A
pen, a brush, a guitar, some clay, dancing shoes, sufi music… wait, do we see a
shrine? Yes, a shrine dedicated to the Indian constitution, remember that great
tombstone on which the foundations of our country rests? It is perhaps cracking
at the edges, and some more and some more, it needs preservation, don’t you
think? And when pens sketch, brushes
paint, guitars strum and dancing shoes dance, what do you get? A three letter
word- Art
As
the Goa Open Arts Festival closes after four days of a dirge of colours and
creativity, there are cravings. For more. For an encore. For soul, for folk,
for funk, yes lots of spunk. Getting creative minds from all over go to be in
one space for four days and who want more, does need spunk. Indeed. Indeed.
“Goa is a place that attracts creative people of all kinds,”
announces Gopika Chowfla, artist and co-founder of the Goa Open Arts Festival
that is ongoing till the 16th in Nagoa, North Goa.
With the aim to establish a homegrown festival that is open and
inclusive, Gopika along with artist buddies Gurpreet Sidhu, Prashant Panjihar,
Diptej Vernekar and daughter Sitara Chowfla have made this dream a reality,
working on a very low budget (obtained largely from crowdfunding) only to
encourage artists, largely within Goa and may include others, in the years to
come. With nearly 70 artists, including performing artists who have
collaborated to bring so much energy and life into the festival, it truly is a
celebration of collective creative power.
On display are some interesting artworks by some known artists
like Bharat Sikka of polarised prints of scenes from his village. Two
chapters from Orijit Sen’s upcoming graphic book on his interpretation of Kabir
are a treat. A shrine, dedicated to the Constitution created by Aradhana Seth,
in one stroke makes you think and question the present political scenario and
pay homage to those who thoughtfully framed India’s Constitution. An
interactive textile art project by Goan artist Rujuta Rao and multimedia
installations by artists Gopika Chowfla, Dheer Kaku, Mustafa Khanbhai, Isa
Hinojosa and Rajaram Naik, embellish the creative landscape.
Interactive and diverse, the festival also included street art as
a modern, expressive art form. The talented Goan graffiti writer, Flyin Munki
over two days, painted his style of edgy graffiti on canvas which will finally
manifest into upcycled bags in association with ‘Bandit’ – a brand
‘Designed in Goa’. Live performances that have already enthralled audiences
include Rochelle D’Silva’s spoken poetry, Shyamant Behal on classical guitar,
Govez with soulful folk funk and Hawa with Sufi music. Goa is lucky to have
India’s famous performance artists, Nikhil Chopra and Bhisaji Gadekar who left
the audience enthralled with their live performances.
“We also have kids from government schools who have participated
in workshops curated by dance and theatre director, Arundhati Chattopadhyay,
and other workshops in clay pottery by Nimmi and in printmaking by Leticia
Alvares. The children’s work done through these workshops will be on display on
Sunday,” says Chowfla as is evident in the group of kids huddled around the
main event space rapt in attention. She adds, “Relatively new artists are also
part of the festival. We want to move away from the ‘slickness’ of curated art
that somehow takes away from the raw, original artistic experience.”
This confluence of a celebration of
artists from diverse faculties has an energy and vibe that is truly Goan. “We
hope to make this either a bi annual event and instead of scaling up, we want
to ensure that we continue to collaborate and strengthen what we’ve
painstakingly established.”
