The Artist Residency Programme of the Govandi Arts Festival has gathered together three artists from Mumbai to create contextual, site-specific art. This art project has been in progress for the past three months, with the artists working in different art forms, including animation, crafts, ethnographic mapping and storytelling with the residents of the area.
The Festival
This initiative, being lead by the Community Design Agency (CDA) in India and Lamplighter Arts CIC (UK) with Streets Reimagined (UK), is part of the British Council's 'India/UK Together, a Season of Culture' initiative. Having been in progress for the past three months, the will conclude with a public exhibition from 15th to 19th of February that will feature a range of events, including the work of the resident artists.
"The artist residency programme will help showcase the richness and diversity of the talent and stories that thrive in Govandi and create a sense of belonging and pride in the community," said Sandhya Naidu, Founder and Managing Director of Community Design Agency.
The Artists
The three artists who will be working on this project are Jerry Antony, a storyteller and visual communicator with a master's in Animation Film Design Nisha Nair Gupta, an architect, urban researcher, and writer, and Meera Goradia, who has worked with artisanal sectors across India since 1989, is facilitating a documentation team to discover the richness of handwork in Govandi.
"Jerry, Nisha and Meera are extremely talented and intuitive artists and they've laboured for many months, drawing inspiration from their surroundings to shine a light on the neighbourhood through their creations. For us, the festival is not just an event, but a step towards empowering and celebrating the people of Govandi through the power of art and storytelling," said Naidu.
The Goals
The two goals of this initiative are to provide residents&mdashespecially the youth&ndashaccess to high-quality mentorship in the arts and a public platform to express themselves. Secondly, it is also to include those outside the neighbourhood to understand art as a getaway and all the complexities it comes with.
When 15th to 19th of February
Where Govandi Gaonthan, Mumbai