NT BUZZ
Goa Open Arts in collaboration with Sunaparanta-Goa Centre for the Arts, Altinho, is all set to present the exhibition ‘Shadow Script’. The show which opens on April 10, 6 p.m. marks the fifth edition of the Catalyst and Engage Artist Grants that was established in 2020 to support Goa’s artist community in sustaining and expanding their creative practices.
This exhibition highlights the work of the most recent cohort of grantees – Divyesh Undaviya, Kiran Tamboskar, Pragya Bhagat, Shilpa Mayenkar Naik, Shyam Pahapalkar, Sumit Naik. It explores themes of time, memory, and perception—examining what is seen, what is hidden, and what endures. Shadows, both real and symbolic, become a means of storytelling, revealing histories, shifting landscapes, and evolving identities.
Shilpa and Pahapalkar use light and shadow to reflect on memory and change. Shilpa’s ceramic garlands of ovala flowers cast delicate shadows, symbolising the fragility and persistence of cultural memory. Pahapalkar, originally from Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, works with natural and found materials in Goa, creating relief sculptures that evoke forgotten spaces and environmental loss.
Tamboskar and Bhagat explore identity through immersive installations. Tamboskar’s interactive sculpture examines self-awareness and societal structures, while Bhagat’s multi-media installation unpacks the histories of women involved in magical and ritualistic practices in India, addressing themes of gender, sexuality, and power. Undaviya and Sumit use charcoal to capture transitions, memory, and absence. Unsaviya’s large-scale drawings depict landscapes in flux—tunnels, forests, and seascapes dissolving into uncertainty. Sumit’s architectural forms, made of paper and charcoal, reduce structures to their essence, tracing the shadows of memory
and grief.
This year’s Engage grant has been awarded to Studio Button (led by Katerina Kubareva) in collaboration with Nataliia Marynenko. Studio Button, a Siolim-based animation studio, uses art as therapy. For this show, they showcase a project developed with children from Isha Kripa Sadan, a temporary home for girls in distress. Over 10 months, they have worked with the children to create an animated film, offering them a creative outlet and a way to share their stories. The exhibition presents this film alongside abstract works by the children, reflecting their journey of co-creation.
A public engagement programme will accompany the exhibition, offering audiences opportunities to connect with the artists and their work.
