PANJIM: Goan artistes across the state are struggling to present their artforms to public, not because there are few artistes but because the facilities are very poor. The renovation on the Kala Academy has left the artistes shedding tears due to the poor quality of work. Their reputation and livelihood is at stake. In this edition of Street Voices, Herald TV spoke to various artistes on the promises made by the Government to Goan artistes and whether they were fulfilled. Read on....
The present CM has not bothered about promoting culture. For the last two terms the Art and Culture minister Govind Gaude has only increased the prize money. How will the artistes survive? He has never taken us into confidence and done what we want. When it was taken up for renovation, it was totally destroyed. It appears they have a plan to build a hotel here. Or they may be thinking of putting up a mall there, so that they can loot. As an artiste this is my direct charge on them. They have made lot of promises. During the pandemic they promised to give one time settlement, have they delivered on this? They assured to put things in place, this has not happened. They even tried to intimidate me, as you must have heard in Thursday’s press conference.
Rajdeep Naik, Actor
First of all there is no news about the committee (of artistes) which was to be formed. Secondly, they had said they would do what the artistes wanted, so far we have not seen any move from Kala Academy on this front. And when they will do this they are just not bothered. The suffering artistes are scared to speak because they have literally served a show cause notice to Rajdeep Naik. On the floor of the House, CM had assured that everything would be rectified. We have not seen any initiative in this direction. We have no knowledge if work on the white paper has started. We just don’t know anything. Instead they are trying to intimidate artistes.
Francis Coelho, Theatrical Production Specialist
When artistes perform, the basic requirement they want is the mike system, the lighting system, monitors, green room, changing room, a good stage to perform, the audience should be able to hear. These are the basics. We have performed in other parts of India and abroad. They respect the artistes and give us first class facilities. Even the audience is treated with respect with good ACs, clean washrooms, good sound system. If the facilities are good, the artistes get thrilled to perform. Goa is a state with a rich culture. We are performers. We feel bad that the facilities promised to us are not being given. Lack of facilities put hurdles in our attempts to reach excellence.
Cecille Rodrigues, Dance Performer