THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The Global Science Festival Kerala (GSFK), which was touted as ‘Asia’s largest thematically curated science exhibition’, has turned into a nightmare for those involved, with many participants and companies involved in behind-the-scenes arrangements claiming that they are yet to receive payments.
British artist Luke Jerram, renowned for his work ‘Museum of the Moon’, has come out against GSFK, organised by AMuseum, in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology and the Kerala State Council of Science, Technology, and Environment.
According to him, many employees and companies, who dedicated months to the festival’s execution and are owed significant sums of money, find themselves on the brink of bankruptcy. The total amount due is estimated to be more than Rs 6.5 crore. One such firm accrued a debt of $90,000 and has initiated legal action against organisers.
“I had concerns when I first arrived to Kerala in December and was shown the venue for this massive exhibition. With just six weeks to go, it was still an empty field! But despite a delay in opening the festival, I understand it was a great success,” he pointed out.
Speaking to TNIE, Jerram said, “My understanding is that the festival was unable to attract sufficient sponsorship to match the money coughed up by authorities. Organisers are now planning to stage another festival, this time in Malabar, as a way of trying to pay off the debts. But this seems like a very high-risk strategy. It’s like someone who takes out a larger credit card to try and pay off the first?! Excuse the pun, but it seems very irresponsible — like an act of lunacy.”
He added: “The festival owes me a total of around £18,000, including £5,800 for the final fee and £12,000 for transportation. I have tried my best to get the issue resolved. With the festival receiving support from local authorities, I never imagined I’d not be paid for my work. I’m now worried the organisers will get into more debt and put other companies at risk by repeating their mistakes in Malabar.”
A senior executive of Pxl Media, an event technology service company based in Thiruvananthapuram, said, “We are owed almost Rs 77 lakh. Organisers initially paid Rs 5 lakh and promised the rest of the amount in three instalments. But now there is no response. We have also not been paid for the ‘Museum of the Moon’ installation displayed at Kanakakunnu before GSKF.”
“Due to the losses incurred and poor financial management by the organisers, many people and businesses, including artists and hotels accommodating guests, are yet to receive payment. Many affected parties hesitate to come forward due to intimidating responses from the organisers, who lack proper accounting,” he said, revealing plans to take the matter to court.
“Government funds were used for the event’s infrastructure. We planned to clear the other payments from sponsorships and money collected from stalls and ticket sales," GSFK director Ajith Kumar G said.
“Unfortunately, the festival was postponed and truncated, from our original plan for a month-long event. As a result, we incurred losses, and we are still awaiting some sponsor funds. We will distribute all funds once we receive them from our sponsors. The only issue is the delay,” he stressed.
Responding to the issue, Finance Minister K N Balagopal, the festival’s chairperson, said that he is “not well-versed with the funding issue and that everything related to GSFK was assigned to the science and technology department”.
A member of the organising team, requesting anonymity, said, “The event was expected to be attended by 10 lakh people, but only 1 lakh showed up. This contributed to the financial loss and subsequent delay.”
Efforts to contact the Kerala State Council for Science & Technology and the Department of Science and Technology did not yield any response.