Kala Academy
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Stroll down the Campal road and you cannot miss the Kala Academy, Goa's premier center for the performing arts. Designed by Charles Correa, one of India's best known architects, it was built over 1973-83. It is a vibrant representation of the culture and art of the people of Goa and this is expressed in the scores of events held in its premises.
Illusion and reality merge in the spaces of the Kala Academy. Murals on the high walls turn visitors into actors, 'performing' as they walk from art gallery to canteen. It is perhaps a tribute to 'tiatro' a highly popular and successful form of Konkani theater. The realistic perspective of the street murals resemble the elaborate backdrops of a typical tiatro.
The relatively low rise mass is spread horizontally and organized around an innovative ground plan with an open 'street' going through the entire building. This allows one to enter the building without being self-conscious about entering; it makes an otherwise serious public institution seem less "institutional" and more relaxed and appropriate.
The long 'streets' of Kala Academy have truly achieved their aim of informal gathering. On a busy evening people will be striding down, chatting with friends seated on the low sit-arounds and whiling away time enjoyably waiting for the concert or play to begin.
The transition from the outside to the inner streets is gracefully achieved by the high ceiling at the entrance. The laterite pebble-dash surface unifies the various blocks of this large institution with a rustic simplicity.
The large wall expanses evoke the great walls of the forts of Goa, built in laterite that weathers beautifully.A lounge for artistes and dignitaries, an exhibition hall and the wing entrance to the auditorium. The Kala Academy houses an administrative block, a black box for smaller events, an amphitheater seating about 2500, an art gallery, an exhibition hall and the Dinanath Mangueshkar AC auditorium which seats around 900 people.
Bougainvillea hold court between a performance square and the open-air canteen. The Reis Magos Church and Fort stand on the opposite bank of the Mandovi river.The jetty built for the International Film Festival extravaganza. Not being used much now, except by occasional furtive lovers gazing into the blue skies and lusting for those gorgeous yachts.
About The Architect
Though a Western-educated architect, who earned degrees in architecture from both the University of Michigan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Charles Correa practised modernism in his native land, a non-western environment. The sand dunes, laterite forts and bustling yet laid back streets of a Goa that is dear to him are all there at the Kala Academy. So is our love of art and the joy of a good song & dance!
