TGLife
Goa Chitra Museum and India Foundation for the Arts will unveil two immersive exhibitions to experience the museum’s collection on July 14 at two venues. ‘Layers’ curated by Aparajita Bhasin at Goa Chitra Museum, Benaulim and ‘Unravelling Stories ‘ curated by Lina Vincent at Carpe Diem Gallery, Majorda will present Goa Chitra Museums’ ethnographic objects and artefacts in a unique way.
Lina, a cultural practitioner committed to socially engaged arts practice that reflects in multidisciplinary projects, has developed and participated in. With 18 years’ experience in research, curation and public art programming, she is currently associate curator with ‘ARTPORT_making waves’ and chief program designer, visual art and design for ‘Sublime’s ArtEd’, Bengaluru.
Aparajita is a researcher and manages digital heritage projects. She is associated with ‘Quicksand Design Studio’ and ‘UnBox Cultural Futures Society’ for interactive art experience creation and digital heritage, outreach and public engagement for cultural programmes, exhibition design and production management.
Lina’s exhibition ‘Unravelling Stories’ brings together the artworks of 12 artists who were invited by the curator to engage with the Goa Chitra collection. The artworks are a result of their multilayered exploration of varied aspects of the material culture of the objects. While some artists have connected with experiences of identity and belonging, others have interpreted personal and collective memory, or developed commentaries on heritage, its loss and preservation.
Through drawing, painting, sculpture and lens-based art, the compilation unravels different stories that lie beneath the obvious records of history. The exhibition also showcases works from three workshops that Lina had with students over the fellowship period.
Aparajita’s exhibition ‘Layers’ is an immersive media exhibit of artefacts from the Goa Chitra. Over the fellowship period Aparajita has digitally documented select objects to create 3D models using cutting edge immersive mediums such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. Visitors to the museum are invited to view the Virtual Reality film which contextualises artefacts from the museum in a surreal virtual world and to play the Augmented Reality mobile game set within the museum which intends to spark the curiosity of the onlooker.
Both these unique exhibitions are happening at different locations in South Goa. Patrons of the arts are encouraged to travel to both venues in Majorda and Benaulim and experience the spectrum of creation inspired by the Goa Chitra collection. Entry is free for both events.
Goa Chitra, an ethnographic museum that has more than 40,000 artefacts connected with Goa’s agrarian roots that include agricultural tools, traditional distillery tools, fishing tools and implements, coconut oil processing tools, traditional pottery, cane woven objects, religious objects of the Catholic and Hindu faiths. Together with Goa Chakra and Goa Cruti, the museums narrate the history of Goa through objects, texts and oral histories that have been collected from the older members of the community.
India Foundation for the Arts with support from Tata Trusts and in collaboration with Goa Chitra Museum granted Archival and Museum Fellowships to these two passionate and creative individuals for the period of nine months. This fellowship was to work with the Goa Chitra Museum in Goa. Their final exhibitions are a testament to the work they have accomplished.
