MARGAO: After dilly-dallying for five months, the Kala Academy is finally going to distribute prizes to amateur tiatr artists from the 'A' and 'B' winning groups of the Tiatr contest within ten days.
It may be recalled that there was much disappointment among the young tiatr artistes comprising mostly of newcomers as prizes were not distributed to winners despite the competition being held five months ago.
The Kala Academy was quick to respect and clarified that there is no actual delay; instead, the postponement was due to the code of conduct enforced during the recent Lok Sabha elections. The Academy has now finalized a new date for the distribution of the prizes.
It is pertinent to note that Kala Academy, Goa, has been organizing the Tiatr competition for the 'A' and 'B' groups to provide five platforms for amateur artists and to promote and preserve the original form of tiatr for several years.
The 9th 'B' group tiatr competition was held at the Kala Academy auditorium from January 22 to 31, featuring the participation of 8 groups. This was followed by the 49th 'A' group tiatr competition, which took place from February 20 to March 6 and saw 12 groups competing.
"Yes, the delay in distributing the prizes has resulted in disappointment among the tiatr artists, especially the amateurs. Many newcomers were in a joyful mood after the announcement of the results," said Peter Fernandes, a member of one of the participating groups.
He also stated that participating groups put in a lot of hard effort to win and that receiving their prizes would encourage and boost their talent.
Christopher Mascarenhas, from the Bardez, said that receiving prizes is always a great moment for a tiatr artist, especially when it comes from a recognized institution like Kala Academy (Goa).
Responding to the issue, Arvind Khutkar, Member Secretary of Kala Academy, clarified that "there was no actual delay; rather, the prize distribution function could not be organized due to the code of conduct in force due to the Lok Sabha elections on March 16".
"Date for the prize distribution has already been finalised, and the function will be held within the next 10 days. There was no deliberate delay on the part of Kala Academy," he stated.