Title:- Strokes of Brilliance; Grooming Artistic Talent at Turi Azulejos
Authors:–
* Brandon J Lobo – 2011203
Email: brandon.lobo11@gim.ac.in

* Carl Mascarenhas – 2011204
Email: carl.mascarenhas11@gim.ac.in

* Chandrakant Pandey – 2011205
Email: chandrakant.pandey11@gim.ac.in

* Chris Gurjao – 2011206
Email: chris.gurjao11@gim.ac.in

* Deepa Arora – 2011207
Email: deepa.arora11@gim.ac.in

* Dheeraj Pershad – 2011208
Email: dheeraj.pershad11@gim.ac.in

“ If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins “ – Benjamin Franklin
Abstract:–
Azulejo (pronounced azu’lezu) is a Portuguese or Spanish hand painted tile. They have been a staple in Portuguese culture for the last five centuries and the tradition of their production and use is highly prevalent in Portuguese colonies the world over. In Portugal, azulejos1 are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary houses and even train stations or subway stations. They constitute a major aspect of Portuguese architecture and are applied on walls, floors and even ceilings.
Having said that, the Portuguese colonisation of Goa has left a major impact on the culture and the lifestyle transcending generations, fads and modern western influences. When the Portuguese left Goa after Liberation2 in 1961 the art form was completely abolished and then revived in Goa in 1998 by a few Goan artists.
Turi Azulejos is the brainchild of Shankar Turi who participated in the revival of the azulejo in 1998 initially with a production centre in Goa Velha3 and then later opened up a second in Bicholim4. Through the nurturing of budding talent, a flair for creativity and a knack for merging the traditional and the modern, Turi Azulejos has become a prime example of how individual skilled artists can be brought together and organised to create awe inspiring works of art at highly affordable rates to create a profitable venture and bring back an art form from the brink of obscurity.
The Creator’s Background:-
Having started his career as a site supervisor for MRF, Sesa Goa, and later the Costa Factory, no one would expect that Shankar would drop everything to pursue a dying art-form and turn it into a business venture that has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 7 years making it the second largest azulejo producer in Goa.
While working at the Costa factory Shankar had a chance encounter with famed Portuguese azulejo artist Eduard Bourbon5 who had at the time been commissioned to create a mural at the Costa factory. So inspired by what he saw that there and then he decided what he’d like to do for the rest of his life. After having obtained a degree in fine arts from the Goa College of Art6 he headed off to Lisbon to learn the craft from the only place where it is taught, Lisbon.
Six months later he returned to Goa with his newfound knowledge in 1998 he began working at the Costa factory in Velha Goa as an artist producing azulejos. Eventually the desire to do more took over and he decided to venture out on his own. The clay tiles used to make azulejos are only available in Portugal along with the necessary paints and other essential supplies. So prior to opening his production facility in Bicholim in 2004 he made a trip to Portugal in do decide where and from whom he needed to source his materials from, and maybe even for a strong dose of inspiratio
Laying the canvas:-
In 2004, with the support of the GHRSSIDC7 Shankar started up his own production centre at the Bicholim Industrial Estate8, with five artists and an oven. However as is the case with all new ventures the start was slow, with low volumes and hence low profits. Being the proprietor and the only qualified azulejo artist Shankar had a long road ahead of him, having to invest at least 6 months to train the new artists. As expected, production was slow, with each artist capable of just two tiles in a day. The GHRSSIDC covered the initial investment which went into setting up the plant as well as covering the day to day operating costs. However the GHRSSIDC ended up being extremely short sighted and so deemed Turi Azulejos to be a failing enterprise and decided to cut their losses and abandon ship.
On his own and lacking the funds to sustain the business, Shankar sought to finance the venture by borrowing capital. He took up the State Bank artisan credit card, which allowed him access to collateral free capital at low interest rates. He would later use this to cover all operating expenses including the monthly rent and electricity to the employee salaries. Over the next few months however business began to pick up along with the productivity of his artists.
Demand for his products was never something that Shankar had to worry about, hence with his entire focus on quality and innovative, highly intricate designs he managed to carve a niche for himself and set his products apart from the competition.
With a focus on training and rote learning of proper painting techniques Shankar attempted to increase production. The productivity of each employee has increased slowly, however this still wasn’t enough to meet the demand in the early days, thus forcing Shankar to hire more artists to the point that he once had 16 artists working at the Bicholim studio.
A Growing Business:-
Turi Azulejos slowly began to carve a niche for itself by focusing more on training and the quality of the artwork on the tiles. All the material had to be imported from Portugal including the tiles and the paints, coupled with the level of artistry encouraged and promoted by Shankar left no doubt in one’s mind about the quality of the product you would receive from Turi Azulejos.
Shankar decided to focus more on value delivery and competitive pricing, using volumes rather than premiums to generate profits. This strategy worked for him, as business began to pick up. However this happened to fast for Shankar and his current set of employees to keep up and before he knew it Shankar found himself taking 11 new artists under his wing in an attempt to meet the market demand.
The newfound success of Turi Azulejos was short-lived, as soon as the GHRSSIDC realised the profit making potential it tried to return and capitalize on it. However Shankar would not see his hard work and dedication be brushed aside. He attempted to set up another studio in Marcel9, but to his dismay the power infrastructure present at Marcel would not allow him to use his electric oven which was absolutely necessary for the production of azulejos.
Even in the face of these setbacks Shankar refused to give up on his dream. Using whatever capital he could gather he bought out the GHRSSIDC’s stake in Turi Azulejos. Now the sole owner of Turi Azulejos Shankar had taken the next step toward fulfilling his dream.
Slowly Shankar began to expand his repertoire from just basic azulejos to include mini azulejos with more contemporary themes, fine china depicting Goan culture and heritage sites, clay fixtures and decorative clay pen holders, mini vases and figurines and much more.
Through dazzling displays at handicraft expos, undertaking vast murals for the government and many famous hotels, displaying their works at the ‘Ancestral Goa’10 theme park, named ‘Big Foot’ in Loutolim, Turi Azulejos has achieved strong direct and word of mouth publicity thus ensuring the growth of his business.

Culture:-
Shankar maintains very clear policies regarding who he would hire at Turi Azulejos, the key factor being talent. “I personally feel that the degree that a person possesses is useless if the person has no talent or interest in doing the job they have applied for” said Shankar.
The artists are sensitised to the Goan culture along with Portuguese culture as a majority of the influences found on azulejo artwork is deeply entrenched in the culture of both Goa and Portugal. Turi Azulejos strives to keep in line with these cultural and thematic aspects.
The primary focus of the culture at Turi Azulejos is similar to that of a family. All the artists are treated equally and offered a lot of freedom and plenty of scope to learn. All the artists come from a variety of backgrounds both from Goa and also from states around Goa. Hence, in addition to the standard Goan motifs and cultural sites and imagery, every artist brings with them a sense of individuality which is reflected in the artwork produced by them, therefore you will never find two of the same at Turi Azulejos, every piece is unique in its own way even if it is a replica of a certain design or scene.
The employees at Turi Azulejos are a small tight-knit family, and as such the workplace atmosphere is always warm and inviting, homely yet still maintaining an air of professionalism. Shankar follows the philosophy of a happy employee being a productive employee. In keeping with the family oriented feel the artists are allowed to take breaks, chat and listen to music during work hours. Shankar however tends to promote the listening of classical music during work hours as he believes that it more than other styles of music tend to promote the right kind of creative atmosphere that would best suit the ‘creative workplace’.
In addition to this Shankar tries to build up on the jovial workplace by first treating the artists as friends before employees. He holds parties for his employees on special occasions some of them going well into the wee hours of the morning.
Due to the dedication of and the trust placed in them by Shankar they seldom if ever take advantage of the freedoms offered to them in an inappropriate manner.
The efforts put in by Shankar throughout the years continuously bear fruits with a staggering increase in productivity, artists who would initially produce not more than maybe two tiles a day are now able to produce up to twelve tiles a day, without the slightest compromise on the quality put up.
Shankar believes in leading by example and hence is one of the hardest workers at Turi Azulejos. He believes in practising what he preaches and hence participated in the creation process as much as he can. By continuously immersing himself in the creation process he always manages to ensure that the vision with which he started Turi Azulejos remains intact and in keeping with the strong cultural heritage which forms the heart and soul of this industry.
Training , Grooming and Appraisal:-
The utmost importance is given to training and mentoring the artists at Turi Azulejos in the high standard of the artwork and technique to be used in the production of azulejos, right from customer interaction to conceptualising the customer’s wants and desires to actually coming up with the painting on the tile. Shankar chooses to use a hands on approach where he participates in the creation process at every step as much as he can.
Whenever new employees are taken on board Shankar personally trains and mentors them in the art of painting on tile, conceptualising and replicating pictures and ideas of pictures, sensitises them to the Goan culture along with Portuguese culture. For six months he works with each new artist making sure they have figured out all of the intricacies involved in the production of the finest quality azulejos. After the first six months, once he is sure they are able to go through the entire process on their own he allows them to start off working on replicating existing designs, patterns and motifs. However every now and then he grants them the freedom to paint as they wish as long as they can satisfy the customer and keep in line with the cultural and thematic aspects involved in the creation of the artwork for the azulejos.
The basic azulejo which is blue paint on the white tile is also the most difficult to paint. It involves the use of different brush angles and varying brush pressure along with pin point accuracy to ensure that the paint doesn’t spread into areas where it isn’t supposed to. Shankar spends a small part of the 6 month training period in teaching the artists the intricacies of the technique involved in the creation of the simple and classic blue on white monochromatic tiles. However they can only master this basic skill through practice and repetition and on an average it takes five years to master this. Hence in addition to the initial training period he also tries to help them develop the skill over time whenever he can, as he has to make sure to not let the training process interfere with the supply process as well. However due to the high yearly demand for his products he isn’t able to get much help out of his current stable of artists when it comes to meeting the demand for the monochromatic tiles as they mostly kept engaged in the production of the multi-colour variety of azulejos. Till date Shankar has been unable to successfully shorten the duration to train the artists in the art of monochromatic painting. It still remains a long time consuming process which places severe demands on the time and dedication of the artist in concern, both master and pupil.
The work done by the artists at Turi Azulejos can be evaluated subjectively rather than objectively. Hence, having a scientific appraisal system in place would be a tough task. Shankar maintains close relations with his team of artists at work, enabling him to gauge their work effectively. This takes up a considerable amount of time. Each artist views a painting from his/her own perspective. It is vital not to discourage and spoil the mood of an artist by displaying indifference to his/her views. It is at the same time unfair to judge between paintings focussing on different ideas and concepts. The absence of a system to evaluate the employees accurately forces Shankar to work more closely with his artists and be intuitive and careful in their appraisals.

In selecting a candidate, Shankar would begin by trying to verbally gauge the candidate's commitment and affinity for the craft, be it actual azulejo painting or oil on canvas or even just sketching. He would then hand them a pencil and a sheet of paper and request them to draw either a scene from memory or try to replicate a picture.

"You know the calibre of the artist from the very first pencil stroke, where they are now and how far they can go given time and proper training…" said Shankar when first questioned about the selection process he follows. In the absence of scientific methods, in lieu of his experience in the field, Shankar is able to intuitively make a judgement in the selection process. Perhaps he could include scientific methods like psychometric tests to aid him in the selection process judgement. For instance, among the Jungian personality types, ISFPs, INFPs and INFJs are deemed to have a natural inclination towards art. Exhibit 3 shows a Psychometric test that Shankar could use in his selection process.

A Bright Future Ahead:-
Though it is the main product of his business, Shankar has not restricted himself to the production of azulejos, but has started expanding into other related art forms such as miniature painted pots, china dishes, and statuettes made from specially imported light-weight clay from France (Refer Table 1 for details of the product line). Through established contacts with various handicrafts stores and hotels, and the highly creative nature and fine finishing of his art works, Shankar successfully manages to attract a lot of customers towards buying his products.
Shankar however hasn’t stopped here, in addition to the azulejos and plethora of other articles currently made at the Bicholim studio, Shankar has already started his own event management business where he’s already begun to create a name for himself as a proficient event planner. Soon he plans on opening a second studio in Sanquelim and even launching his own clothing line for children out of his studio in Marcel.
Shankar’s story of turning his passion to work, not only making it his source of income, but capturing the attention of all who come across his art works, is an inspiring one for every artist with an entrepreneur’s spirit.
Table 1:- List of products Mini azulejos | Clay fixtures | Standalone azulejos | Clay sculptures | Azulejo portraits | Painted plates | Azulejo name and address murals | Goan motif hand pained and printed clay pen holders | Large wall azulejo murals | Murals | Oil on canvas painting | |

Table 2:- List of major clients O Coqueiro | Bogmalo Beach Resort | Vivanta – Taj Holiday Village | Ronil Beach Resort | Spazio | Sun City Beach Resort | Homes and Estates Consultancy | Aparant (GHRSSIDC outlets) | PWD, Margao | Goa Emporium, Delhi | Raj Bhavan | Ravindra Bhavan | Casa Goa | Goa Airport, Dabolim |

Table 3:- List of prices Item | Price (Rs) | Mini Azulejos | 50 | Azulejos (printed) | 100 | Azulejos (painted) | 250 | Azulejo murals/portraits | 250*(No. of tiles) | Hand painted/Printed Clay pen holders | 50 | Oil on canvas | As per size and complexity | Murals | As per size and complexity |

Exhibit 1: Work in progress

Exhibit 2: Products at Turi