By Gerard Desouza
The week began on a stormy note in more ways than one. The state has seen stormy weather both literally — with the monsoon picking up pace across the state — as well as figuratively with more than a hundred artists, and lovers of Kala Academy gathered at the Goa Union of Journalists Hall at Panjim to decry the sorry state of the iconic Kala Academy — the state’s foremost centre for art — that despite seeing around ₹60 crore worth of “renovations” poured into the ageing but still robust institute designed by Charles Correa, was reopened to the public in a state worse than it was before.
Why does this matter?
The Kala Academy that was built in 1983 was one of the finest examples of the work of not just internationally acclaimed architect and planner Charles Correa, but also of renowned caricaturist Mario de Miranda, whose hand painted murals adorn the walls of the main auditorium. The sound acoustics of the main auditorium are the work of acoustic consultants Bolt Beranek and Newman, the world’s foremost acoustic consultants who also designed the acoustics of the United Nations permanent headquarters in New York.
The building was among the first cultural centres in the newly liberated territory of Goa and quickly emerged as a centre for theatre, art, culture and music. Its main auditorium is named after Dinanath Mangeshkar, the father of Lata Mangeshkar, who hailed from Goa.
It was alarming then, when Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude, one evening back in 2019, abruptly announced that the Government had drawn up plans to “demolish” the structure. None more than the Charles Correa Foundation, who were up in arms against the decision.
Such was the apprehension over what the government’s plans for Kala Academy were that the High Court took up a suo motu writ petition which was disposed of only after the government promised not to demolish even a part of it and reassured that its project was only about renovating it.
A tragedy in three parts
Fast forward to today, not only do we have a “refurbished” building that has suffered a collapse of the false ceiling, and water seeping into the auditorium during a tiatr performance, but an impetuous and hot-headed Minister Govind Gaude who has been contemptuously dismissive of any suggestion that the renovators should take expert advice in undertaking the restoration.
When the Charles Correa Foundation raised concerns about the work being done to ‘renovate’ the Kala Academy, Gaude retorted with: Who is Charles Correa? And claimed went on the accuse the world renowned architect designing a “faulty” structure.
When he was asked about undertaking a 39-crore project (that later ballooned to nearly Rs 60-crore) without a tender, he retorted saying Shah Jahan didn’t call for quotations when building the Taj Mahal.
His words came back to haunt him, when on July 17, last year a portion of the outdoor auditorium came crashing down in a pile of rubble.
Which brings us back to the events on June 17 at the Goa Union of Journalists Hall, where, to the surprise of many Govind Gaude decided to attend the meet himself, and had to witness artists across the board demand his resignation.
Perhaps he was under the impression that the artists who gathered to demand a better Kala Academy would be intimidated by his presence. He couldn’t have been more wrong. It was he who left the meeting in a huff and refused to take questions from the media on the way out.
What could YOU do with ₹60 crore?
The question of where the ₹60 crore that was spent without a tender has gone. Come to think of it, ₹ 60 crore is no small amount. The average cost of building a three bedroom house from scratch in Goa is around ₹ 30-lakh (the price of the land not included). The Kala academy is no doubt much bigger than that, but to spend 200 times that amount to “renovate” an already existing structure certainly beggars belief. It shouldn’t be hard to imagine that one could have got a whole new building if not two for that money.
This article was originally posted in Gerard’s Gazette on 23 June 2024. Extracted on 24 June 2024 from the original here.