The following is an excerpt from the speech given by the Charles Correa Foundation on Monday, 17 June 2024 during the ‘Artistes Meeting on Kala Academy’ at the Shram Shakti Bhavan, Panjim.
The Kala Academy has been an iconic cultural landmark for the people of Goa since its inception in the 1980s. It has been a space of congregation for people from all walks of life to celebrate the arts and participate in a wide spectrum of cultural activities in the city. Designed by world renowned architect Charles Correa, the building has also etched itself as a fine example of India’s modern heritage.
On July 18, 2019, the Minister for Arts and Culture, Mr. Govind Gaude released a statement stating that the auditorium of the state’s premiere art and culture centre – the Kala Academy was to be demolished for reconstruction purposes. This statement sent shockwaves not only through the design community but was met with uproar from citizens across the state and artistes across the country. We were greatly encouraged by the number of people from all walks of life who felt connected with Kala Academy and wanted to see it preserved. This is rightly so, because this building has housed a lot of activities that has made this centre a cultural hub for Goa over the past 4-5 decades.
When the initial proposals for the design of the Kala Academy were being made, one of the founding members – Mr. Pratapsingh Rane, along with his exceptionally talented board of advisors consisting of artistes and performers curated the requirements of this cultural centre. The performance and practice spaces of Kala Academy grew to incorporate an auditorium, amphitheatre, a black box, courtyards along with smaller pockets of congregation spaces. What began as a humble cultural centre grew to become a complex of the people connecting the locals to their cultural roots through built design. It became a space that catered to the needs of the artiste, facilitated their craft and allowed for people from all walks of life to engage with the richness that the performances had to offer. The design serviced and enhanced the artistes’ performances while the complex created a permeable membrane for people to immerse themselves in culture. The building became a living part of the city, democratising a large part along the Mandovi – reconnecting the city to its water source. The complex, its activities and Goans undeniably became interrelated, thus forming strong connections with the space.
This is why we see the strength in numbers when it comes towards rallying for the Kala Academy. The 2019 uproar led to the intervention of the high court leading to a halt in the demolition of this modern heritage structure and subsequently resulted in the ministry of culture stating that the building would be preserved.
However, preservation, repairs was not something that was new for the Kala Academy. In 2004, during the International Film Festival of India – certain repair works were done to the building under a tight deadline for its use during the Festival. The rehabilitation of structural RCC elements, waterproofing etc; was done extremely haphazardly resulting in further structural damage of the building. The timely delivery for the festival meant focus only on finishes rather than addressing the crux of the problem. This, along with the lack of proper maintenance and upkeep led to further deterioration and the unfortunate series of events in 2018. While the Charles Correa Foundation offered to handhold the preservation process and bring in the appropriate experts, it was kept out at every turn. The intervention, rather the inclusion of the Foundation at this critical stage would have been a crucial step given that the Charles Correa Foundation is the primary source of all construction and architectural information on the Kala Academy including having access to the technical expertise, to people that were originally involved in the making of the complex. The wonderful ecosystem of artistes that the Kala Academy nurtured, due to poor workmanship and haphazard preservation efforts was a disservice to this community and to the people of Goa.
With minimal insights into what preservation has been going on at the Kala Academy, we recently visited the complex when we heard reports of leakages, certain structure collapsing and artistes’ concerns. From what we could see, we believe the efforts taken for the restoration of the Kala Academy is a shoddy job at best. We have noted that certain add-on structures have been erected to cover up for poor detailing. Excuses that the stage cover of the amphitheatre were not attended to, cannot be grounds for disasters. In the first place, the restoration was called to be carried out as large sections of the building were structurally weak and it would be incorrect to conclude that there was nothing wrong with the stage cover, given that it had been exposed to the same amount of wear and tear. It was lucky that no one was injured when it collapsed due to gross negligence.
However, it is extremely crucial to highlight that the core stakeholders of this place – the artiste community, you, have been affected the most. This was a space that allowed art and culture to take centre stage, yet behind all the noise of blame games and politics, the voices of the core community seemed faint. We have been hearing complaints through news media and social media outlets regarding this.
It is as this stage, we would like to discuss three key observations: The first – the acoustic treatment of the Kala Academy – Mr. Correa brought on board the acoustic consultants – Botts Beranek and Newman to conceptualise the original sound system, an effort completed under the detailing of Suri & Suri Consultants. We recently met with Mr. Suri and he explained to us that the acoustic treatment involved a flexible system of drop down fabrics above the perforated ceiling and curtains in the wall niches that would be lowered to adapt and accommodate to the acoustics of the performance. Such acoustics allowed individuals to perform without amplification or even amplified the sound without any drop in the quality of the performance. For its time, the foresight shown towards the myriad of performances that the complex would host was truly noteworthy.
The second are the unnecessary changes made to the lobby and common areas taking away from the original aesthetics of the space. The (in quotes) restored artwork lacked the quality, visual appeal or finesse from what it used to be. The earthy tones Correa used have been replaced by cartoonish bright hues lowering the overall visual quality of the space.
The third – is that the sound of the AC units carries into the auditorium.
Questions of quality seem to resonate on all fronts of the preservation process making it truly worrisome about the actual condition of the preserved structure. The work done may have been a substandard effort as dampness is already being reported under the amphitheatre and is visible on certain external surfaces. All of this culminates at just one thing – how can one still engage with this cultural centre – is it truly allowing the space to be used in all its glory.
The artistes are the first stakeholders of this facility – it is a space that hosts performances that allows for artistic expression, that facilitates the performer to shine! With the current quality of work, it is a true disservice to the art of the performer as it hinders the performance itself.
Work being done for the sake of it, is doing benefit to no one and at the end it is you – the artistes, us – the people that are made to suffer. The Kala Academy has hosted artistes from across the country and world and it is sad to see that the rich cultural history of this complex lies in shambles, disallowing it to reclaim its prestige. It is truly disheartening to see what has been done to this beautiful complex.
However, we are still in this fight to ensure that whatever efforts we can take as concerned citizens, concerned designers we take. We are in support of taking all essential measures to uphold the architectural and cultural integrity of this complex and are ready to contribute our expertise wherever needed. In this, we stand with you – the wonderful performers, the core of the activities at the complex – the artistes and hope that the demands put forth will be met. We will support the artistes in all their efforts to achieve this!