Goa’s spectacular forests, which make up one-fourth of India’s Western Ghats, is a biodiversity hotspot with a wide variety of plant and animal life. This region, which has been named as one of the world’s eight biodiversity hotspots by UNESCO is home to pangolins, black panthers, leopards and even tigers, in addition to hundreds of distinct species of flora and fauna that are exclusive to the planet.
The Goa government’s proposed linear projects which included a railway line, road expansion and an electric power transmission line are passing through the Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park. The Amche Mollem movement was born during the protests to save Goa’s sensitive biodiversity hotspots. A dynamic campaign to protect Goa’s precious biodiversity is spearheaded by young minds who placed art and culture alongside scientific and legal measures. Amche Mollem developed a substantial body of work using visual storytelling techniques in partnership with scientists and experts to communicate complex and important scientific research as well as legal principles and governmental institutions.
Four bright artists who are part of the Amche Mollem movement, Trisha Dias Sabir, Svabhu Kohli, Deepti Sharma and Nishant Saldanha, will set up an installation at Garcia De Orta garden during the 5th Edition of Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) 2022 as part of the for the Serendipity Arts Festival Public Art Grant 2022, titled “The Island That Never Gets Flooded.”
The installation entails building giant structures of endangered wildlife species that weren’t included in many of the assessments made by the government. Collectively, they will create a stage where experts who have been working in the Western Ghats will share their knowledge through stories, poetry, and music. Visitors will be able to learn more about the forests and the threats faced by the habitats of the forest.
Svabhu Kohli, a visual storyteller who is part of Amche Mollem states “I think there are multiple things that we would like people to take back as we build this installation because there is a lot of threat at Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary, and Mollem National Park as the three linear projects are going to cut through the forest. It will be great if people can understand the interconnectivity of the forest in Goa towards its people, how these forests shape what Goa is for us and what’s at stake if these projects fragment the forests and what we stand to lose. Beyond that it would be great to trigger a dialogue amongst our own citizens on how the forests of Goa shape our identity or how we shape the identity of the forests of Goa as well, with the decisions that we make in time to come.”
The public arts display by Amche Mollem at Serendipity Arts Festival 2022 will be a fantastic opportunity to interact with people personally and raise awareness of the movement as the world slowly returns to normal following the Covid-19 pandemic. The result of this endeavour could be as simple as one learning a little more about the world around and feeling more empowered to change the world. This will be a fantastic takeaway, and as Amche Mollem is an open citizen movement, it is open to involve an increasing number of individuals and benefit from their skills.
Amche Mollem has significantly improved the notion that people may come together to learn, unlearn, develop, and work towards creating a society that they believe will be a better place for people and the natural world to coexist. Visit the installation at Garcia De Orta garden from 15th-23rd December 2022 and participate in the movement.
