Panjim Art District

In December 2017, St+art arrived in Goa for a collaboration with Serendipity Arts Festival for the first time to begin work on the fourth public art district - Panjim Art District in Goa’s capital. While the first festival saw works by four Indian and international artists, subsequent editions of St+art Goa saw the creation of ten more pieces on various facades across Panjim.

Today, the fourteen pieces together reflect not only the artists’ unique readings of the city but depict the story of Goa, spread across the town center.

In the first edition of St+art Goa in 2017, Indian artists Do & Khatra and Parag Sonaghare, along with international artists Curiot + Romina (Pelagato Astral) and Guido Van Helten, created pieces inspired by their interpretations of Goa’s distinct culture using individual approaches. Painted on key buildings spread across the town center of Panjim, these murals aimed to instigate introspective, visual-led conversations in regions they were located.

Curiot & Romina- 'Inner Memories of our Roots', Mexican street artists Romina and Curiot decided to paint a mural about the spirit of the Earth. Through the piece they wanted to reconnect with that very spirit by looking inside and back to the original tribes of the planet - exploring their relation with the forces of nature and the duality of all things. Mexican street artists Romina and Curiot decided to paint a mural about the spirit of the Earth. Through the piece they wanted to reconnect with that very spirit by looking inside and back to the original tribes of the planet - exploring their relation with the forces of nature and the duality of all things.

Do & Khatra- Aunt Rosy, is Do & Khatra’s representation of Goan culture. The artist duo took inspiration for this mural from the supermarket in the building that their mural is painted on. The duo observed that the market was frequented by women who embodied Goan catholic culture. Using their observation to inspire their piece, Aunt Rosy stands tall on the facade of Junta House in Panjim - clad in a red dress, sporting a bag in one hand and a tender coconut in the other.

Guido Van Helten- Terracotta,Sydney based artist Guido Van Helten wanted his work to reflect the local crafts and traditions of the region. Upon arriving, he went around local pottery villages stretching from Bicholim and Succoro, to the pottery market in Mapusa. Mapusa is where he met Theresa Wallace - an 82-year-old artisan who had been working with pottery for over 60 years. His mural in Goa is a celebration of Theresa, and several others like her.

Parag Sonarghare- Observer Artist Parag Sonarghare created a photorealistic mural. It depicts a silent observer of people and surroundings. The ‘Observer’s constant gaze makes one aware of oneself and their existence, conveying more about the story of life that they carry. According to the artist, the human face reflects the metaphysical realm of a person, which becomes their feel. His interest lies in the human body/face, which he sees as the evidence of one's journey through life and psyche.

In December 2018, international artists Okuda, Fintan Mcgee, and Miles Toland created three new pieces in the art district. Interestingly, all three pieces featured use of the technique of portraiture, in the artists’ individual styles. The inspiration for the subjects came from local Goans the artists interacted with during the course of their stay in the city.

Milestoland Reveals St Art Goa 2018 Pranav Gohil 24

Milestoland Reveals St Art Goa 2018 Pranav Gohil 21

Miles Toland- Brimming, US based artist Miles Toland’s mural featured the portrait of a local fisherwoman. He decided to depict the picture of a ‘kaaki’ ,an old, gentle woman from the Panjim Market, because of her kind eyes and wisdom wrinkles, on the verge of saying something, almost breaking into a smile.

Okuda Reveals St Art Goa 2018 Pranav Gohil 19

Okuda Reveals St Art Goa 2018 Pranav Gohil 23

Okuda Spanish artist Okuda painted two walls that stand on either side of a street in Panjim, done in his signature style of colourful geometric patterns. The walls were the outcomes of two frenetic days and the result was two impressive, colourful and inspiring, polygonal pop art faces in the middle of Panjim.

Fintan Reveals St Art Goa 2018 Pranav Gohil 2

Fintan Mcgee- Four Men holding Roman Column. Australian artist Fintan Mcgee spent a few days understanding the space of Panjim and identifying his subjects before beginning work on his mural. His artwork featured portraits of three young men who worked at the hotel where Fintan was staying during his visit. The colours of the sky and the city around it complemented this mural, inspired from the very community which surrounds it. Grand and majestic, beautiful in its skill and form, the mural is a tribute to the working class.

The most recent edition of the festival included the most number of artworks at one stretch, with six artists of four different nationalities working through the month of December 2019 to create pieces which put Goa’s cultural identity at the forefront. While a few pieces engaged with Goa’s constantly shifting identity as a hugely popular tourist destination, others celebrated its vibrancy, Portuguese heritage, marine economy, and its multifaceted geological identity.

Osheen Wall 1 Reveals St Art Goa 2019 Pranav Gohil 19

Osheen Siva-Reflection has been created as an ode to the strength and vibrancy of Goan women. Made in the characteristic style of the artist, the mural seems to be set in a retro-futuristic landscape, encouraging its spectators to reflect on the theme of ‘the future is now’. Siva, whose body of work prominently explores gender and its intersection with society, has made her piece in Goa using bright colours, featuring two women as its main protagonists. The mural’s colour palette and kaleidoscopic design are directly informed by the vibrant and bold aesthetics the artist observed in attires worn by women in the city.

Osheen Wall 2 Reveals St Art Goa 2019 Pranav Gohil 2

Osheen Siva- ‘Unity’, Siva’s second mural in Goa depicted the theme of ‘the future is now’. Featuring six young girls in a futuristic landscape, the piece is inspired by few schoolgirls the artist met in Goa's Talegaon, who would often join her after school hours as she worked to complete her first mural. Her artwork urges its viewer to reflect on youth-led instances of activism in present-day socio-cultural realities, presenting young female characters as the caretakers of our future. The artist’s youthful female protagonists can be seen wearing the future - symbolized through Saturn-shaped earrings and galaxy-containing ‘bindis’, as their armour. Much like her first artwork for St+art Goa.The colour palette of this piece is informed by the variety of bright aesthetics Osheen observed in the attires donned by women in the city.

AKill Reveals St Art Goa 2019 Pranav Gohil 10

A-Kill - ‘The Goan and The Tourist’ Located on a huge façade of the office of the Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP), A-kill’s piece features portraits of two people – a local Goan man and a Goan tourist, who have been drawn facing each other. As a supremely popular destination among local and international tourists alike, constant movement of people arriving and departing, forms the essence of Goa. Titled ‘The Goan and The Tourist’, A-kill’s mural pays an ode to the same ethos of Goa – one that is constantly being redefined, and where an archetypal tourist seems to belong as much as its native inhabitants.

Ella Pitr Mural 1 Reveals St Art Goa 2019 Pranav Jay 4

Ella & Pitr -‘Madame Reve’. The artist duos friendly humongous characters can be found on rooftops and grounds all across the world, always capable of activating a site-specific dialogue with the space they are set in. In Panjim, directly overlooking the river Mandovi, their friendly giant is a swimmer taking a nap on the rooftop of a parking lot. With a blue cap, and a swimming costume with unique floral motifs, the composition pays homage to Goa’s Portuguese heritage and past of the city, especially a tradition known as ‘Azulejo’- a famous Portuguese tile-work technique, characterised by intricate floral motifs and the colour blue.

Ella Pitr Mural 2 Reveals St Art Goa 2019 Pranav Jay 14

Ella and Pitr's mural

Twoone Reveals St Art Goa 2019 Pranav Gohil 5

Twoone- Bright Future, Japanese artist Twoone’s mural for St+art Goa visually depicts his first encounter with the city of Goa, featuring a variety of elements the artist chanced upon on his initial visit to the village of Talegaon. Situated in the multi-faith neighbourhood of Talegaon, Twoone’s mural brings together the various sights the artist first came across in the neighbourhood to foreground the concepts of coexistence and togetherness for a bright future. The green frame of the mural is inspired by a huge tree Twoone spotted near a local temple, which he thought was overarching and seemed to look over affairs unfolding on the ground. He also noticed different species of animals - ranging from an ox to a house crow to a local bird and butterflies coexist with each other in the neighbourhood, amidst lush foliage. The same elements came together again to compose his mural in Talegaon.He concluded his piece with a tagline which often features in his artworks – ‘bright future’, translated in Hindi as ‘Ujjawal Bhavishya’ for Goa, and written in the Devnagari script, leaving behind the message of coexistence for a bright future.

Swabhu Reveals St Art Goa 2019 Pranav Gohil 5

Svabhu Kohli, ‘Ocean & Earth’ Surrounded by the Western Ghats on one end and the Arabian Sea on the other, the city of Goa lies on one of the richest biodiversity spheres of the world. Artist Svabhu Kohli’s mural celebrates the city’s multifaceted geological identity, visually depicting the interconnectivity of habitats that have created a thriving ecosystem in the area with some of the rarest species, including giant squids, Bryde's Whales, the rare Luna Moth, Coral species, and Nudibranches amongst others.

Ricky Lee Reveals St Art Goa 2019 Pranav Gohil 13

'An Offering’ by Ricky Lee Gordon,South African artist Ricky Lee Gordon’s piece was “inspired by the movement and poetic gesture of two fishermen at sunrise, the harmony of movement in water as if they are ceremonially bowing to the ocean.”

EXPLORE OTHER DISTRICTS:

Amitabh Reveals Ukkadam Art Dist St Art Kovai 2020 Jeswin Rebello

Ukkadam Art District

From its birds to its cinema posters, the city of Coimbatore is home to a unique set of cultural indicators. In March 2020, a diverse set of five artists imbued the city’s cultural ethos in their respective pieces to create the first line of artworks for the Ukkadam Art District. Located in Kovai’s Ukkadam Colony - a TNSCB site, the art district is India’s sixth and the state’s second open-air and open-to-all public art gallery.