on the one hand goan art and culture is experiencing a golden era the states artists have never received as much acclaim as they are experiencing now there is a sustained positive movement in the musical sphere and the goa is also rapidly emerging as a regional nerve centre for national and international cultural events in october the storied guggenheim museum in new york will present the first retrospective exhibition dedicated to vasudeo gaitonde described by the museum as an artist of singular stature a genius and a man of uncompromising artistic integrity of spirit and purpose this great goan painters untitled landscape recently set the world record for the sale of an indian painting 37 million dollars next month christies auction house also in new york will host a rare oneartist sale of the works of gaitondes lifelong friend and cofounder of the seminal progressive artists movement francis newton souza the paintings on sale are from the collection of saligaoborn souzas daughter shelley francis newton and maria souza a life partnership in art compiles several works with a goan theme not all the action is taking place in faraway new york during the 6th india art fair in delhi last month one of the most popular major exhibitions was curated by subodh kerkar balcao presented by dhoomimal indias oldest art gallery highlighted the superb younger generations of artists now pouring out of goa in unprecedented numbers one of the best viraj naik was a quiet standout in another breakthrough exhibition rebirth of detail curated by kanchi mehta that finally saw the beautifully restored sunaparanta in panjims altinho live up to its potential as a center for the arts the highlight of the exhibition at sunaparanta was rouge a spellbinding confrontational performance by nikhil chopra one of indias most exciting artists who has recently relocated with his family to live in siolim it is goas great fortune that it can host and experience art of the highest international standard as with chopra and also dayanita singh the brilliant photographer who has rapidly emerged as the most celebrated indian artist of our times and often credits time spent in goa for altering the way she works the state is further blessed with an unusually efficient department of art and culture the first government agency of its kind in india to achieve iso certification in four different sectors standing out from an administrative framework that has been characterized by shameless venality and outstanding inefficiency for decadesno matter which government in powerthe highly competent calm and visionary director prasad lolayekar has quietly delivered a bonanza over the years a fantastic programme of visiting scholars for goa university the best library infrastructure in india beautiful worldclass renovations for menezes braganza institute and the palacio idalcaoold secretariat but even given all these advantages and the best efforts of highly dedicated individuals like lolayekar the fact is that most of goas very real renaissance in the sphere of art and culture is taking place despite of