Vivek Menezes
Thanks to my neighbour Bosco Gracias, I had the opportunity to encounter the work of yet another spirited artist from the far-flung Goa diaspora, via the handsome bilingual volume Leslie De Melo: A Song in Praise of Beauty from the high-quality Austrian publishers Verlag Bibliothek der Provinz. The large-format art book contains reproductions of drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures from across almost three decades of self-expression by a Dar es Salaam-born “world wanderer,” in the felicitous term coined by the late, great Manoharrai Sardessai about Goans who have scattered across the globe for centuries while retaining an emotional connection to their ancient homeland in the Konkan.
Sardessai summed up that spirit: “We have built our huts/ On the crests of waves/ And uncaged songs from our hearts/ For the blue winds of freedom/ We have carried on our shoulders/ The weight of exile/ And in our flesh the thorn of thought/ Against this ceaseless wandering/ And the unseen, unbroken thread/ That runs through our history.” Channelling his own European annals, the poet recalls “With what gusto we have tasted/ The hot mango pickles/ Made from the green mangoes of Mapuca/ In our rooms in Bonn/ We have dreamt if the blazing sun of Colva/ In snow-shivering whisky/In Copenhagen/ And written the name of Calangute belles/ On the walls of Coimbra.” It is an essential insight about the longing and belonging that has underlined global Goan identity on the go.
In this regard, the twice and thrice-dispersed erstwhile Africanders, the Goans of Africa embody an especially interesting generational churn that has produced several stellar 21st century artists, musicians and writers of global significance: the brilliant American composer Reena Esmail, the masterful Canadian interdisciplinary artist Brendan Fernandes, and the esteemed Norwegian writer Ivo de Figueiredo, whose wonderful 2016 En Fremmed Ved Mitt Bord (A Stranger at My Table) tracks that famous long arc from Goa to Zanzibar and across East Africa into the West. Of course, there are many other examples, of rich transnational creative lives across previous generations when it was even more difficult to find the courage and circumstances to express themselves, and that is what strikes me first of all about the brave, motivational example of Leslie De Melo (www.demelo.at) , whose motto is Die Welt ist Ein Kunstwerk or The World is a Work of Art.
Our mutual friend Bosco recently met up with De Melo after 40 years – they had been schoolmates – and sent me this vivid biographical note from the artist: “I was born in Dar es Salaam, and lived there till the age of 10, when we left for Goa on an exciting journey that took 15 days. We landed in Nachinola in 1964, where the change from the metropole to the village was unique. Snakes, spiders, parrots, beautiful fauna and flora, especially in the monsoon. All those memories return when I paint. School in Aldona gave me a good foundation in everything except art, because we had no teacher for the arts. I continued my education at Xaviers College where I spent a lot of time in the library devouring knowledge from books. After graduation, I worked in St Joseph’s High School in Arpora and still remember my interview with Mr Shirodkar. We met at a gaddo over a glass of hot tea at the crossroads, and the next week I got the appointment.”
In 1976, De Melo went to Vienna to study business, “Then it happened. I had a dream in which I saw myself painting a portrait of our neighbor in Nachinola, and to my surprise – still in the dream - I found my drawing brilliant. I was 33 years when this genetic information turned my plans upside down.” He went into self-study “to formulate my perceptions” and managed to get a seat at the famous old Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien – the august Academy of Fine Arts Vienna that has produced many famous artists (and also, more infamously, alienated Adolf Hitler by twice rejecting him for admission). The young Goan graduated with distinction: “The lack of previous teaching was my asset. I was free to express what I wanted, and I immersed myself totally in this new adventure.” He says, “questioning the authority of European and American-centrisms, I moved away and looked back to my Indian identity, and Indian philosophies. Every year, I would spend two months in Goa, and travel from there to various temples in India searching for the source of my genetic explosions. Many works originated as seeds of inspiration in Goa. I still pursue these insights, and create sacred geometries of visions received in dreams, or as inspiration from works before.”
De Melo is now rooted in Vienna, where he teaches art skills at Sigmund Freud University, at the end of an accomplished career. A Song in Praise of Beauty lists over 20 solo exhibitions, plus a profusion of group shows, symposia, art fairs and awards. There are images of works in a huge range of mediums, some more effective than others, and I especially liked his graphic works on elemental themes - Fire, Water, Desire – and personal deities, including a number of spirits and Madonnas. In many ways, the installation artworks and sculptures depicted are even more intriguing. It would be an excellent idea to host and exhibit some of Leslie De Melo’s works in Goa, with several potentially worthwhile venues that could work. Let us hope it happens.