Want to know how Goa and Goans looked over a hundred years ago?
The recently renovated Fort Aguada Jail and Museum, Candolim, is hosting an interesting photo exhibition titled, ‘The Way We Were – Goa through the lens of Souza & Paul’ at the cusp of 20th century. This exhibition has been curated by photographer, Prashant Panjiar.
The curatorial note by writer Vivek Menezes mentions Goans who were involved in the field of photography in the 19th century, such as Dr Narayan Daji Lad (brother of Bhau Daji Lad), who was a member of the Bombay Photographic Society; Manoel Xavier de Noronha of Aldona.
The photographs at the exhibition are by Goa’s well-known studio, Souza & Paul, which was established in 1884 in the planned city of Panjim.
The note states, “What we see in ‘The Way We Were’ are the aspirations and attitudes of Goans recording their own cultural history without any concern for anyone else’s gaze. These are not just impressions of a new city, but also of a new kind of human. Emancipated Indians, representing themselves and their surroundings in a civilizational statement that remains utterly riveting even 100 years later.”
This exhibition, ‘The Way We Were’, was first shown at the Serendipity Arts Festival, 2016, and is supported by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Regional Centre, Goa.
Images courtesy: Goa State Museum, John Menezes and Arminio Ribeiro.
The exhibition is open till January 9, 2023 at Fort Aguada Jail and Museum, Candolim.
WHERE: Fort Aguada Jail and Museum, Aguada, Candolim
WHEN: Till January 9, 2023
TIMINGS: 10 am to 9 pm