19 Oct 2021  |   04:29am IST

One man, many strokes of genius

The demise of Vamona Navelcar has generated much grief amongst members of the artistic community as well as angst at the state not paying him the respect he deserved
One man, many strokes of genius

Ajit John

Another doyen has passed into the ages.

Vamona Navelcar is no longer with us. This year has been rather distressing for Goan art. Laxman Pai passed away earlier in the year and is now Vamona Navelcar. Vamona was not just a Goan artist. He encompassed three continents. His passing away will be felt in Portugal where he was a teacher to so many talented young artists. And yes in Mozambique where he participated in its freedom struggle by doing murals or helping his students design posters.

His death evoked responses from the various people, many of whom had the pleasure of interacting with him and yes those who admired his work. Yolanda De Sousa, painter and muralist said he was an outstanding artist. She said “He lived more in Portugal than here. He was unique, an artists artist who wanted his solitude. He would get lost in his work. His line drawings were exceptional. He had a fluid hand”. She said she was reminded of the first time they showcased his work at the Art Chamber sometime in 2003 and which resulted in both of them building a wonderful rapport. He was, she said, an interesting and inspirational person. It was a great loss for Goa and a personal loss for her. She said they had uploaded his paintings on a website which was very rare in Goa in 2003 and it generated huge interest in Portugal amongst his students. She said it was indicative of the great regard they had for him. One of his students, a young lady flew down and purchased a painting. She said it was obvious he was looked upon with great affection by his students in Portugal as well as in Mozambique. He had a certain kind of personality, very gentle and loving. Goa, she said, would not forget him easily.

Ines Figueira, Director Fundação Oriente Delegation in India expressed her grief at the demise of Vamona Navelcar. In a statement she said “We are extremely saddened by the news of the passing away of our dear friend and outstanding Goan artist Vamona Navelcar. He will be deeply missed and remembered as the artist who expressed like no other the complexities and broad geography of Goa. Our thoughts are with his family”.

His personal style was made evident by Marius Fernandes . He said “ Soon after I arrived in Goa in 2000 it dawned on me that the greatest living Goan was hardly known in his own land but famous across the world. To put the record straight I with along with Festival team of Alexyz, Sanjeev Sardesai, Clarice Vas, Carlos Gonsalves and friends organised The great Goan art Fest in Panjim celebrating Vamona Navelkar and tried to bring him to the younger generation of Goans”. Inspired by the Fest, two young goans Ronak Kamat and Ashley Fernandes made a documentary on his amazing life titled “I am Nothing” which will be screened around the world film festivals. Ashley Fernandes who is based in London said “Vamona was one of those artists who was loved by many but understood by very few. He was recognised globally for his work but also denied timely formal recognition by the state which mattered most to him. He will live on through his work for many years to come”. Marius in his statement said “ Vamona and I shared something quite unique, we have roots and have experienced life in the same three continents and as a result connected deeply on various levels. He was a mentor and a friend. I will miss him dearly”.

Subodh Kerkar, Installation artist said he was without a doubt a great artist from Goa. He said “I think he covered three continents. He was a humble person and he was part of the generation of old artists who was an inspiration to many. We at the Museum of Goa express our great grief at his passing away. I hope some steps are taken by the Art and Culture department to honor his memory”.

Eminent Goan writer Savia Veigas had quite a bit to say. She said “The life of Vamona Navelkar is to be celebrated not mourned. But if we are proud to be Goans we have to revisit the story of his life and understand how Goa and Goans have failed to acknowledge his contribution to the cultural corpus which is our heritage. He is not the only one, there have been others too that we as Goans have failed to recognise and introduce to our future generations and to the world our real heritage. Let Vamona’s physical demise be the time that we acknowledge our folly and change our attitude towards fellow sojourners from the state. Then Vamona would not have lived in vain. Vamona went to Portugal in the 50s on a scholarship given by Salazar and the colonial government. He was asked as a student to sign on to an anti- Nehru campaign. He refused and had to live through a harsh winter without money and food as his scholarship was put on hold. After due recognition from European art circles he came back to Pomburpa and Goa. And what did we do but exile him in his riverine home. But ceaselessly he worked till his very last breath creating art and leaving behind a huge corpus of valuable work. My plea on Vamona’s demise is to recognise our artists and writers while they are alive so that we can be truly proud Goans!” . Eloquent and humane as always.

Miriam Koshy Sukhija is an artist and someone who also showcased his work in the gallery she managed in Fontainhas Panjim. She said “ Bringing together the retrospective and book launch of Vamona’s biography back in 2013 at Gallery Gitanjali was a journey of many months and countless afternoons spent with this reticent legend at his home, over soulful philosophical conversations and stories .We sifted through and organised his works , choosing works of personal significance that spanned decades and spoke of his tribulations and triumphs intertwined as they were with the history of the times and continents he lived in . The sheer fluidity, depth, power and poetry of his lines bear witness to this plurality and history. The ceaseless, all consuming pursuit of his artistic practice even up to the last decade of his life remains an indelible inspiration to me and others in our art fraternity”.

Finally perhaps no one knows him better than Dr. R. Benedito Ferrão and Dr. Vishvesh Prabhakar Kandolkar. R. BeneditoFerrão is an Assistant Professor of English and Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies at William and Mary, Virginia, USA. Vishvesh Prabhakar Kandolkar is an Associate Professor of Architecture and Program Coordinator of the Masters Programme in Urban Design at Goa College of Architecture. Dr R Benedito Ferrao had written a book on the artist. In a statement they said “The loss of Vamona Sinai Navelcar is not merely that of an individual artist, but, a loss of an integral part of what makes Goa unique. Like many Goan, he was a repository of Goa’s connection to the wider world. What sets Navelcar apart from his esteemed contemporaries who are also no longer alive is that his canvas served as a chronicle of key moments in Goan, Portuguese, and Mozambican histories.Known as an artist of three continents, Navelcar life attested to how the time he spent in these disparate yet colonially connected lands continues to inform his aesthetic. Navelcar not only saw himself as a product of these three lands, but his art itself is birthed of displacement. And yet this is all the more reason to recognize Navelcar’s artistry as being uniquely Goan, for the circumstances that caused his dislocations are equally of the history that have made Goa the place it is today. While he is no more, his art will continue to live, allowing us a lens to understand Goa and its unique history”.

It goes without saying an era has come to an end. Will Goa now recognise his talent and pay him the respect that was denied to him in his life”

IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar