned that “the
importance of art is about being more central in forming the core of the
society we live in rather than staying at the peripheries”.
“
And if I can involve students of non-art disciplines into creating art
projects, that in itself is a positive result I can be proud about. These
students are going to apply all these thoughts and ideas that they have gained
while working on this project with me and these ideas will spread into a lot of
minds in Goa,” he says.
