13 Dec 2023 | 05:01am ISTGoan architectural heritage in a concise bookA book focusing on the architecture as well as history of Goa, ‘Heritage at the Crossroads: Preservation of Goa’s Architectural Treasures’, edited by Joaquim Rodrigues dos Santos, will be released today, December 13, at Fundacao Oriente. Almost five years in the making, the book features some of the top Goan, Indian and Portuguese conservationists and those who worked closely on preserving various monuments in Goa [image: Goan architectural heritage in a concise book]
Dolcy D’Cruz Did you know that the Gate of the Palace of Adil Shah at Old Goa which is a national monument is actually a folly ruin built by the Portuguese in 1906? There are many interesting facets of Goa’s architecture which is buried in the pages of books in the archives which hardly reaches a wider audience. Joaquim Rodrigues dos Santos is an architect and PhD expert in heritage preservation, researcher and professor at the University of Lisbon, who has been undertaking investigation on the Indo-Portuguese architectural heritage. He has been visiting Goa for almost two decades and almost every year since he was studying his post doctorate. He has edited the book, ‘Heritage at the Crossroads: Preservation of Goa’s Architectural Treasures,’ which will be released today, December 13 at 6 pm at Fundacao Oriente, Panjim. It brings together scholars, technicians, heritage lovers and passionate conservationists. The book published by Caleidoscopio in Portugal, is supported by the ARTIS – Institute of Art History, School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, Consulate General of Portugal, Camões - Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, Lisbon, Fundacao Oriente and Casa De Goa (House of Goa) in Lisbon. The book can be purchased online through the publisher’s website. The 20 chapters of the 389 pages are filled with beautiful and crisp photographs of monuments, maps, plans as well as rare paintings. Each chapter is well researched and the authors have given utmost attention to every aspect of the topic. The idea for the book was inspired by the many conferences that Joaquim organised at Fundacao Oriente in Panjim. “When I came to Goa in 2015 for my post doctorate which was about ‘The Preservation of Heritage in Portuguese Influences in Goa, Daman and Diu during the Portuguese Period’, I came across experts here. The following year, I used to invite them to conferences in front of an audience with several lectures. So after three or four conferences, I realized that there were just a few scattered text here and there. And it would be good to have new and revised text in a single book. I invited the authors to write something for the book. The last chapter is from probably one of the best Portuguese art historians, Vitor Serrao, about painting, because it's not only architecture that is the most important thing,” says Joaquim, who arrived in Goa with just five copies of thebook. Theauthors are from Goa, India and Portugal writing about Goa. “My idea since the beginning was to make a book about Goa for the Goans. Goan heritage is somehow being distorted or vanishing or, and this is something which is very painful for me. I wanted to have this book published here. I was not able to get the publisher. Interestingly, Caleidoscopio, which is the best Portuguese publisher in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, immediately asked to publish this book, when they heard of it,” adds Joaquim. The first chapter of the book is by Percival Noronha, a strong defender of history and heritage of Goa. “This book is in memory of Percival Noronha and Paulo Varela Gomes, because he used to say that we don’t have Indo-Portuguese arts, it is Goan art, and it is unique. It should be studied and preserved. Percival’s chapter was published by Fundacao Oriente and his family allowed us to include it because it is a good introduction to the context of the Goan architecture within India. An article I wrote was also published in Portuguese in Portugal. I think it would be useful to have in English here,” explains Joaquim. Nizamuddin Taher was the former director of World Heritage Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and he mentioned the works of ASI since 1961 until he was in Goa. Divay Gupta was the leader of INTACH and he talks about the ‘Role of INTACH in conserving Goa’s built heritage’. Ashish Rege wrote about the houses in Margao, and about the architecture of Goa. “This chapter is also very interesting, because it's not only talks about architecture of Goa, but also how to make the traditional plasters, the lime plasters, how to apply etc. This chapterwas published in Portuguese in Portugal. I think it's interesting to bring it here in English.” Alice Santiago Faria writes about the ‘The importance of preserving the everyday public architecture in Goa’. He elaboarates, “She wrote a small chapter about the everyday public architecture. Although a public building, these are not considered as monuments, but it's important to maintain. This is was published in French. Again, I thought it was important to have it in English and published here.” Jason Keith Fernandes writes about ‘An Islamicate Goa: Reframing Indo-Portuguese heritage’ while Eduardo Kol de Carvalho writes on ‘The role of Fundacdo Oriente on conservation and restoration of Goan heritage’ which includes the Chapel of Our Lady of Monte, the 17th Century Chapel of Todo O Bem in Verem and the historic Saptakoteshwar temple in Narvem, Bicholim. The book also features the works of Miguel Mateus, a renowned restorer of some mural paintings here through the writings of Jose Artur Pestana. Over his various visits, Joaquim finds the situation in Goa very concerning when it comes to the preservation of important monuments. He says, “Sometimes it is not respecting the monuments. For example, the highway at Old Goa is not acceptable. I don't know if it will be easier to maintain the certification of UNESCO. I worked with one or two cases of UNESCO sites. The highway is damaging for the sites as there is pollution and vibrations and also the visual impact as the highway is high. To conclude, Joaquim reminds again, “This is for Goa, and it is not Portugal. It's for Goans to see how rich their cultural heritage is.” https://www.heraldgoa.in/Cafe/Goan-architectural-heritage-in-a-concise-book/215097 -- FN * +91-9822122436 * 784 Saligao 403511 Bardez Goa *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Join a discussion on Goa-related issues by posting your comments on this or other issues via email to goa...@goanet.org See archives at http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-