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
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”