Mario Miranda’s paintings will soon be back hanging on the walls of the Reis Magos Fort, and so too his diary and a film on him be displayed. A day after Herald had reported that his paintings had been taken down from the gallery in the fort that he had worked hard to get restored, Archives and Archaeology Minister Vijai Sardesai inspected the fort and the gallery, and directed that the works of art of the famed cartoonist be placed back on display.
As Sardesai said, there will always be a place for Miranda’s works at this fort. The Reis Magos Fort is particularly important to Mario Miranda, as it was somehow his favourite and it is because of his intervention and his untiring efforts that the fort was restored, through funds he arranged from the Helen Hamlyn Trust.
There had been considerable outrage on the social media when it came to light that Miranda’s paintings had been taken down from the gallery and been replaced by works of other artists, younger ones that the committee in charge of the fort felt needed to be promoted. Nobody would deny space to other artists, but the removal of the works of one of Goa’s icons from the gallery was seen as a most unpalatable decision taken and it was felt that this decision had to be overruled. It finally was after Herald had reported on the matter and it was taken up by the minister. The question, however, remains as to why does Goa treat its sons, especially its artists, who have brought it fame so disdainfully?
This episode may be just about Mario Miranda and his paintings, but when one looks at the art world in general, one discovers that the Goan artist has not always got his due at home. Before Mario there has been Francis Newton Souza, Antonio Xavier Trindade, Vasudeo Gaitonde, Angelo Fonseca and may others, who have almost all been feted outside Goa, but have been little respected in their home State.
F N Souza’s works today sell at record prices at auctions. A X Trindade’s works found a home in Goa only after a foreign foundation set up a permanent gallery for his works. Angelo Fonseca’s art is little known outside the Christian religious art circles. Vasudeo Gaitonde, the more recent of these artistes, has also not got his due. Don’t they all, and others of their stature, deserve to be given a space in Goa, so that generations know them? A gallery of their works is perhaps the least that the State can give them so that they are honoured today and their memory is perpetuated.
This episode also brings into question the manner in which decisions are taken. The reason for the Mario Miranda gallery at the fort is not just because he is a Goan icon, but also because of his intervention in getting the fort restored. These are aspects that the committee in charge of the fort should have taken into consideration when deciding to remove Miranda’s painting from the gallery. That it did not reflects poorly on the committee. Perhaps the Reis Magos Fort should itself be converted into a museum for the works of the best of Goan artistes.
Three days from now, on December 11, it will be six years since Mario Miranda left this earth. It will be a fitting tribute to his memory if his pictures are back on display at the gallery at Reis Magos Fort by that date. It will be a small acknowledgement of the high regard in which Goa holds the legend.
