Rants De Goa 05 : The One with The Kala Academy

No.5 No.5

Rants De Goa

The One One with with The the Kala Kala Academy Academy the

Civic architecture needs to be conserved as rigorously as religious architecture, since it marks Goa’s evolution towards becoming a Modern society.

Here’s the story of the Kala Academy.

In the 1960’s, Goa’s first Chief Minister Dayanand ‘Bhausaheb’ Bandodkar undertook a series of important social reforms that transformed Goa’s feudal society.

While his reforms focussed on land, employment, education and healthcare, the development of a Grand Cultural centre was a central idea to him.

Now, you may wonder - why would a cultural centre be so central to his reforms ?

With it’s outward focus on trade and empire, Portuguese colonial rule combined with Goa’s cultural diversity produced remarkable developments in the fields of performing arts, painting, literature, music and most importantly - Architecture.

These developments came with their fair share of problems, as they were often compartmentalised by the narrow confines of caste, community and religion that plagues Goan society to this day.

Goa’s domestic architecture is also a reflection of Goa’s brutal caste system. Don’t be blinded by the beautiful classical European architectural elements. The Houses exist as architectural setpieces of hierarchical and graded spaces that acted as social filters.

Grand staircases, entrance porticos, entrance vestibules and flanking halls were all ordered around a strong axis of entry. Each space had to then be socially negotiated by the visitor based on one’s caste and social standing.

The proposed ‘Kala Acedemy’ was to be the State Government’s attempt at integrating Goa with the national cultural mainstream - after 451 years of Portuguese rule.

Goan culture itself needed to be unpacked for the Nation. Despite a hugely influential diaspora, with a disproportionate influence on Culture, Goa and it’s people remained a mystery to the wider nation under British rule.

The scale, refinement and splendour of some of Goa’s religious and domestic architecture produced during the colonial period made it challenging to find an architect who would do justice to this important commission.

For this commission, the state government narrowed down on Charles Correa, a Goan of diaspora, working out of Bombay. He was internationally recognised for this project, with the might of the state behind him.

He played an undisputedly important role in the project, influencing the project profoundly, even selecting the site for the proposed Academy himself.

Architecturally, the Kala Academy’s modernist design broke away from the traditional manner of architectural spaces produced in Goa.

It’s shaded public plazas and rectilinear modernist forms are easily some of the best designed public spaces in Goa. It’s design success can be measured by the number of citizens who visit the Academy only to use the Plaza, without venturing into the theatres, library or music facilities.

The exclusivity of the Arts and it’s relationship to caste and social class that existed in Goa since time immemorial was decisively broken down.

There is much to lament about the quality of civic architecture in the modern city infrastructure we see around us.

What then, does the Kala Academy represent on the landscape of Goan Architecture ?

Judging by the pathetic standards of civic architecture in today’s globalised Goa, the Kala Academy was comparable to the very best that the world was producing when the nation had closed itself off to the world.

This was largely owed to the fact that Correa himself was part of the Global elite. His mobility amongst this elite group was made possible through old wealth.

Tracing his roots to Moira, Correa was a product of Goa’s landed Christian elites form the Old conquests in the 19th and early 20th century to the Urban centres of British India.

While they migrated for jobs and higher education, this influential group of immigrant Goans also went on to acquire powerful positions in a newly independent India. They also had the ability to acquire degrees abroad when almost no one else had the ability to do so.

His trajectory mirrored the diverse post-colonial architectural landscape in Asia, along with Geoffrey Bawa in Sri Lanka and William Lin in Singapore.

They studied in the west, continued to maintain their global networks and produced significant architectural works in their native countries. They drew on global ideas and inspiration which made them the toast of local communities. helping to move the conversation move beyond national and colonial boundaries.

Correa’s global architectural inspirations for the Kala Academy are rarely discussed. Watch for the remarkable similarities with London’s controversial Royal National Theatre designed by Denys Lasdun, opened in 1976.

They drew upon similar ideas of global modernism, being architects drawing from the same global milieu.

While both these cultural centres are similar in their form, typology and the grammar of construction, the expression of their skins differ significantly.

Instead of the muted historicity of Correa’s colourful murals and exposed laterite skin, Lasdun unabashedly embraced the austere qualities of finished concrete.

This has evoked praise and derision in equal measure from Londoners to this day.

The Kala Academy was plagued with controversies during its construction. The then Chief Minister Shashikala Kakodkar was accused by the opposition of awarding the structural design of the Kala Academy to her brother-in-law Sharad Vengurlekar without following due process. This seems almost innocent considering the high standards set by today’s ministers.

A project conceptualised in the 60’s, broke new ground in the 70’s, was finally completed in 1981, during the tenure of the third Chief Minister of Goa, Pratapsingh Rane.

When Revolutions become Rule, many societies fail badly.

Despite a promising start with Bandodkar’s reforms and it’s remarkable diaspora, Goa too has badly failed. It’s underfunded public education system has sadly not produced a professional class that can operate at a Global level from within the state.

Goa’s civic architecture is a reflection of this mess.

Today, the Kala Academy is undergoing “Conservation” at the hands of a bunch of nameless and inept butchers, which will bring this storied cultural venue down to the same level of mediocrity that surrounds us in Goa today.

These discussions on Conservation of our Modern Heritage need to be had much more frequently, in order that we do not lose hallowed ground to contemporary myopia.