We are thrilled to invite you for the launch of the new edition of River of Stories, the 25th Anniversary Collector’s Hard Cover.
This Graphic novel published by @blaftpublications Chennai, has a special place in Indian comics history. The narrative is an insightful, sharp observation on immediacy of environmentally degenerative development projects.
A conversation with @orijitzen the author, and Archa Sancou, Assistant Professor, English @chowgulecollegeofficial is scheduled at @the_dogears_bookshop at 6 pm, on 19th November, 2022.
Details about @goaheritagefestival 3 PM on 18 | 11 | 22 & @literatigoa 6.30 PM on 25 | 11 | 22 programs are coming soon.
From sunshine and beaches, to rawa fried fish and delectable beef dishes, from cashews to feni and choriz to churches, from dense green forests to rivers as wide as the eye can see, its cheerful people and quaint, colorful houses with terracotta roofed porches signing off on the ultimate susegad life – India’s smallest state also happens to be most people’s favorite, its rich, vibrant, pluralistic and largely liberal culture attracting visitors of all kinds.
But does this ubiquitous “Goa for everyone” feeling really make you Goan? And how is Goa’s unique local culture being shaped by the many waves of immigration – past and present – that have passed through its lands? This weekend we explore such questions and more with a curated screening program featuring two locally made documentary films.
The Golden Fish by Avadhoot Potdar, Akanksha Gupta and Akshata Dalvi looks at Goa’s burgeoning casino industry and its impact on the local economy and community, whereas Bread & Belonging by Goan filmmaker Sonia Filinto, explores the relationship between food, culture and migration through the lens of Goa’s unique bread, pão. Both films address issues of migration, changing culture and the ever-present need to earn a living.
Join us on Sunday, 26th June 8pm onwards at The Flying Goat for an evening of cinema and conversation as we explore the evolving identity of a cherished land through local stories and perspectives. Limited seating available, call on +91 8828138632 to book your seats!
We are glad to announce that Yoda Press http://www.yodapress.co.in founder Arpita Das Ribeiro will be with us for a conversation this *Wednessday March 31st 6 pm *at Design Centre, Porvorim to tell us about her/ their story, the creative and alternative processes that helps non mainstream publishing houses stand firm and produce relevant books on contemporary Indian realities.
Yoda Press was awarded the Publisher of the Year Prize in 2016 at the Publishing Next Conference, held annually in Goa, India. Founded by Ms Das in 2004, this independent publishing house brings out books focusing on the non-mainstream, alternative and contemporary realities of the Indian subcontinent. Few Yoda Press titles are with us at Design Centre to browse and purchase.
Five Yoda Press titles were cited by the Supreme Court of India during its judgement in 2018 that decriminalised homosexuality in the country. #navtejsinghjohar
In addition to founding and running Yoda Press, Arpita Das was Curator of the Book Award for Excellence in Writing on Cinema and the Word to Screen Market at the Mumbai Film Festival between 2015 and 2018. She also set up and led the “Word Lab” at the Indian Institute of Human Settlements in Bangalore between 2014 and 2017. Visiting Faculty on the Creative Writing programmes at Ambedkar and Ashoka University in Delhi, she also runs the Yoda Press Series of Workshops for Editors and Authors. Member of the PublisHer (womeninpublishing.org) board, she writes regularly on culture and gender for various periodicals and platforms.
Limited seating following hygiene protocols, registration necessary.
Audiences are requested to park their vehicles near Nexa Service Station, the road ahead is steep and narrow. Limited Seating with social distancing guidelines. Parking location https://goo.gl/maps/bCegD9WhwU2r4dbf7
In conversation- Nandita Haksar with Frederick Noronha
Can you be an outsider in our own country? Article 19 (1) (d) of the Indian Constitution guarantees each Indian citizen ‘the right to move freely throughout the territory of India’. Does the idea of a single citizenship attached to the federal republic of India allow an equal claim over the cultural and natural resources of the country? It might be that our fundamental right to move, work, and reside across the country has been misunderstood, licensing exploitation and a new form of dominion over the most vulnerable parts of the country.
We will examine and critique this fundamental right. With Nandita Haksar and Frederick Noronha this #mondayfixgoa
Nandita Haksar is an ultimate insider: upper caste, upper class and privileged in every sense except that she is a woman in a patriarchal society. Perhaps that is what helps her see oppression of others.
She was brought up to believe all Indian citizens are one; political and culturally united and the differences are not very serious. It was impolite to talk about differences, especially religious differences.
Her study of Jharkhand movement and engagement as a lawyer with the problems there was when she became acquainted with the word “diku” the outsider as exploiter, especially in tribal areas. That is why she did not recoil at being called a “mayang” in North East. It did not seem like a personal attack, just a description of outsiders who had come as exploiters: the armed forces, the traders but not the missionaries.
The first case she helped in was of pavement dwellers: migrant workers called outsiders and told to quit. But the class was more apparent than the outsider at the time.
Then came the outsider movement in Assam; the outsider was a foreigner. An illegal migrant from Bangladesh; also Chakma and the Nepali. In case of Chakma, victims of the dam being built – when does an outsider, a refugee become a citizen?
In Goa: the tourist as an outsider. Aparthied with areas marked for white foreigners. Indians and Goans not welcome.
Then came the migrant crisis and the whole question of NE migrants in Goa arose.
So what is responsibility of the host state to the migrant workers. How can a citizen be a guest worker or an outsider? And so where does that leave the Indian? Is an Indian an outsider in India?
Nandita Haksar is a Human Rights lawyer, teacher, campaigner and writer. She was awarded a degree of LL.D. (Honoris Causa) from NALSAR in 2015 in recognition of her work in the field of human rights.
Frederick Noronha is a journalist based in Saligão in the Bardez taluka of Goa. He is active in cyberspace and involved with e-ventures involving Goa, developmental concerns and free software. He is the co-founder of BytesForAll. He is the founder of the alternate publishing house, Goa 1556.
Goa’s history with fish is perhaps most prominently on display in the ‘Fish Thali’ signs across the state. For the tourist, Goa is about its culinary history with fish. For the Goans themselves, in the last few years, fish has become synonymous with formalin- a chemical added to increase the shelf life of fish. For the fishing communities, Goa was where the resistance to liberalisation in the fisheries sector started in the 1970s. Goa’s relationship with the sea is a tenuous one: one that is dotted with both competition and conflict.
When the lockdown was announced on the 24th of March, Goa’s fishing sector came to a grinding halt: markets were closed, jetties had their gates closed, vendors were disallowed from selling fish. Using the journey of the migrant fishworker -someone who travels to Goa for ten months of the year and expends his labour on the mechanised boat- this talk will explore some of the aspects of Goa’s relationship with fishing. It doesn’t aim to be a historical account of the state, neither does it aim to know all the complexities of the sector. It is an attempt to tell a story of the journey of the migrant fishworker.
— Siddharth Chakravarty is a researcher with The Research Collective, Delhi. His work engages with various aspects of fishing, both globally and nationally, and is primarily embedded in making sense of the class, caste/tribe and gendered dimensions of this sector.
He will be in conversation with Alok Hisarwala, lawyer and activist. Poster design by Pale Blue Dot Goa. Please DM for link.
Recently, citizens of Goa came out to assist the Covid relief operations – collaborating with the Government procedures. From the time of essentials distribution till the last Shramik trains, they were relentless in their pursuit of dignity for the workers. In this #mondayfixgoa, with Vijaya Pais, Nupura Hautamaki and Miriam Koshy, in conversation with Alok Hisarwala, we will get to know their optimism, learning points and disappointments and the active citizenry movement. We hope to encourage and foster Government and citizen interfaces through this discussion.
“Migrants (and refugees) are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity”, quoth Pope Francis.
Yet very often, they are. Globally, migrations fulfil different needs: economic, social, or political, and allow societies to assimiliate and forge heterogenous identities. A plural society needs to be mature, responsible, and should legislate mechanisms to avoid the neglect and demonisation of any minority groups. Such social integration and inclusive growth can contribute to the development of a society, state, and nation.
This talk, hosted by Thus.Critique, will be about inclusion and the present issues that minorities face.
About the speaker: Asif Hussain is the Secretary at the Centre for Study of Philosophy and Humanities, Goa.
The session will be moderated by Amrita Anand, Video Volunteers.
Asif Hussain, Secretary, Centre for study of philosophy and humanities
Migrations are a social need across the world. Social integration and inclusive growth contributes to the development of a society /state /nation.
Asif Hussain, Secretary, Centre for Study of Philosophy and Humanities, Goa, will tell us about this inclusive society.
He mentions that a plural society needs to be mature and responsible and formulate mechanisms to avoid neglect and demonisation of any Minority groups. Social service and concept of a welfare state go hand in hand and are a must for building mutual trust and cordial relations.
‘DiasPura’, is an observational study of the subculture of a wide cross section of the Indian immigrant community in the USA. It explores the process of identity formation of Indian settlers in America while focussing on the critical relationship of their politics to the reality of majoritarian and identity based politics back home.
Ajay Raina, an alumnus of FTII, Pune, is a filmmaker, writer and teacher. He has won the Golden Conch award at Mumbai International Film Festival, IDPA Silver Trophy (Independent Documentary Producers Association) and RAPA Award (Radio & Advertising Professionals Association). He is the founder of http://www.kashmiroralhistory.org archive and co-curator and organiser of the touring film festival Kashmir Before Our Eyes. He taught courses in Cinema Studies and Cinema/ TV Production at the University of Pennsylvania and at the Film and TV Institute of India.
thus. 