Captured by : Yatin Kakodkar - Narayan Pissurlenkar_4
The Goan: The Goa Arts and Literary Festival had a slow start but it has picked up momentum over the past few years. What would you attribute this upward trend to?
Yatin Kakodkar: In the first few editions, we were on a learning curve and were able to get good participants, writers, but the organisation needed work. We had a few no shows for instance. We also found that the number of people who came in were very small. Sometimes, it happened that many of the halls were half empty, and occasionally there were more speakers on the stage than delegates in the hall. We improved our organisation, worked on better time management, started prodding the speakers and panelists to wind up on time. We had to learn the standard tricks of the trade, and followed them. I remember two years ago, the Governor of Goa, Mridula Sinha, was one of our speakers and we had the temerity to flash the ‘Time Up’ sign to her. Of course, she took it in the right spirit and wound up on time. That is the kind of discipline we maintained. One of other aspects of the event that we improved upon was that we started reaching out to people in Goa. But people think that these events are for visitors only. This is s festival for everyone, for Goans, for the rest of India and for those from other countries too. The important thing is that Goans should feel that this is their festival. At the same time, there should also be a national and international festival. That is what we are trying to achieve. We also felt that students are a big constituency. They have open minds, they don’t have fixed opinions and they like absorb and learn. So we reached out to colleges, to professors, department heads and ensured that students came here as our honoured guests, and had special programmes designed for them.
TG: Why do you think it’s so important for Goa for Goans to embrace this festival as their own?
YK: There are a few issues to this. One is that literature is under attack from alternative options that have become available to people for a while now, ever since the internet, social media and then smartphones came into existence. Literature is a victim of these new developments and literature is important, it’s substantive. Social media is casual but literature is not. We have to prize this. All right-minded people and institutions should promote literature. They should promote the classical arts. It’s not a legacy, because it’s still living, but I’m afraid it will become our legacy after maybe 50 or 100 years. We should not allow that to happen. Such festivals afford our Goan people to meet in person, some of the fine academics, scholars, writers etc. It’s alright to see them on television and on YouTube, but there is not greater pleasure than to see them in the flesh and being in the same hall as they are. This builds ties and bonds between them, and the Goan people, with journalists etc. These are the two good reasons why we should embrace this festival. Also, you are coming out of your Goan train of thought and getting in touch with a national and international frame of mind. So that’s important!
TG: Literature festivals aren’t just about launching books or meeting authors, it’s a lot more than that…
YK: Literature can be viewed from a very narrow prism, from one of just novels and stories. But books encompass a bigger spectrum of issues and subjects. It covers histories and biographies, even cookbooks, or sports. That way it gives you flexibility. Take Bob Dylan for example. A hallowed institution like the Nobel Foundation have deemed it fit that popular culture is worthy of being called literature. So we acknowledge that fact that this is a literature and arts festival but it is also broader than that. In previous sessions we had a book release on India’s foreign policy. There was someone like Ramchandra Guha who came and spoke about the freedom of expression. We have a wide range of topics discussed. We provide a platform for people to argue in a positive frame of mind. It’s not about being vicious or insulting. It’s about having an opinion and also listening to others’ opinions. The problem today is that people want to express but not many want to listen. At GALF people are listening.
TG: In terms of content, GALF has been different and wandered off the beaten path often. Tell us more about that.
YK: We have Dalit speakers at the Ambedkar Memorial Lecture who have been coming here for a few years now. The idea is that people should understand what the views are from these sections of society. This is why we are including sections of society that are not in the mainstream. In fact, they are people on the margins. We’ve focused on people from Kashmir, from Assam and the North East. There are 10 people coming in from the North East. We are also trying to get people who are accomplished who are talented and good, but not in popular media. There are also regional languages involved. People should not have the perception that this is an English language festival, so we’ve made an effort to involve writers from other regional languages.
TG: So how does GALF get on the map of Indian literature festivals.
YK: Well, right now we are volunteer driven, we do get corporate sponsorships but we certainly need a bigger budget. Because getting famous people from overseas costs money. Some of them even charge a honorarium in addition to travel and accommodation that is provided. That is the next step. I think we have established ourselves as a very good state level festival. People from outside Goa who come to the festival think that this is a good national level festival but is limited to just the people who come here. We need to extend this festival to people out of Goa who haven’t come here. If you want to get a wider range of speakers and authors, then we have to get more money. There is nothing wrong as long as the balance is maintained with our ideals and the objectives of the sponsors.
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GALF
Goa Arts & Literature Festival (GALF) 2016 is conceptualised, organised and hosted by The International Centre Goa in association with Ministry of Culture, Government of India, The Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa, Goa Writers Group and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, North East India.
GALF 2016 will be inaugurated on December 8 at ESG Auditorium in Panaji. The day long festival sessions will be held at The International Centre Goa, Dona Paula on 9, 10 an 11 December. Entry to all programmes is free and open to general public. For regular festival updates and registration visit www.goaartlitfest.com
The North East connection
GALF 2016 will have a prime focus on art, poetry and literature from North East States of India. There will be an exclusive pavilion under the aegis of North Eastern Council, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. This will include a special stage dedicated for readings and discussions from a delegation of eminent writers, artists, musicians and poets from Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and other north eastern states. The inaugural evening will feature a performance by Manipur based folk rock band, Imphal Talkies. GALF 2016 will honour the reluctant Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Bob Dylan, with a concert headlined by his greatest fan in India, the legendary rock musician for Meghalaya “ Lou Majaw.
Launches
GALF 2016 will feature prominent book releases including Courage & Commitment “ An Autobiography by Former Governor and Union Minister Smt. Margaret Alva. Other highlight launches will be books by Australians of Goan origin namely Roanna Gonsalves and Cyprian Fernandes; and a host of book releases by Goa based authors Celsa Pinto, Bina Nayak, Hema Myer Sood, Odette Mascarenhas, Kiran Budkuley, Ivan Arthur, Manohar Shetty, Aloysius D'souza, Fernando Jorge Colaco and Jayanti Naik.
The art angle
Besides there will also be display of unique artworks by Delhi based photographer “ blogger Mayank Soofi; paintings by Goa based artists lead by Rajesh Salgaonkar and a photograph gallery curated by Savia Viegas. There will also be lot of excitement at the festival lawns featuring Open Sky Slam, an art community based in Bangalore that will showcase an open mic of poetry, music, theater, dance, stand-up comedy and magic. There will be a special focus onr children, and school and college students. Leading authors for young people “ Samhita Arni, Geeta Dharmarajan “ will be available in specifically tailored programmes that will be accessible to the youngest visitors.
