An ongoing art exhibition photographs the performers who have kept alive one of Goa's best-loved theatre forms
An ongoing art exhibition photographs the performers who have kept alive one of Goa's best-loved theatre forms
Goa gets you so busy with the beaches that you forget to feel the rarest of its gifts. Tiatr, for instance. The form, whose name marks a version of the Portuguese teatro, is best described as an urban folk opera: it was developed, originally, by u00e9migru00e9 Goans who worked in colonial Bombay. These men, Catholic as well as Hindu, were haunted by nostalgia for the villages they had left behind; they sought to recreate, in the confines of their metropolitan life, something of the atmosphere of their home culture. And so they riffed on the conventions of Goa's folk drama idioms, their scripts animated by exchanges between stock characters like the landlord and the priest, the mother-in-law and the Hindu gentleman. And no, you needn't travel to the sands all the way again to explore this fascinating art. Alex Fernandes has brought it right here for you.
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Renaissance, revisitedThe Tiatristes come alive in the form of photographic stills shot by Alex Fernandes. Myriad moods and animated expressions make the monotones more colourful than the most crowded hues. "When you think Goa, you picture colorful people with a zest for life, the beaches and fisherwomen. Much like this thought, life in Goa is always on the move. My works are a tribute to the Goans who have moved out of the city, yet belong there," he says.
Unlike the caricatures that popular Hindi cinema employs to represent regional cultures such figures are stereotypes, not archetypes the Tiatristes play out readily identifiable personae in whom the audience has strong emotional investments, at a personal as well as a collective level.
Sleep like The BuddhaIn the same exhibition, titled Retrieval Systems, Delhi-based artist GR Iraana showcases installations that depict an injured Buddha sleeping blissfully on a sandok, much like a rural working class man retiring on it after a hard day's work. "Since The Buddha is injured, he is lying patiently to heal himself. We too, need to be tolerant towards life and its hiccups," delves the artist. His other work, called Silenced Sound, shows two church bells tied together to signify how "good things in the world are rare, so it's better to keep them together." And cherish them while they're there.
Retrieval systems
On till: November 30Where: Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road (Till Nov 23)
Art Alive Gallery, S- 221, Panchsheel Park (Nov 25 - 30)Timings: 11 am - 7 pm
