The exhibition reflects Goa through the eyes of Bohemians and Flaneurs
Curated by the Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts in Panaji, the exhibition sheds a light on a state that once used to be a hotspot of the countercultural crowd and how habits of inhabitants shaped cultural identities.
Ever since Goa joined the Republic of India in 1961 after liberating itself from the Portuguese rule, it has been the sought after destination by travellers of various ilk looking for solace in various activities be it beach paradise, place of pilgrimage, aesthetic muse, weekend destination, home of the rave, home of the flea market or just a tropical home.
Exploring the genesis of the cultural identity of a historical city formed by habits, occupations, the event entitled ‘A Time That Was’. at Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts (September 8- November20) features work by photographer and American writer Waswo X Waswo, photographer and filmmaker Ipshita Maitra, and architect and historian Vishvesh Prabhakar Kandolkar.
The exhibition will display the trademark black-and-white and sepia tones work of Waswo’s two-part project, Longtimers and Remembrances, in collaboration with miniature painter Rajesh Soni, which is a personal memoir told through vintage studio portraits and traditional photo hand-colouring. Photographs depict Goa’s first bohemians, who came from far and wide and made Goa their home.
Maitra’s two-part project, Lost Addresses and Once Was Home, represents the changed ethnographic, ancestral, and geographic landscapes of the state through photographic collages. Images of six old Goan homes and their interiors are layered and distorted, reproduced as handmade emulsions or prints, to represent a sense of loss.
Apart from its beaches, the remains of St. Francis Xavier at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa make it a centre of religious tourism for India’s Catholic population.
Images Credit: Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts
