A hibiscus for Ganesh

The red hibiscus flower has an unmissable iconic value in Lord Ganesharsquos worship Be it the ongoing annual 11day festival or the everyday poojamdashthe large hibiscus petals add grandeur to the Ganpati idol For a moment imagine stopmotion animation of a blooming hibiscus flower projected on a screenmdashseasonal decorations juxtaposed with glimpses of women enjoying the fugdi folk dance running in a loop video What if these motifs are placed literally under a green leafy roof Surely the video installation would evoke glimpses of the traditional Chovoth Ganesh Chaturthi celebration in Goan Hindu homesmdasha time for community bonding amid naturersquos finerymdashflowers pods fruits lush vegetables and fresh air to top it all For visual artist Divesh Gadekar 34 born and raised in Panaji the Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts is an apt setting to reimagine the traditional Ganesha festival as he has experienced since his childhood in the village For the artist the seasonal biodiverse decorative canopy above a Ganapati idolmdashcalled matoli in Goamdashsymbolises the rich local flora the essence of the festivalStopmotion animation of a blooming hibiscus flower projected on a screen juxtaposed with glimpses of women enjoying folk dances in a loop video at the ongoing Time Space Memory exhibitionGadekarrsquos work on display as part of the Time Space Memory exhibition falls in the exact Ganpati festival weeks The 60 water colour canvas paintings and the video installation broadly underline a personal sense of loss in the context of the fastdisappearing organic elements that once characterised the festival For an artist like Gadekar who has grown in the open green spaces of Goa particularly the sylvan Mahalakshmi temple precincts in Panaji the festival is about a life rhythm Itrsquos about folk dances fugdi instruments ghumat lesserknown leafy vegetables kanakicho kom and fruits kavandal In fact he feels each frame of his Maati Dev Mud God exhibition ldquois a reminder of the little natural joys hisbiscusjaswandi included the festival ushered in as against the high decibel synthetic stuff it is now associated withrdquoAttached to his ancestral family in Siolim North Goa Gadekar yearned for the Ganesh festivities since school days as they signalled a freedom from the routine ldquoI was weak in every subject not just Mathrdquo he shares ldquoSo getting away from school was welcome I had a natural affinity for decoration craft percussion Ghumat aartis and the family reunion ritualsrdquo The Ganesh season presented opportunities for pure fun which later propelled Gadekar towards visual arts Gadekar was also superenthusiastic about Shigmotsav spring festival in Goa celebrated by the Konkani diaspora and Diwali too His father a road contractor played the conch with immaculate ease Gadekar would be allowed a smaller conch whenever the father performed in the temple The conch later became central to his art it is soon to resurface in one of his upcoming public art projects As apparent in the Time Space Memory exhibition Gadekar deeply regrets the current ldquopoliticalrdquo nature of the Ganesh festivities ldquoHuge Plaster of Paris idols and the length of the garland firecracker lsquoladirsquo determines the prestige of the publicprivate Ganesh mandals whether in Goa or Maharashtra I find that festivals come and go but harmony remains elusiverdquo the artist laments adding that Time Space Memory gives him a chance to articulate his sentiments He feels artists should at least underline the current jarring state of festivities especially the immersion ceremonies which mercilessly annihilate water bodies ldquoThe festival resembles a corporate contest in which megasized idols and pandals contribute to a fierce annual jamboreerdquoDivesh GadekarGadekarrsquos art is vocal about environment conservationmdashas manifested in the animated video which follows the hibiscus and a clay idol emerging from and dissolving in Mother Earth the canvas paintings capture the glory of the hibiscus in water colours The artist not just celebrates the greens flowers and fruits associated with the season but decodes each element of the matoli in a QR coded public exhibit for the uninitiatedmdasha fruit named bede Areca Catechu used for treatment of schizophrenia and glaucoma the seetechi veni Rhynchostylis flower which helps fight asthama epileptic spasms and menstrual disordersAs curator of the Time Space Memory exhibition Leandre DrsquoSouza says Gadekar uses the moving image as a tool of aesthetic enquiry ldquoDiveshrsquos work is deeply connected to and impacted by his immediate environment He presents the Ganapati the peoplersquos God an agricultural deity formed out of clay The decorative canopy matoli is believed to transmit knowledge about the local biodiversity from one generation to anotherrdquoDrsquoSouza feels the elements from Goan culture transform the exhibition space into a space for reflection on naturersquos fragilityGadekar is also constantly ideating on research projects that dwell on linkages between natural surroundings and community life For instance he is now researching two local musical instruments made out of dried hollow bamboomdashpawa and surpawamdashused by the Dhangar shepherd tribal community in Goa Ponda and Sanguem Maharashtra Konkan and northern Karnataka He feels the instruments are introductions to a vanishing lifestyle ldquoEvery musical instrument has its own language Also the sound of a particular instrument can describe the tone and tenor of a languagerdquo says Gadekar For him the Dhangar communityrsquos participation is central to understanding the sound and the aesthetics of the instrument which is indigenously designed to calm aggressive or disturbed cattleanimals and lead them back into the herd It is also part of yearlong rituals Dusshera being the focal point and of specific interest to himGadekar believes in speaking the inconvenient truth He feels artists have to be proactive in presenting local heritage and history in perspective ldquoWhether itrsquos the Ganapati festival or a dying musical instrument or the integration of local flora in everyday rituals the artist community has to state whatever the situation is We have to underscore the harm done to the environment in the name of culture and religionrdquo His past exhibitionsmdashMaati Morphing landscapes Sadhana DellrsquoArte Entangled Walkin Studios Bengaluru Unravelling Stories as part of a fellowship and the Goa Familia Project speak of his singleminded pursuit of roots In 2018 he won the Fundaccedilatildeo Oriente Visual Arts Award for his continual explorations Interestingly Gadekarrsquos studio in Panajimdashwhere he brainstormsmdashis called Suru which translates to ldquostartrdquo For him beginnings are about celebration of the local ecologySumedha RaikarMhatre is a culture columnist in search of the subtext You can reach her at sumedharaikarmiddaycom