The third edition of the Goa Art and Literary Festivalopened on December 13 and continued till December 17. The programme promisedthe attendance of literary heavyweights such as Jeet Thayil, whose debut novelNarcopolis was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Nicholas Wild, a graphicnovelist from France, Teju Cole, whose novel Open City won the PEN/HemingwayAward, the New York City Book Award for Fiction and the Rosenthal Award of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters. The programme also glittered with namesfrom the worlds of Art and Performance Arts such as Jatin Das, a contemporarypainter who was conferred the Padma Bushan in 2012, and Lou Majaw, a veteranmusician from Shillong.
The halls were, however, devoid of audience; the kind ofaudience that this glamorous league of intellectuals deserved. Book and artlovers would surely have benefitted from the dialogues and talks that thecatalogue promised. However, the tantalising programme remained confined topaper. Perhaps this was what repulsed the meagre audience that was present. Thesessions were like shape-shifters; the programme kept changing and so did thehalls at the International Centre Goa (ICG) that they were to take place in.Most of the crowd was unaware of the change in the programme; many sessionswere dropped without notice and the people who came to attend, seemed lost. Forexample, the discussion with Nicolas Wild about his book Searching forZarathusthra which was slotted for 1 pm on December 17 was shifted to December16. Similarly, the dialogue Insiders/Outsiders which was scheduled for 11.45 amwas cancelled. The Journey of an Artist featuring Jatin Das was to be held inthe Mandovi Hall, but was held in the Zuari Hall. Though the revised programmewas available at the reception, those who were unaware of the availability ofthe same, remained in the dark.
It was saddening to see such an amalgamation of intellectsunder one roof go to waste, as their expertise and knowledge they could impartremained largely untapped as the corridors lay bare, and the chairs empty. Theparticipants who graced most of the seats consisted mostly of other invitedeminent personalities. What also kept potential attendees at bay was thedisorganised manner in which the Art and Literary Festival was held last year.
Going by the current scene, one could say that the Art andLiterary Festival, though a great idea to pool intellect from over the countryand the world, so that citizens and denizens would benefit, will die unless itsorganisation is revamped to a more professional level.
