It may seem like a never-ending round of
events in Panjim from the Grape Escapade to the Food Festival, the Samba
Square, the Story of Light Festival, Fruit Festival and the like, yet the
rumblings on this frenzied scene indicate a slow move from this once preferred
cultural hub. This can be attributed to the opening of new cultural spaces
around the state, or off-beat shows that do not quite captivate the local
audience, or again just the need to get away from the madding crowd.
“Some events do still happen in Panjim, but
Goa is getting decentralised. Many decent quality events are being held outside
the usual venues in Panjim,” affirms Dr Luis Dias, Project Director, Child’s
Play (India) Foundation who has been hosting a number of classical music
concerts in the city. “One of the reasons could point to logistic issues. For
instance, it is often my experience that when I try to book a classical music
event at the Kala Academy, it is often full, so we are forced to move to other
venues. The second issue is the cost of booking at the time tested venues. On
another note, a well-known performer is likely to draw a bigger crowd at any
venue.”
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The exclusive art-music-food and fashion
Independence Day do at the Porvorim based boutique home-stay, Highland
Heritage, is a point in case. It imbued all the elements of the now defunct
Fontainhas Art Festival and much more, with a touch of class and a select
crowd. And then again at the other end, there was the recently held Fontainhas
Mehfil at the Latin quarter of the city which hardly elicited any response.
“When I attended the Assagao Mehfil, I wondered why this had not come to
Panjim. The response to it unfortunately is not conducive to a repeat. The
crowd was restricted to a young people from other states now settled in Goa as
well as young Goans. Alternative music is yet to make a mark with the locals,”
observes Miriam Koshy-Sukhija. A Gallerist at Gallery Gitanjali who conducts
several art related events and hosts the Fontainhas Fridays, she feels the real
lack is in the area of theatre.
As Director of the Garden Central Music
Studio who takes his PoP orchestra through the paces every first Tuesday of the
month at Garcia de Orta, Rui Lobo believes that the quality of events has
improved over the years. “Now things are becoming more polished and the
scenario has definitely opened up in Panjim. We have more quality performances
at the different cultural venues, orchestral performances, visiting foreign
artistes and so on. However, the decibel levels are a deterrent. It’s so high
that it tends to put one off. Earlier we had many shows in the city, but the
sounds were more natural and not amplified,” he laments.
“The need of the hour is to have the right
kind of events,” endorses Richard Dias, Managing Partner, Radioactiv
Entertainment that has hosted several large shows in the city. “For this the
city fathers and the organisers need to have a filter for the quality of events
that can be held. Panjim is a fabulous city that has the right mix of built up
spaces that merge into open spaces and the sanctity of the city needs to be
conserved in every sense of the word. We need to have a balance on many levels.
Similarly, sound should be designed for the space it is in,” is his emphatic
hope.
Panjim will undoubtedly continue to be the
prime cultural hub it has been for decades, but to maintain that status,
‘quality’ necessarily has to be the watchword.
