Fashion designer Wendell Rodricks
(wendellrodricks at gmail.com) announced on his Facebook
page that he was pulling out of Goa's
currently-underway Serendipity. He wrote: "So
someone raises a hue and cry with Serendipity Arts
Festival Goa 2016 team and threatened them with bad
behaviour. Then the text on my room walls are
covered. Not on. We are pulling out of the festival
as there is no dialogue and coercion by people who
feel they want to control history. Free speech
dead!" Below is the text.
TEN HISTORIES: GOAN COSTUME
Curated by Wendell Rodricks
The time is ripe for the recounting of Goan histories,
opening a dialogue in Goan heritage and commencing a
narrative about the rich legacy of Goa beyond the reputed
beaches and famed natural beauty of a splendid land. A
majority of visiting tourists that visit Goa are as astounded
to hear stories from the hinterland as some Goans who imagine
that Goan costume history begins and ends with the
Portuguese.
Padma Shree award winning Goan fashion designer Wendell
Rodricks, author of *Moda Goa: History and Style and The
Green Room*, is presently working on converting his heritage
home into The Moda Goa Museum in his native village of
Colvale. In a pioneering curatorial presentation, he brings
to the Serendipity Arts Festival 2016 ten objects related to
Goan costume that are not mere museum objects. Each has a
story worth recounting. A history about Goan mythology, Gods,
people, customs, traditions, festivals and folklore. In a
setting inspired from graffiti painted walls of religious
sanctums, palatial manors and humble homes, the lacy effect
of the Goan graffiti painting set the ambience of Ten
Histories: Goan Costume.
Apart from the sole prehistoric photograph in the
exhibition that has an engraved laterite rock to
support it, the objects are part of a sixteen year
collection that represent a minuscule part of what
the Moda Goa Museum in Colvale will display when it
opens in late 2018. This collection is an attempt
to reveal Goan histories pertaining to costume. But
it is also a door to open a dialogue with you the
viewer. Suggestions are welcome and encouraged in
our Vistors Comment book.
The Serendipty Arts Festival 2016 and Wendell Rodricks
welcome you to Ten Histories: Goan Costume.
Ten Objects: Goan Costume (Text on walls)
1. THE MOTHER GODDESS: Not many have seen the Usgalimal
petroglyphs (rock art) at Pansaimol in South Goa. Reputed to
be from the Upper Palaeolithic or Mesolithic period
20,00-30,00 years ago, discovered in 1993 near the Khushawati
river; among the labyrinth spirals and bulls is a figure of
what can be termed as a Mother Goddess with a swollen vaginal
area. The vaginal cavity was possibly used to place offerings
of flowers or sacred powders to evoke fertility. On the Verna
plateau, near Dabolim airport, is another colossal Mother
Goddess that some historians claim is ancient. It was moved
at great expense from a nearby village site. However the
authenticity of this Mother Goddess is in doubt as some
experts claim that the laterite is not old and was carved by
idle stone masons from Pernem while they were working on a
house in South Goa. Whatever the truth, the fact is the cult
of the Mother Goddess, common to many ancient cultures
worldwide, was prevalent in Goa. She is most often depicted
without clothing.
2. SHANTADURGA: While the Goddess ShantaDurga appears in most
parts of India as a warrior goddess riding a tiger, in Goa
she appears in a 'shanth', peaceful avtar. She sits on a lion
and has a wide appeal for Goans who believe that she appears
in dreams and asks for 'mangnechem' in the form of children,
houses and saris. A child or home is consecrated in Her name
by couples whose wishes are delivered. When a lady dreams
that the Goddess requests a sari, a precious sari is offered
to the temple. These are kept within the temple and
considered sacred. They are later sold to the faithful who
cherish these saris touched by the Goddess. Displayed here is
one such sari from the ShantaDurga Mandir. The story of the
ShantaDurga idol at Fatorpa and the celebration of the
*Sontrio* (umbrella) festival by both the twelve Kshatriya
converted Christian family clans and Hindus at Cuncolim is
worthy of a recounting for it's rare communal harmony between
two religions.
3. BUDDHISM IN GOA: The Buddhist and Jain period in
Goa is not spoken about for many reasons. Some
blame the Muslims for destroying the Buddhists
sites in Goa while others claim the destruction was
by Brahmanical forces who were marginalised and
later resumed power on the death of the Emperor Ashoka.
Whatever the reason, it is important to note that it was
during the Buddhist period of prosperity in India that
