In 2018, Memesys Culture Lab, which has been the driving force behind films like Ship of Theseus (2012), Tumbbad (2018), An Insignificant Man (2016) and others, besides having been dedicated to crafting experientially rich projects at the intersection of science, technology and culture, left the bustling metropolis of Mumbai to settle in Goa’s calmer shores.
An erstwhile Portuguese colony, Goa is a beautiful amalgamation of the east and the west, which is reflected in both its art and culture. With annual festivals like the Serendipity Arts Festival and the Sensorium heralding vibrant cultural exchanges in Goa, the state has become one of the most significant cultural hotspots of the country. These art festivals, along with numerous art galleries and creative spaces in the state have paved the way for an alternate culture scene in Goa, beyond the confines of museums and traditional handicrafts. In fact, a growing number of artists like photographer, Laila Vaziralli, director-curator, Miriam Koshy Sukhiji, designer, Anjali Mody and many others have made Goa their second home.
Memesys
As one of the most creative spaces in India right now, Memesys, a new media studio and a systems thinktank created by filmmaker, Anand Gandhi and game designer, Zain Memon, decided to shift to Goa in 2018, along with their entire team.
The creative vision of the studio hinges on trying to push the boundaries of our cultural discourse to make it more nuanced and relevant. They craft stories that equip their audiences with insights and ideas to navigate the challenges of the present and future.
“To achieve this, we draw from the most important epiphanies across science, policy, biology, philosophy, and have partnered with the best thought leaders across the world. A better society begins with individuals who think critically, and culture is one of the most significant levers of social change,” says Zain Memon, one of the co-founders of Memesys.
Makers’ Asylum
Formerly based out to Mumbai, Makers’ Asylum, a community makerspace working at the intersection of art and technology, too shifted to Goa just about a month back, at a time when Mumbai had become one of the major COVID-19 hotspots in the country. Their reason for shifting to Goa, however, wasn’t just to escape the pandemic.
“Personally, as a life decision too, Richa (his partner) and I had always thought of Goa as an option to possibly move down to,” says Vaibhav, founder of Makers’ Asylum.
“But, we weren’t sure of taking the leap yet.”
It was only after the pandemic broke out and everything needed to be rethought, that they took the decision to shift Makers’ to Goa completely.
It was also becoming difficult for them to keep paying the sky-high rents in Mumbai, especially at a time when there was little to no profit being made by the company. As a result, they started looking for other smaller spaces within Mumbai, but couldn’t clinch the deal since the very idea behind Makers’ was to provide a spacious set-up for creating innovative solutions and not straitjacket one into a constricting space. So, after doing away with the idea of downsizing, they packed up and relocated to a space called Thinkering in Goa, which was envisioned as a makers’ space by a friend of theirs, who had set this up.
Since the space was lying empty at the moment, they decided to take it up for Makers’ Asylum.
“We packed up four large trucks worth of stuff to Goa straight away without even having gone for a recce before that. It was hectic but fun,” says Vaibhav.
Currently, the entire team of Makers’ is working out of Thinkering and plans to keep doing so for the next 6 months to a year, until they get their own physical space set up.
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