5-day festival to showcase Govandi from next week

Preparations began nearly six months ago when 45 youngsters from Govandi were selected to work with Mumbai-based artists or mentors. The focus was on art forms like theatre, filmmaking, photography, public art, rap and music, with three of the seven mentors guiding mentees in rap.

There is also an artist residency programme, where artists Jerry Antony, Nisha Nair Gupta and Meera Goradia worked with locals to help them tell the story of Govandi using their skills.

The hub of the preparation for the festival is Kitab Mahal, which started as a community library in the Natwar Parekh compound of Govandi last February.
Natasha Sharma, who along with Bhawna Jaimini, is the co-curator of the festival, said, “The festival is about reclaiming space and identity. It is to show to the world that there is more to Govandi that the negative connotations associated with it.”

Dee Moxon from Lamplighter Arts said, “During the festival, a procession carrying all the lamps that we prepare will be taken out.”

Parveen Shaikh, now associated with the CDA, said that it a chance meeting with Sandhya Naidu Janardhan, founder and managing director of CDA, nearly six years ago led to the festival. “Naidu had once come to Govandi where we resided. She told us to take ownership of the place and to think of the surroundings as our own homes, which had to be kept clean.”

The conversations set the ball rolling and gave birth to Kitab Mahal, saw two colourful murals come up in the area and eventually the festival.

Naidu said, “The CDA has engaged with Govandi residents since 2016. Art and creativity are central to our work, so launching an arts festival feels like a natural, exciting evolution that will have long-term, positive impact.”