On Museology in India

The curators tryst with the world of museology, the loss of intangible culture, and why museums in India need reform.

By Malavika Neurekar

Victor Hugo Gomes’s tryst with the world of museums dates far back to 1992 when he gave up his Lalitkala Academy Scholarship in Lucknow to return to Goa and assist in setting up the Christian Art Museum. He worked with unfazed dedication and determination during the short span of time he spent on the project. With Goa Chitra, when he established his own brand, the international acclaim he received was almost immediate. In 2009 itself, 18 European Museums extended recognition to Goa Chitra and Victor was invited to the University of Lisbon to exhibit a part of Goa Chitra’s collection of costumes and jewellery. In 2014, he was selected by the British Council to carry out the extensive task of mapping museums in Western India. His exposure to and familiarity with museums has led him to believe that museums and the study of museums in India needs urgent reform. In most European museums, it is crucial to build and document the narrative behind each artefact. This is necessitated by the fact that the objects in European museums are acquired from other cultures. “Here, we already have the objects,” Victor says, and one can hear the desperation in his voice. “Private efforts need to be encouraged. When we place objects of historical value in the hands of the government, we deprive researchers by restricting their access.” According to him, museums in India are failing because they are headed by bureaucrats rather than graduates of museology.

His desire to preserve the past is not merely restricted to the material culture and physical objects, but also includes the way of life – what he calls “intangible culture.” Take for instance, Alexander Barbosa’s recollection of Victor’s reaction to the kashti or Charudatta Prabhudesai’s memory of Victor’s affinity to Konkani songs. He believes that while museums hold the physical objects for posterity, the intangible knowledge is slipping away from our hands. Victor’s concept of intangible heritage also refers to wisdom – the kind that comes only from intimate knowledge of the tools and the lifestyle that Victor Gomes wants to preserve. As an example, Victor talks about the wheel traditionally used for farming in sandy terrain and desert areas, which are supposed to be smaller and thicker to suit the soil. The wheels used nowadays have a broad base and made from discarded rubber aircraft wheels with ball bearings, because people are adopting North Indian practices mindlessly, failing to recognise the differences of the agricultural terrains between these regions.

Victor’s vision does not call for a complete reversal to the past, nor is it a disillusioned idealised sense of history. His mission is for us, as a society, to move forward while at the same time finding an efficient and relevant way to use the past to shape our future. His mission is to utilise the wisdom that this land was built and nurtured upon; the wisdom that comes from instinct and understanding rather than books. It is the impalpable culture, floating all around us, waiting to be realised.

First Impressions and Future Directions

By Madhavan Pillai

Last week’s piece posed the perplexing question – “After Victor, Who?” Madhavan Pillai, echoing this concern, talks about his first (and second) impression of the museum, how it propelled his own career, and the need to forge Goa Chitra’s legacy.

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In January 2014, along With Victor I had organised India’s first Photography Conservation symposium and series of workshops both in Mumbai and in Goa. As an artist and founder of Goa Centre for Alternative Photography fondly called as Goa-CAP, I used to meet Victor at most of the social gatherings such as exhibition openings or literature functions. Our conversations were usually spun around the art and culture of Goa. I knew about his passion for Goan culture but only started understanding his vision during our Residency programme, when I had accompanied the residents at our centre to visit ‘Goa Chitra’. I was a bit confused at the outset, the very first time I saw Goa Chitra; I was escorted around the museum by one of Victor’s colleague as he was not available at that time. Victor’s colleague had introduced us to the museum and explained about various materials kept in the museum, I was quite unimpressed since most of it was not new to me; I had observed similar objects in most museums. At the same time, however, I could not understand Victor’s pain in collecting these objects, which gave Goa Chitra the look of a science museum with curated junk around. This perception was thankfully short-lived and changed completely during my second visit, when Victor himself took me around the museum. The objects presented did not merely came across as run of the mill objects, but were a slice of Victor; each of them having a story behind being presented at Goa Chitra. The objects are not chronicled based on their age or occurrence but in the order of love and passion which is very personal to Victor’s thoughts.

Two things for which I greatly appreciate Victor is the range of historical collection presented at Goa Chitra and second and most important the commitment towards preservation and conservation of these objects. If it is not from someone who has deep commitment, passion and immense courage to undertake this endeavour, it is virtually impossible to set up and successfully run a museum, consistently for so many years. The one big concern, I have always nurtured with regards to Goa Chitra, is about its legacy after Victor; there is no second line of command. I was fortunate to learn about Goa Chitra during my second visit, something which I had completely missed during the first time. I think about the tourists who didn’t have the opportunity to know about Goa Chitra from the horse’s mouth. I think they too went back confused, just the way I did. Goa Chitra has to find and groom Victor’s next gen to take the legacy and commitment to the next level. At this point, I also feel elated to submit that I started looking at photography preservation and conservation seriously only after my thoughtful interactions with Victor. This had also motivated me to initiate India’s first photo restoration symposium, which were followed by series of workshop in Mumbai and in Goa. I will always admire the passion and commitment that Victor Hugo Gomes has, working with historical materials, their preservation and conservation.

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Madhavan Pillai is the Executive Director and founder of Asia Photography Archive (APA), a not-for-profit pioneering initiative to preserve the photographic heritage of India and Asia; founder of Goa Center for Alternative photography (Goa-CAP); and Photography Consultant to CSMVS Museum Art Conservation Centre, Mumbai. Madhavan has worked as a documentary photographer, and travelled across India documenting the mining industry, its intrusion in the environment, and its effects on tribals’ lives and their culture.

A Huge Collection of Firewood

By Pantaleao Fernandes

Though victor and I shared the same village, parish and school and bumped into one another often, the acquaintance ended there. The only time our paths crossed was when he designed my visiting card as the proprietor of a design and advertising firm. However, one fine day, my good friend Advocate Radharao Gracias told me that my ‘gaum bhav’ was setting up something interesting in the village and advised me to pay him a visit. But that did not ignite any interest in me until Victor called me up one day and invited me on a ‘tour guided by him around his museum’. Victor had been following my ethnographic articles in the Gomantak Times, covering rare and dying occupations of Goa. He knew therefore that I would lend him a keen ear and eye. When I landed at his place, I greeted him with a pinch of salt. I knew of his flamboyant ways and didn’t know what to expect. But then as I stepped into his premises I was dumbfounded. His passion as he narrated his story had my attention one hundred percent. As my host guided me around the exhibition area that was designed around the exhibits, contrasting emotions began surfacing from my being. Feelings of happiness and sadness tried to emerge simultaneously. Anger and a sense of peace fought each other. Outrage and satisfaction tried to reign within.

The ethnographic pieces which I encountered in the field, captured on my camera, wrote about and dumped unceremoniously were all here – picked carefully, loved affectionately and displayed tenderly. Where my quest ended, Victor’s began! As I explored the next section and encountered household grinders and other utility items, I was glad to have preserved mine, in spite of having demolished the house. But then I was also filled with deep regret for having discarded endless budkule and bhana, lamps and other treasures…either for want of space or lacking the passion and resources to restore. The tramps that roamed the villages of Goa with glittering plastics and ferreted out rare antique treasures of Goa filled me with rage! Fortunately here was an antidote, someone who bought, borrowed or humbly begged to be given a chance to restore dignity and honour to bits and pieces of history that were shredded and torn. And rescue some priceless treasures like the door of the baptismal font of the church of St. John the Baptist, which witnessed the baptism of St Joseph Vas, and fix it at the museum chapel door. The tellacho ghano, as narrated by victor was restored from complete incomprehensible scrap. I had never before seen a ghano before though later I stumbled upon some working ones in a remote hamlet of Agonda. The sugarcane juicer was another contraption that excited me and search as I might; I have not found one in Goa. In the neighbouring states, I am told, they are still in operation.

As we savoured the collection Victor suddenly commented that he simply collected firewood. Though I did not pay much attention to that phrase then, that these treasures were indeed considered as firewood by the vast majority of Goans and discarded with complete indifference, struck me later. But then firewood is also sacred to Goa – as it helps escort the departed to their heavenly abode.  And in a sense Victor did just that. Escorted the dead or dying treasures of Goa and placed them in a temple with dignity and honour. And that temple he called Goa Chitra!

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Pantaleão Fernandes is a Goa-based writer, photographer, and ethnographer. Passionate about Goa and her vibrant culture, he spends most of his time exploring villages in the deep hinterlands, to experience firsthand the warm spirit and culture of the villagers and document these experiences. These excursions brought about his earlier books, “100 Goan Experiences”, “Goa Remembered” and a children’s book “Once Upon a Time in Goa”. His latest ethnographic book, “Traditional Occupations of Goa” is a rich documentation of the ancient crafts of Goa — a significant part of her intangible culture and heritage. Currently he scours the Goan villages, for hidden cultural stories which he tells with his documentary films entitled “Untold stories from Goa”.

 

In Conversation with Mr. Rafael Viegas

By Malavika Neurekar

A large number of stories posted previously have focused on the collection at Goa Chitra, whether it is was regarding visitors’ interaction with the display or the process of acquiring an individual object. The reason that ‘collection and documentation’ has been such a highly emphasized aspect of Goa Chitra Rewind has a lot to do with the number of people involved in the process. In spite of his early inclinations, building the collection was not the curator’s solo journey. All over Goa, he enlisted the help of those who could besthelp out in specific areas. Searching and collecting in the Ponda Taluka, Victor teamed up with Mr. Kanta Gawde; on his trips to Canacona, Mr. Mahendra Phaldesai provided his expertise; in Sanguem, he was accompanied by Mr. Maurice Murray; and in Pernem by Adv. Andre Pereira. Similarly, much of the Chitra collection is credited to one such man – Mr. Rafael Viegas.

Rafael Viegas and Victor Hugo Gomes are distant relatives, but they only really got acquainted with each other when Victor reached out for help with the research and documentation for Goa Chitra. Viegas belongs to that breed of Goans who saw, felt, lived the Goa that Victor so often reminisces about. Victor, who holds Rafael Viegas in high regard, believes him to be one of the last few of an exalted generation.

Mr. Rafael Viegas was born in Portuguese Goa in a family of bhatkars (landlords), who used to cultivate the land directly with the help of the agricultural labour. His father pursued journalism and against the backdrop of the imminent India takeover, Rafael steered himself in the direction of the Civil Services. With members of the family moving out of the agriculture profession, the land was eventually taken over by tenants. All the implements that were previously employed were now set aside, no longer of any practical use. When Victor realised that Viegas possessed many of the objects required for the museum, he opened up about his vision of opening Goa Chitra. Rafael donated to Goa Chitra several implements – such as the handdo or the wooden harrow.

Visiting Rafael Viegas in his traditionally Goan home and conversing with him over tea, I recognise a common streak between him and Victor Hugo Gomes. He has copies of Illustrated Weekly dating as far back as the 1960s, all stacked neatly in chronological order. He talks animatedly about the ceramic plates that now adorn the walls, and the antique coffee table in his living room, and the value we attach to ‘old’ things. Another impressive feature is his bookcase, crammed with books in Portuguese and English. I am told that at the end of every monsoon, all these books are laid out in the sun by Rafael and his wife in order to air them out. The common streak between the two men is this tendency – be it out of habit or as a conscious decision – to preserve, to hold on. He believes that the younger generation needs to develop the “vein” to be sensitive towards culture, tackling it with care and retaining the favourable aspects. Towards the end of our conversation, he echoes a concern previously voiced by several others. Parodying a common slogan of the 1960s India, he asks rhetorically “after Victor, Who?” What is the future of Goa Chitra? One hopes that the answer to this question, when it arrives, will be carefully considered and timely.

A View from the Outside

By Bharat Wanchoo

My association with Goa dates back to 1977 when, as a probationer of the Indian Police Service, I had the good fortune to visit this beautiful land of sun and sand. Little did I imagine then that this tryst would indeed turn into an affair with this wonderful land and its most remarkable, simple and lovely people. The CHOGM brought me back and gave me the chance to renew this association. My work in Delhi ensured that I kept coming back to Goa at regular intervals. However, during all these visits it was only work, a hectic schedule and contacts with only the officialdom. I did, however, over these numerous visits, get to see the changes or should I say the transformation that Goa underwent. After retirement when, in the last week of June 2012, I was offered the Governorship of Goa I realised that destiny had played its final hand.

I came to Goa with my wife (her first visit) with the clear intention that we would explore and discover the state and its people. In this we were fortunate to have the assistance of Sanjeev V Sardesai, whom I used to call the moving encyclopaedia of Goa, who took us to places that normal visitors to Goa would never go to. However, there were several places, events and things that I discovered on my own, the most remarkable and memorable being Goa Chitra. Some months into being in Goa one day as I was going through the newspapers I saw a write-up of some young officers having visited Goa Chitra. The first thing I did was to ask my ADC to fix up a visit at the very the earliest, as curiosity got the better of me.

Shri Bharat Wanchoo at the inaugration of the Dom Martin Gallery

Shri Bharat Wanchoo at the inaugration of the Dom Martin Gallery

Shri Bharat Wanchoo at the inaugration of the Dom Martin Gallery

Shri Bharat Wanchoo at the inaugration of the Dom Martin Gallery

Shri Bharat Wanchoo at the inaugration of the Dom Martin Gallery

That first visit of ours to Goa Chitra left a deep impression on my mind. I got to learn so much more about the agrarian heritage and lives of the people of Goa, something I do not think I would have imbibed in any other manner or form. More importantly I was deeply impressed with the commitment, zeal, enthusiasm and knowledge of Victor Hugo. What struck me was that this was a single handed job which would have taken a huge effort and not to mention the money to put it together. The adjoining organic farm in which rice was then growing was only indicative of Victor’s connection with his roots, something that is rare to find in today’s world. The peace and calm coupled with the artistic atmosphere was indeed soothing and perhaps was a portrayal of Victor himself. The section of wheels and carriages was still being put together and one could see that another masterpiece, Goa Chakra Museum, was in the making. On that visit we got to meet only Victor and it was only later that we met Aldina his wife and were impressed how they complemented each other.

Following our first visit to Goa Chitra I made it a point to recommend to all my relatives and friends, who visited us at Raj Bhavan, to visit Goa Chitra. All of them I must say came back very impressed, particularly with the passion of Victor.  During my stay in Goa I thereafter made several visits to Goa Chitra either to attend a music concert of for the inauguration of a painting exhibition and the Dom Martin Gallery. Each of these visits was always intellectually stimulating and indeed pleasurable, besides getting to know more and more about the variety and range of activities and events that were being organised at Goa Chitra. The Goa Cruti was opened after we left Goa, and we will surely take out time to view it whenever we return to Goa for a visit.

While in Goa we did not visit Goa Chitra as many times as we would have liked to. We did, however, get to interact with Victor and Aldina on several occasions socially at different places, each time observing the enthusiasm and commitment of Victor and also the different facets of his persona. Goa Chitra, I feel, has made a significant place of pride for itself in the landscape of Goa and I can say with all the commitment at my command that it will only grow and prosper in the days and years to come. It has indeed already become a brand.

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Shri Bharat Vir Wanchoo is a retired officer of the Indian Police Service.  With vast experience in the fields of V.V.I.P. Security, Departmental Security, Intelligence and Counter Insurgency, he is regarded as one of the leading professionals and a stalwart in the field of VVIP Security. Shri Wanchoo was the founding member of the elite Special Protection Group and served in that organisation twice, before he was appointed its Chief in 2004.  He was Chief of the Special Protection Group for seven years during; and was awarded the Indian Police Medal in 1993 and the President’s Police Medal in 2001. He served as the Governor of Goa from May 4, 2012 to July 7, 2016. Shri Wanchoo’s family includes Smt. Nalini Wanchoo, his wife, a son and a daughter, both of whom are married and two grand children.

 

Goa Chitra’s Living Identity

By Greg Johnson

In last week’s article, Pushpanjali Sharma, with regard to Goa Chitra, aptly pointed out “how a space that is home to the old also has room for the new.” An important objective of the Goa Chitra project – apart from the preservation and archiving of tangible and intangible heritage – has been to create a centre for cultural activities. By hosting various events revolving around, but not limited to, fine arts & crafts, literature, music, and dance, Goa Chitra has sought to enable dialogue, discussion, and a flow of ideas between individuals. Greg Johnson sheds some light upon the many events held within the walls of Goa Chitra, which has transformed Goa Chitra into more than just a museum.

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“This is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end but is perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

A quote from one of the world’s great Imperialists, Winston Churchill. It may not everyone’s cup of tea but many of his strengths resemble Victor’s: independent, rebellious, honest, decisive, persistent, single-minded, and a little mad. I also believe the quotation sums up Victor and Goa Chitra.

As a firangi, I want to look at Goa Chitra from a slightly different angle, particularly as the comments on the museum in its various avatars and stages are well documented. My wife and I arrived in the state in 2007/2008, neatly timed with the formal birth of Goa Chitra. We see Goa Chitra not just as a museum but more importantly as one significant centre of Goan life.

We have the museum, critical in its role as a mirror into the past and as a preserver of history and culture but we also have the ability to pull people in, act as a meeting place, be a centre for the culture of the future. Culture is not just about looking back – cultures have changed constantly throughout history. The times past that some hanker for are the same eras that their forefathers hated and looked wistfully rearwards again.

Victor has worked hard to ensure that the museum is not just that, but that it retains a living identity. The sheer variety of events over quite a short time (that I know about) is quite surprising. Musically we have listened to and seen such a wide range of performances moving from traditional Goan music, though Indian classical music, to Indian and Konkani contemporary music. On the Occidental side we have had as many diverging styles, jazz, blues, pop, classical and opera. People have listened reverently at times, at other times danced with a certain abandon, and talked (and we’ve also seen Roy from Coronation Street, Britain’s longest running soap).

Arts and Literature-wise we have had numerous readings and launches from the serious to the cartoon, adult literature and children’s books, formal seating, causal walk about and not forgetting Aldina’s book club. There have been dance performances and always people meeting and communicating. There have been panel discussions on matters of local interest, we have had the occasional political commentator espousing their personal strengths and actions, there have been cultural award nights and events to recognise International Women’s Day and there have been film nights ranging from the intellectual to the entertaining

Reverting to the future word Victor has been keen on ensuring the next generation are exposed to other skills than “thumbing the mob” or “wrestling the tab” with children’s sessions on mosaics, textiles, weaving, and printing. For the adults, I particularly remember one feni making demonstration… I think I remember.

On a personal note I am grateful to Victor for twice hosting part of our Goan Cultural Extravaganza weekend, attendees so pleasantly surprised by the surroundings and the museum not to mention the home cooked food. Furthermore, Sylvia and I have made many good Goan friends from our times at Goa Chitra including, of course, Victor and Aldina.

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Greg Johnson has been in India for around 20 years working as a Chartered Insurer in the risk and insurance industry in Delhi and Mumbai before relocating to Goa some years back. Both he and his wife are keen on the arts/music and the true Goan culture, rarely visiting the beach.

Reconnecting With Your Roots

By Pushpanjali Sharma

Earlier this year, in May, Goa Chitra hosted the first one-of-its kind dance installation Apnnavop conceptualised by Pushpanjali Sharma and Gautam Nima. Pushpanjali, in this heartfelt piece, covers a variety of topics – the curators, the museum collection, the financial struggle. The most striking part of the essay, however, is how she intertwines her own personal journey – of reconnecting and re-remembering – with her discovery of and interaction with Goa Chitra.

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A few months ago, when we toyed around a decision to settle down in the land upon which I first opened my eyes to the world, Goa, I wondered where I would find a space for my artistic work-inquiry-voice. My best friend Elaine Barreto had mentioned that we visit Goa Chitra, and that we meet Victor and Aldina Gomes, and that something may open up. Destiny, however, had its own plans of how this meeting was to happen.

It was a Saturday evening, and a play named “Is God a Taoist?” was being showcased at Carpe Diem, Majorda. Not only was I curious to see a Goan Theatre group tackle complex existential questions, but I was also curious to see who else would come to watch.

While we waited for the play to setup, we sat at a table across the two faces of a couple that were going to become our special friends, or rather our adopted parents. The gentleman with his silver hair tied into a pony, was direct and enthusiastic. Within a couple of minutes of our meeting with him, we fell into a conversation that took a very quick turn into an interview of sorts. The lady with her warm smiling eyes, and a hand that was full of silver bangles, inquired into the nature of our work gently. Before we knew it, we were told that there was space for what we wanted to do at Goa Chitra, and that we should come see them there. Did he say “Goa Chitra”? Was he the same “Victor Gomes”? What a way to meet!

The first time we went to Goa Chitra, I was overwhelmed with the collection, and even more touched by the stories behind how they were procured, or rather rescued, by the curator Victor Gomes. As Victor narrated one story after the other, the only thing I could think of is I hope I am able to remember all that he is saying, but what if I forget…a sinking feeling crept inside…one that knows the ways of the world and has seen so often that truthful work done sans personal or economic agendas is mostly unsupported and unrecognized by the people of the land. Goa Chitra too was running the same risk. Here was an artist/collector who was the epitome of integrity, every object meant something to him enough to light his eyes. He must have shown his collection to many, yet every time he himself gives a personal tour, he is able to generate an enthusiasm as though he has just come upon the object. “Someone needs to write a book about the story of this place, or perhaps there needs to be a blog,” I said out loud as the sinking feeling gnawed at me. Something was different here. Victor didn’t collect to make a museum, the museum came into being because Victor collected. He would have collected anyway. Victor sees value in what has been and continues to be so mercilessly discarded, thrown out and burnt in fires; thoughtlessly forgotten by our colonized-industrialized-urbanized minds. Victor also values art, concepts, and inquiry that might be considered “ahead of their time.” Goa Chitra has not only existed as a museum but it also is a space for learning and exploring artistic and cultural activities, a venue for performances and a center for dialogue and discussion around arts and culture of our beloved Goa.

As a young artist who has recently returned to her hometown from the United States, after completion of post-graduate studies in performing arts, somatics and contemplative studies, Goa Chitra was an ideal place to begin – to research, to reconnect. Victor and Aldina, were open, generous and supportive, and most importantly respectful to the artistic exploration of young minds. They made space for the raw, organic, experimental and indefinable nature of the 7-day performance of “Apnnavop” – an improvised movement/dance installation developed and performed by Gautam Nima and myself, which also incorporated improvised music and vocalization, dialogue, poetry, writing and audience interaction. It was my way of reconnecting to my roots, allowing my movement and dance to fondly reminisce and remember all that I associate with my Goan Heritage – the stories, the catholic prayers-psalms, the Portuguese and Goan litany songs of worship, colloquial expressions of appreciation as well as dismissal/disapproval, bath next to the well, the grinding of the coconut and red chillies on the black stone, building castles on the beach, the smell of mangoes and jackfruits, sol curry and most importantly the sense of restfulness and wholeness that comes from a time well lived and experienced without agendas of productivity and compliance to the rat race. I also critically questioned the tendency of culture to box, to blindly replicate, to be unaccommodative towards the new, the unknown, the understood. Goa Chitra allowed the space for this honest inquiry through an unconventional method of research through dance. It was beautiful how a space that is home to the old also has room for the new.

Apnnavop – The Seven Day Dance Instillation at Goa Chitra

Goa Chitra has been birthed through its two parents Victor and Aldina, who consciously decided to create this museum for the Children of Goa, instead of having a child of their own. While most of us strive to build posh homes that are furnished and decorated with items that show “status” and “place,” this couple despite being able to live a life of luxury, has deliberately chosen to live simply in a room above the museum instead. They have put everything into the museum, into creating optimal facilities for the preservation and conservation of our Goan Heritage. It is a pity that it is a museum that has been created with personal funds and has not enjoyed financial support or deserved recognition from the state government. The lack of investment from the state government stands as a mirror that showcases detachment and disassociation from roots. In the face of this depravity and decadence of the cultural ancestry and with it the wisdom of our elders, due to gross negligence of the misguided generations, Goa Chitra stands an emblem of hope. I am in awe of the initiative taken by the young intern from Goa, Malavika Neurekar at Goa Chitra, to start this blog and ensure that the story is told. When a young mind is self-motivated to use her skills to create awareness, this is a sign of successful application of education to serve the community. I applaud her effort, perhaps more children of the soil will rise in a similar way.

The museum of Goa Chitra is a tribute to the hands that have crafted the various artifacts preserved in the museum.  Goa Chitra is the result of unfailing love for one’s homeland and immeasurable sacrifice of its makers – Victor and Aldina Gomes for the children of tomorrow. This blog is testimony to all that.

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Pushpanjali Sharma is a performing artist and research-scholar in Somatic Education and Transformative Creative Practice. She graduated with a Master’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, with a specialisation in Embodied Studies from Lesley University, Cambridge. She has trained in several dance forms, including ballet, modern, and contemporary dance.

A Folk Dancer and A Madman

By Malavika Neurekar

Victor Hugo Gomes is a man who prides himself on authenticity. Whenever he speaks about his vision, he places additional emphasis on the word people. “A people’s project.” “A museum of the people.” “Goa Chitra was inaugurated at the hands of the people.” It is this search for authenticity that brought him in contact with the award-winning folk dancer Kanta Gawde of the Nav Gawda community. The living room of Kanta Gawde’s humble home in Veling is crammed with awards, certificates, and performance masks. A member of a traditional folk dancing family, he had an affinity towards folk dance since childhood. From a young age, he felt that folk dances were often dismissed as “tribal” and therefore inferior, and the form was not accorded the status that it deserved. He recalls the Chogm bhet in 1982, an event attended by people holding important positions of power, and Goa’s floats in Delhi at the annual Republic Day parades. He was filled with resentment because he felt that the traditional dances of Goa were being underrepresented, often marginalised. So to set things right, he mobilised the members of his community, forming a dance troupe. In 1992, his troupe entered the Republic Day parade in Delhi, showcasing Goa’s traditional folk performances in all its authenticity. That year was the first time that Goa secured the first prize at the parade. “Since then, we have never looked back,” he tells me in Konkani. Kanta Gawde’s troupe then went ahead performed at the likes of Kala Academy and most of Goa’s five star hotels, bagging several awards including the Goa State Cultural Award in 2012.

At their first meeting through a common contact Mahendra Phaldesai, Victor and Kanta Gawde immediately realised that they operated on the same wavelength. What united them almost instantly was their common underlying motive: bringing to the limelight the underrepresented, sometimes misrepresented, aspects of Goa. It was in the late 1990s, when the two got in touch to work on the Goan Quest during Victor’s stint as an event manager. The Goan Quest, conceptualised by Victor, is now carried out at Goa Chitra every Sunday during the months of November to February but was then conducted at Loutolim. Kanta Gawde’s troupe helped Victor accompany the troupe on a shigmo parade with bullock carts and palanquins through a winding road. Once they arrived at the final venue, the troupe provided the entertainment for the evening, along with a host of other entertainers, a performance complete with vibrant decor, props, and sumptuous Goan buffet. On Victor’s persuasion, Kanta Gawde’s wife Shalini, a crafts-person, set up a stall to promote her trade. Shalini and other women of the community held demonstrations and sales. The entire proceeds from the sale were retained by the craftspeople, without commission or the inference of middle men.

In 2001, Victor stopped his event management company Resonance, in order to focus on his marriage and other dreams. The Goan Quest in Loutoulim came to a halt, but the friendship between the two endured. Kanta Gawde describes how their relationship transformed as they started to consider each other family. Kanta Gawde and Victor’s father, Angustias Gomes, would often sit together, having long conversations about Victor’s vision and where it was headed. It goes without saying that when it was time, Victor let Kanta Gawde in on his dream of starting a museum. “Goa was being packaged very differently than what it is,” Victor Gomes tells me. Kanta Gawde echoes this sentiment: “Goa was getting lost somewhere.” And so Victor employed Kanta’s services once again. They traveled together all over the Ponda taluka, meeting and interacting with villagers and tribes, and slowly building up a part of the collection. Kanta Gawde mentioned that all the objects were purchased (apart from a handful that have been gifted or donated by friends), sometimes at a higher price than estimated by the owner of the object. Such is case of dongri nangor, a three-piece wooden plough that had been discarded by the dhangar who owned it. Victor Hugo reiterates that Kanta Gawde was instrumental in many of the collection trips in that area. “A kunbi saree produced here in Goa is very hard to get these days,” he says. “But Kanta managed to acquire it for me.” Once again, Victor emphasizes the role of the people here. He reminds me how the curation of objects was done taking into consideration the people who possessed these items, and the sense of personal history as well as the community’s collective history that was tied to it. Talking about their personal equation, Kanta Gawde tells me that he has known Victor as a man bubbling with ideas, but lacking stability for a long time. He is of the opinion that Victor often fell into the wrong company of people, being susceptible to manipulation. He exudes sincerity as he tells me that the stability Victor needed came after marrying Aldina and keeps reiterating the open-hearted generosity of the two.

Victor Hugo Gomes – As I Know Him

By Sanjeev Sardesai

In ‘Creating the Brand Goa Chitra’, Bismarck Dias talked about how, during his initial interaction with Victor, he was forcefully warned against the project. In a similar vein, Savia Viegas calls him “Banalecho pisso bhatkar”, referring to the common perception of Victor as an eccentric man. In this brilliantly articulated piece, Sanjeev Sardesai offers a highly personal account of his own experience with the “madman.” From being intrigued, to being cautioned by his social circle, to knowing Victor Hugo and the Goa Chitra project – Sanjeev Sardesai’s account is a delight to read.

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“THE GOAN WHOSE CHITRA IS CREATED BY THE CRUTI OF HIS CHAKRA”

Goa Chitra – the petite name which signifies a very original and ethnic picture of a beautiful land called Goa, with its vast arrays of display of authentic skills related to Goa’s ancient agrarian lifestyle. This amazing collection of the original souls of the primary & ethnic occupation related artefacts’ of agriculture, right from the initial step of sowing up to a remunerative reaping is the herculean effort and an arduous journey of  a single individual named Victor Hugo Gomes.

Victor – an extremely simple and a respectfully humble person once you know him – was, at one point in time, a matter of pure mystification for me whenever I had the fortune of fleetingly being around him during heritage & hospitality related interactions many moons ago. His bearing was that of a typically whimsical, spectacled man-of-arts, with a very sombre air about him; however most of the invitees were always indulging in a very animated conversation with him. Wearing his typical Indo-European attire of a kurta & pants, topped with a small pony tail, which has now transformed into his symbolic long hair, just added to my intrigue.

When I made my initial attempt to delve into the identity of this gentleman, it deepened my intrigue as most of the persons informed me that he is head-strong, but starkly guileless. A few of my “well-wishers” (those who wish that I trip into a well!), even went to the extent of advising me to stay away from this crazy, head-strong young man “for my sake”! Maybe it was this one aspect that acted like a magnet, for me, towards knowing more about the endeavours of this mystic man. The more I asked, I was further more baffled.

From this one man I educated & enriched myself positively, creating a huge niche in my own life, learning from this person’s conduct. I realized that for a common man, it was easy to create a huge balloon out of a small achievement; but to embrace & create a solid foundation, piled on a subject that goes deep down to many centuries, with the barest of sustenance, and inhumane critics…. is a prodigious task. True to his name, he was a Victor!

It was then that I attempted (yes, attempted) to extend my hand to this individual called Victor. I faintly remember the first time I met this gentleman at one of the meets of the hospitality industry, in mid 1990’s, in which industry I spent most of my life. The first meeting went on very sober and ended up with a warm invite from him to visit his collection of the fast disappearing artefacts’ related to the original Goan trades, which he was initiating in the South Goa village of Benaulim. It was here that I was first connected to Goa Chitra & Victor Hugo Gomes. Victor Gomes ‘the artiste-painter’ by education and a curator of Goa’s agrarian heritage by passion.

I realised that this was a man whose passion for this beautiful Goa State was far more profound and frank than I could ever attempt to attain or achieve. But passion does not come without its negative aspects and it shows. No sincerely ‘pPassionate’ person shall allow triviality displayed or destruction of the richer, yet unknown aspects of the topic of his or her passion. Such was the case with this man! His knowledge, informed by thorough study, about the artefacts related especially to the rich heritage of our Goa could not bear the senseless indifference exhibited by the people who mattered. This indifference had led to the love of his life – the intangible heritage – the equipments & the methodology of ancient Goan farming & agriculture, to get lost in the sands of time.

I have always liked and will continue to appreciate the frank and critical yet educated views he expresses, irrespective if the same shall be received with diplomacy or with the importance that they deserve; because he believes in the issues close to him!

I recollect, that he was my first choice as a Resource Person and Speaker, when I organised the 1-Day Seminar on the topic ‘THERE IS NO TOURISM IN GOA”, in association with the NGO Goa Forgiving at Panaji. Having invited the Director of Tourism Mr. Amey Abhyankar, the Former Member Secretary Kala Academy Dr. Pandurang Phaldessai, and a well known media personality Mr. Sandesh Prabhudessai along with Victor Hugo Gomes, I was pleasantly surprised and happy that true to my understanding Victor did not mince words or dabble in the diplomacy angle. Watched by over 200 students of tourism related subjects, Victor, like a warrior on warpath ‘whipped out his sword’ from the scabbard of words and placed his scathing views – all backed with facts, bare before the other panel members. Every individual present in the hall had just one response towards him – praise!

Easier said than done. Being frank is not a regular human being’s cup of tea! My journey of knowing this once feared-to-approach person has led me to forging a bond of deep friendship with him and personally I feel honoured to be acknowledged as his friend. Today too many a person have a warped view of this spectacled, bearded & long haired man; but sadly they do not realize that they are the real losers! It was pleasant to see that this young man, fired with the urge to protect, preserve & promote the heritage of Goa, is also a promoter of literature & music; though I have not heard him sing!

My visits there have been many, but every visit enriches me further every time. Laying my eyes on his collection of artefacts related to agriculture & homes in GOA CHITRA; the scintillating and amazing palanquins, wheeled buggies, carriages & carts in GOA CHAKRA and his recent initiative GOA CRUTI consolidating & displaying the rare & disappearing heritage assets of a Goan home of yester years is an experience which I always feel rejuvenated after every visit! I feel proud as a Goan to be made aware that these consolidated priceless collections of heritage, have been praised by world dignitaries, after an enlightening visit here!

What makes these initiatives a really amazing feat on his part is that he has laid the foundation, creating his own resources, without any external assistance and only through a few donations & the entry fees.

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Sanjeev Sardesai the Primary Promoter of HANDS-ON-HISTORIANS, is a Botany Graduate and was a player in the hospitality industry for 22 years in Senior Executive designations. Having been brought up in a Goan village lifestyle, at Porvorim, he regales in documenting the ethos of the earlier eras vis-a-vis the present times, through the eyes of a transit generation citizen, between earlier dynastic rules & a democratic set-up. Being awarded the President of India Badge in Scouting, his hobbies are photography, angling, arborics and the outdoors; while his passion is being aware and to protect, preserve & promote the heritage of Goa through writings, audio-visual presentations & exhibitions.

A Unique Artistic Personality

By Gerard Machado

Goa Chitra’s roots, in many ways, are linked with the curator’s deep-founded interest and previous experience with the music scene in Goa. Victor Hugo Gomes’s pioneering Jazz Music Festivals of the early 2000s in Goa were given a new lease of life with the launch of Goa Chitra. One of the jazz musicians who performed at the museum, Gerard Machado, shares his experience.

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 Victor Hugo Gomes has long been a stalwart in organizing music concerts in Goa. One day I got a call from him inviting me to perform with my Jazz band at his Great Music Revival concert series, I accepted his invitation and this was the first time I met him in the year 2000. During my three day stay at the Marriott hotel we must have met only two or three times during breakfast or at the lunch table in the coffee shop. We hardly had any conversation. I returned to Bangalore where I live. A year later Victor came over to Bangalore along with his wife Aldina, we hung out at a friend’s farm in the outskirts of Bangalore playing music and chatting on various topics like philosophy, history, art, culture.

Victor Hugo’s The Great Music Revival 2000 by Alexyz

Victor visited me several times in Bangalore, we became good friends. It was at one of those all night jam sessions and discussions he mentioned to me that he would like to create a Museum showcasing and promoting Goan heritage, art and culture at his vast land in Benaulim. Wow! Sounds great! But that’s going to be a mammoth task, I said to him. Victor was serious and determined. I knew he was dreaming big, he always did and always came up with brilliant ideas. I also knew he is hard working and is capable of getting done anything he wanted to make his dream come true.

After a couple when years I came to Goa for another performance, I visited Victor and he took me over to his dream project site. The site was all cleaned up and ready for construction. He explained the plan to me briefly. The man with a plan and vision was at work towards turning his land into a Museum. I returned to Bangalore after a few days. We kept in touch as some more years passed by and Victor’s dream project was ready. He founded Goa Chitra and Goa Chakra for the whole world to see. An awesome way of connecting the present with the past that appealed to the masses, especially the youth.

Recently I visited Goa Chitra along with my wife Stella, we took a tour around the Museum and had a wonderful experience viewing ancient artifacts, implements, items of Goan cultural & historical interest that are on display. We were informed by Aldina that Victor himself had picked up many of these items from the remote areas of Goa far and near. Beautiful paintings painted by Victor and other artists are also on display and are a treat for all art lovers visiting the Museum.

Music Concerts held at the museum over the years.

Last year I had the privilege to perform with my Jazz band at Goa Chitra for a wonderful Goan and expat audience.  The Concert was a fund raiser to patronize the magnificent Museum Goa Chitra. As a musician and artist I felt the need to support a cause I firmly believed in.

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Gerard Machado is a Bangalore-based Jazz musician. Hailing from the musical Vonn Trap family of Mangalore, he began playing guitar at the age of six and has worked and collaborated with many musicians in India and abroad. Gerard has experimented with Indian classical music and has produced Jazz/Fusion and Gospel Albums. Apart from composing jingles and scoring music for numerous feature and animation films, he has performed for “Jazz Yatras”. His band “The Gerard Machado Network” plays Contemporary Jazz incorporating the Blues, Funk, Latin and Indian Rhythms.

When the Art World United: Part II

To read the first part of When the Art World United, click here.

The King and the Peasant

By Malavika Neurekar

Victor Hugo Gomes, made weary by the pace at which his work was taking place, woke up to an unexpected email on the morning of 21^st October, 2009. It was a letter from a great Goan artist based in California, Dom Martin, which opened with a small tale:

“In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand: every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.”

The implication of Dom Martin’s allegory became clearer as Victor continued to read the rest of the email. Dom Martin had decided to part with all that remained of his material possessions in Goa, and bequeathed a generous donation to Goa Chitra. Victor trembled with excitement and a certain degree of disbelief as he continued to read. Dom Martin, assuming the role of the ‘king’ and likening Victor to the ‘peasant’ in the story, had also bequeathed upon Victor theeight panels of pen on paper drawings that adorned St. Francis Xavier’s casket at the 1974 exposition; seventy-one original artworks locked up in Martin’s Porvorim flat; and the rights to the Porvorim flat of 140 sqmt!That was not all. The Vincent Xavier Verodiano Foundation, instituted by Dom Martin in memory of his father, was established with the objective of recognising and awarding excellence in various fields such as literature, arts, medicine, etc. The foundation had already conferred the prestigious award upon Victor earlier that same year (which included a cash donation of Rs. 50,000 and a medal), and now Dom Martin had expressed his wish to pass that legacy on to Victor as well, alongside the corpus fund of the Foundation at Victor’s disposal.

Victor was at a loss of words, and continues to be amazed even today every time he talks about that fateful October morning.In 2014, he launched the Dom Martin art gallery, which stands at the entrance of Goa Chitra, with the stated objective of promoting young local artists. All the works on displayat the gallery have been donated to Goa Chitra, and are for sale as a means of raising revenue for Goa Chitra. At the heart of this interaction is the fact that the two artists did not know each other personally or had even met. Yet, Dom Martin reached to Victor from the other end of the world based solely on Goa Chitra’s merit and the recognition of its struggles. A quick glance at the email correspondences between them reveals that both men harbour a desire to meet in some part of the world some day. An exemplification of how art transcends distance and space to make possible the coming together of like-minded souls, it is perhaps best expressed by Dom Martin himself in his piece The Aesthetic Evolution of Madness.

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The Aesthetic Evolution of Madness…

By Dom Martin

If eccentricity is genius temperament then a refined madness, which motorizes one to maniacally scavenge for discarded vestiges of the past and metamorphose them into museum exhibits, rightfully deserves to be bestowed a cultural halo.  Victor Hugo Gomes belongs in this genre of madness.

In 2009, when I bequeathed my 3-bedroom flat and the entire collection of my mid 70’s art which was decaying therein, a condescending Victor thanked me profusely.  In the subsequent years, he staked out exorbitant sums of money to restore the art and the flat.

The question foments:  Did one caliber of madness underestimate, supersede or absolve the other?  The verdict is in the wallets of art collectors, which have a tendency to instantly fatten or resurrect upon the demise of artists who labored and continually exhibited within the engulfing walls of oblivion.

Other than for the uncommon commonality of symbiotic madness, Victor and I have yet to meet and perhaps, might never.  However, someday when posterity peers through time’s kaleidoscope, it might likely find our autonomous identity among the colorful, fragmented pieces.  And that, is satisfaction enough!

Of Implements and Dictionaries

By Malavika Neurekar

Victor Hugo Gomes used to be an artist. He did his masters in Print Making, and studied restoration of manuscripts and paper paintings at INTACH. When it came to researching and archiving the collection at the museum, he found himself in uncharted territory. In an impromptu speech delivered at the inauguration of Goa Chakra in 2014 Victor launched into a series of old Konkani sayings. “harroithamhunn gaindol ghelo, ani chirddun mello”, he said. If the earthworm imitates the method of the python, it will get trampled and die. And so he established his own method – he started translating all the Konkani dictionaries published 1897 onwards. He compiled his own glossary of thousands of forgotten Konkani words, travelling across Goa to interview village elders and double check the meanings of the Konkani words he had noted.

Languages develop intimately with the lifestyle of the people who speak them; they breed familiarity with the customs of the land. Thus, in English, a plough is a plough. The word for plough in the Konkani dictionary is nangor, but Victor traced other ploughs called pane, kosso, dongri, and loconddi, depending on the build, the design, the material, and the type of land on which it was used. The plough collection was almost complete when Victor was travelling with his friend Russell Murray in the Sattari taluka, documenting farming practices related to nachne and rice production. Bad weather conditions forced them to retreat to Ponda for the night, but in the morning they set off to meet another close friend Kanta Gawde. The three men then decided to hike up a hill, as Kanta Gawde wanted to show them a shrine of the local mountain gods. It was during the hike that Victor’s eyes fell upon a curious object sitting on the roof of a Dhangar house. It was a dongri nagor, a three-piece wooden plough designed specifically to be used on laterite soil in the valley. The roof had grown slippery from the rain, but after much persuasion and at a modest price, Victor was able to retrieve the now extinct dongri nagor, completing the plough collection at Goa Chitra.

The dongri nagor at the Dhangar’s house

Another interesting incident unfolded at a scrapyard in Curchorem, from where Victor Hugo retrieved a huge roller with a wooden frame and metal spikes. The implement lacked a history as nobody seemed to know anything about it except the fact that it was originally from Bicholim. With no idea of its story or its function, Victor named it ‘the spike roller’. He inspected the type of wood, the kind of soil stuck to it, the mud on the spikes, and whether there was any pollen embedded in it – all in an attempt to gather clues about its function. The object was shown to many agriculturists in Goa but no one could identify it. He set it aside, often spending long hours staring at it and wondering about its origin. It was during a chance encounter with the Gaonkar family in the jungles near Kanapur that he spotted a similar instrument of a smaller size. Victor often travels to Maharashtra and Karnataka to meet families of Goan origin that fled during the Goa Inquisition. The Gaonkar family traced their origin to Bicholim, and continue to make annual trips there for the religious festival Jolmidevacho Utsav. Victor inquired about the implement that resembled his ‘spike roller’ and was told that it was used to break or pulverize the ground to be brought under cultivation. The pieces were all falling in place. Once again, it was the dictionary that came to the rescue and filled in the final piece of the puzzle. Victor learned that the description of the spike roller fit that of a farming implement called pocruncho roll, a word found in a 1931 Konkani- English dictionary. It was described as a metal roller with spikes held by a wooden frame, and attached to a yoke and a rope to be drawn by bullocks and used to break the soil.

“Xendlolea boilache rakandareche kananth ghanto vazot ravta”, was another Konkani saying that Victor explained that day. When a farmer loses his bullock and hears any sound of cow bells he thinks it is his own bullock. This had become Victor’s condition – he saw the material culture of Goa everywhere and in everything. He may not have had a name for it then, but observe the trajectory of Victor’s life and all his actions seemed to be of a man attempting to retrace his roots, a man trying to capture the essence of the land. Much the same way a child runs around with a jar to catch fireflies.