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This month's Goanet operations sponsored by Mrs. Daisy Faleiro If you would like to sponsor Goanet's operations contact: Herman Carneiro - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Drinking at the art fountain Thanks for the exhilarating, invigorating experience By Cecil Pinto Forgive my lack of humour this week, but I'm saddened that the Fontainhas Festival has ended. And I'm suffering from a massive hangover as I write this on a Wednesday. I was drunk on all five days of the festival, not on alcohol but high with the sheer narcotic effect of all the fantastic art on display. I cannot thank the Goa Heritage Action Group enough for organising this feast for the eyes and mind. I'm not much into music and dance performances but it is the visual arts that fascinate me. And there was enough great art on display to get thoroughly intoxicated. All year I attend solo and group art exhibitions but here, at one go, I get to see dozens of artists and art forms. Can you blame me for drinking so deeply from this fountain? To bare your soul, through your art, and stand by it in the street takes courage. I wish to thank all those courageous artists at the festival, in alphabetical order - and with pauses. My criteria for pausing being not that a particular artist was better than some other artist, but that I actually interacted with these few artists. I thank them all for the uplifting experience. Thank you Abeline Aranjo, Alex Fernandes (pause) last time around celebrated Goan tiatrists. This time his tasteful photo-portraits of Goan musicians is not only a visual treat but an archive of our culture. Wonder what Alex will do next year to top this? Thank you Anupam Saxena, Arvind Otavanekar, Assavri & Nirmal Kulkarni (pause) are this lovely couple who are passionate about their art and, more importantly, passionate about their environment. Their prints on khadi cloth were unique and I hope they keep experimenting. Thank you Barnabe Sapeco (pause) who we know for his daring photojournalism. Nice to see that his gifted eye goes beyond reportage, and aesthetically captures Goan scenes and scenarios. Thank you Bharat Pingale, Bernado de Araujo, Carla Alvares, Chandan Bandekar, Daniel D'Souza (pause) is quite frankly a genius - and a helpful, unselfish person too, as many will vouch. His unconventional flower arrangements show that bonsai and landscaping is not the only thing he has a talent for. Thank you Davina Stephens, Franco Fernandes (pause) has been a consistent artist who speaks little, and lets his paintings do the talking. Thank you Gauri Divan, Geetha Kekobad, Girish Gujar (pause) is another constant performer with his simple water colours - always a pleasant sight. Thank you Govind Silimkhan, Hitesh Pankar, Hema Gurav, HUB (pause) is a group of enthusiastic young photographers who are doing splendid work. Thank you Harshada Kerkar (pause) is, I think, in an evolving stage. I am a great fan of her luminous studies of the human face and form. Lately she has been delving into the abstract and is proving quite formidable there too. Thank you Ivan D'Souza, Julio D'Souza, John Dias, Mahalaxmi Bhobe (pause) makes these arty lamps in odd shapes and from even odder materials. Her self-appointed 'marketing manager', Sahana Nayak, was quite radiant too. Thank you Madhu Madapally, Majunath Naik, Mitzie Cotta (pause) with her paintings on wood - a refreshingly different format. Thank you Norman Tagore (pause) is the angry young man to watch out for. I've seen Norman's art mature and improve over the years and he's fast reaching the stage of jet propulsion when he will soar effortlessly with the masters. Thank you Narendra Hanswal, Nirupa Naik, Nixon Fernandes, Nickson Fernandes, Oswald Palha, Petwyn Fernandes, Prasad Pankar (pause) I have known since many years back when he left his secure bank job to pursue his passion for photography. This year he does superb justice to the theme 'Solitude'. Thank you Rosario Estiberio (pause) is another young photographer on the ascent. His colourful close-ups of flowers, with muted grey nudes in the background, is a splendid path-breaking series. Thank you Raviraj Naik, Rajendra Usapkar (pause) has probably silently done more for Goan art single-handedly than any artist, gallery owner, collector, promoter or reviewer. His discreet presence at every art function and his unstinted support to art related endeavors is often not acknowledged. More than Usapkar's art it is the great man inside the artist that I am in awe of. Thank you Reginald Goveas, Rosy da Silva, Renu Kalangutkar, Santosh Naik, Surabhi Gaikwad (pause) has a large painting of two women and a man sitting in what appears to be a garden. For some reason this painting hypnotises me. I politely told Surabhi that I could not afford the painting; but for five days, I spent long moments daily devouring that painting with my eyes. Thank you Subodh Kerkar (pause) is in a class apart. Dominating the art scene for so long, and with installations which never fail to deliver. You see Subodh everywhere, even at the Saturday Night Market. Other Goan artists should learn from him on how to innovate and achieve maximum visibility. Thank you Sushant Naik, Shilpa Nasnolkar, Sanjay Naik, Seby Akkara, Shaistah Thapar, Suryawanshi P.A., Savio Peres, Swapna Godshay, Shripad Gurav, Sonia Rodrigues (pause) was not present, though her paintings were. Somehow I feel that the Festival is just not complete without Sonia and her colourful table selling those delightful puppets and stuff for children. We want you back Sonia. And for that matter where are the regular old hands like Alexyz, Apurva Kulkarni, Tanya Mendonca, Viraj Naik, Shilpa Mayenkar, Theodore Mesquita, Francis DeSouza, Hanuman Kambli, Rajeshree Thakkar, Querozito de Souza, Liesl Cotta... ? Unlike some two years back, I didn't hear of any rift between the artists and the organisers. I wonder why Goan artists are not participating in the numbers that they should? Thank you Shrikrisha Naik, Vitesh Naik, Vrinda (pause) whose sheer range of subjects and mediums is quite riveting. Thank you Vasudev Shetye, Viththal Naik, Vishesh Chari, Vikrant Kumar and Wilson D'Souza (pause) who is an old favourite of mine and a most agreeable person to converse with. On Monday I took my two brats for the festival so they could imbibe some art at a young age. Despite all explanations and distractions all they were interested in was getting temporary tattoos as they did last year. None of the tattoo artists were around but Kim Elaine Araujo most graciously obliged and went to her home nearby to get her brushes and paint. Kim had a table with her superb art in different media on display. And this very talented artist is just thirteen years old. Way to go kiddo - and thank you for making my kids happy! ----------- The column above appeared in Gomantak Times dated 15th Feb 2007 =========== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/attachments/20070225/3aed3002/attachment.htm