Set right upon the main road in Majorda, the newly restored260 year-old Jacques-Godinho house at Gomes Vaddo, boasts a brand new culturalspace. Having been restored to its period of former glory by the descendant ofthe Jacques-Godinho family, Daegal Godinho, the centre aims to help artists whowant to showcase their work, by providing them with the creative space requiredto display their talent. The proprietor of the centre says, “I believe that isimportant to give back. Being in possession of heritage space such as this,adds a certain amount of allure to the event. So I thought, why not?”
The most recent and public display of talent showcased thework of both established as well as upcoming artists in the state. It included‘Hands for Children’ “ a collection of paintings by Rajendra Usapkar, SalvadorFernandes and Viraj Naik, as well as photographic artist Oscar de SequeiraNazareth’s fourth picture exhibition, ‘Fachadas’.
Asked about his experience when it came to working withCarpe Diem, Sequeira Nazareth, who is Portuguese, but of Goan origin, states,“It was a complete fluke. Daegal chanced upon my work, and saw a picture of hishouse which astounded him. We took to each other immediately, and it seemedlike an excellent venue to work with.”
The centre deals with other aspects of retaining andpromoting cultural activities as well. It is a popular venue for performancesby the Acoustic Guitar Orchestra of Goa (AGOG), a unique orchestra fullycomposed of guitars. Having performed at various concerts across Goa and alsoPune, the outfit, whose repertoire consists of classical music as well aspopular songs, now has a venue that they relate to as their own.
Godinho’s chief area of interest is however, theatre. Themost recent production at the venue was ‘Those Ragamuffins’ by The Mustard SeedArt Company earlier this year, before the centre was even complete and fullyoperational. The venture was an effort across genres, by multiple artistsincluding painters, writers and musicians.
When asked about the Latin choice of name for the venue, andthe working behind it, Godinho responds with a wry smile, saying, “The name‘Carpe Diem’ was a natural choice, as ‘Seize the Day’ is exactly the kind ofmessage we would like to convey to people out there that are interested inpromoting art and culture.”
