Museum of Goa

The idea was not to go to a museum. It was just another beach holiday. Though we were born and brought up literally next to the beach, once you uproot yourself and live elsewhere, the beach has a special pull. And with a five year old, reason goes right out of the window…otherwise who in their right senses thinks of a beach at 11 in the morning? Well to cut the long story short, we just gave in to her demands and set off for the beach.

At the intersection to Calangute beach, we see a board ‘Museum of Goa’ History of Goa through contemporary art..five minutes away. Well, guess what? We take a detour. I think so much like life…you set out with a plan but life offers you an unexpected choice and you change your mind. Everything happens for a reason. The Museum changed the way I saw art and especially contemporary art. I think just like the artist Subodh Kerkar, whose work is displayed at the museum, I have to start educating myself on how to interpret this beautiful medium of expression.

A holiday in Goa cannot be complete without a visit to this museum. Right from social, economic, religious and emotional aspects, it explores Goa through the medium of the ocean, shells, coconuts, chillies, laterite stones, indigo dyes and all that has shaped, transformed and made Goa, the Goa we all know. Subodh Kerkar’s work explores the many social, economic, emotional layers of Goa and the Goans. Also on display are works by other artists …..

The video happening in the auditorium gives us a glimpse into the artists mind and motivation. Subodh Kerkar is a successful doctor turned to watercolour artist to an ocean artist working in contemporary art and art installations. His work speaks of his evolution and inturn helps us evolve and learn. I especially loved the different formations by the fishermen as a boat, a fish demonstrating their oneness with the ocean. Their life and fortune is entwined with the ocean and the tides. This depiction totally moves an empathetic audience.

Then there was the collaboration with the ocean….sounds wierd right? How can an artist collaborate with nature or something as vast as an ocean? The artist Subodh Kerkar, deposited antique ceramic plates in cages on the ocean bed and after months when they were retrieved, they had oysters and pearls on them.