KALA GHODA 2020

The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival includes riots of workshops, talks heritage walks , theatre performances, dance
recitals, book readings and much more. The theme ‘BACHPAN’ could easily be figured out while walking
along the road due to its use of vibrant colours , cartoons drawn on the walls, putting up the installations in
interactive yet educational way.

Curated by many artists all around, the installation section promises to be a delight for the audience. As an
individual when I went around the festival, I could experience it that almost all the installations carried a
common message and that was to save your childhood , by giving out a reminder of lost times when we were
connected with the nature and away from modern gadgets. The materials used for most of the installations
also tell you the harmful effects of pollution caused by plastic and how it is the time for us to untangle
ourself from this misery as soon as possible.
One such installation that I found to be giving out the message of nurturing our childhood from the
beginning and not letting it fade away due to external factors or any connections which takes us away from
our root of being connected with nature was known as ‘I GIVE YOU BEAUTY & YOU GIVE ME
FREEDOM’ curated by Rajwa and Epiphany. This installation showed a butterfly and cocoon which was
made with different colours which according to me portrayed the innocence of one child at the stage where
he is still discovering different aspects of his life. The fact that a single silk saree causes 50,000 Bombyx
Mori - The Silk Moth to die even before they are born and not given a chance to come out of their cocoon to
discover the world outside might be denoting the time where in some parts of the country , the baby is killed
inside the womb where the child has got no say in it and he/she is deprived of the beautiful experience that
they were about to get when they would step in to the world. It is one of the most dreadful act where one
doesn’t allow their kids to step out of the house or let them go around and experience the life outside the 4
walls. The installation also showed the cocoon forming outside of the moth , thus allowing it to not be
entangled in it’s own silk. This technique tricks the moth into weaving outside its body and thus preventing
its usual fate. We as children should also look for alternatives where as in we don’t stay confined to the
modern gadgets which would take us away from our traditional roots
of not stepping out to play around and get real life experience .

Talking about the stores that were put up in the festival, I could say
that the way they had showcased their products were totally in an
interactive manner whereas in you could step inside the shop and
experience the products or have a chat with the creator of the same.
Most of the stalls were craft based whereas in they promoted the
basic culture of art through products made of wood, corks, mud,
fabrics etc . To go with the theme the
shops had taken care of their theme board
of the products , so that it all looks like
part of the same place. They had placed
their visiting cards and also a brochure in
place for the customers to understand the
brand identity and the philosophy with
which they work. Talking about the
social, cultural, technological and
environmental experience of the stores I
would say that too keep up with the
trends and after understanding their
clients the shops had the services of
updating their products on social media ,
then they would talk to people to make
them feel that even though social media
has come into play the old tradition cant
be forgotten.
BY - NIHIRA GULHANE
BD/18/PN13