ArQhive: Early-Modern-Contemporary Vision, is a show that takes its inspiration from a collection of watercolors produced in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Goa - the Codex Casanatense (c. 1560 and 1580), which depicts daily life in Goa, Asia, and Africa; Suma de árvores e plantas da Índia intra Ganges (1612) by Manuel Godinho de Éredia, a compendium of Goan plants; and O livro das plantas de todas as fortalezas, cidades e povoações do estado da India Oriental (1635) by Antonio Bocarro, illustrating coastal areas of Africa and India.
 
These visual sources, largely unknown until now, are being reintroduced to Goa, where they were originally produced, marking the first local study of these documents, which are currently housed in libraries in Europe.
 
The artists featured in the exhibition examine how knowledge was produced by negotiating relationships between people and the power that exists in these relationships. Their work bridges historical and contemporary contexts, highlighting the importance of archival studies in understanding the present.
 
This exhibition also contributed to a publication titled Memories, Archived: Contemporary Views from South Asia, a book that provides new tools for engaging with the archives. Together, they address themes of identity, belonging, power, representation, cultural heritage, environmental sustainability, and the politics surrounding these issues. Book on sale.

This exhibition is presented by Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts in support with Fundação Oriente, Delegation in India; Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia; Australian Consulate-General in Mumbai, Australian Government, Creative Australia and Create NSW.

Curated by Leandre DSouza with Dale Menezes as Historian Advisor 

Participating Artist: Asavari Gurav | Ashish Phaldesai | Keg de Souza | Leticia Alvares | Maria do Carmo Picarra | Nadia de Souza | Nishant Saldanha | Onkar Kshirsagar | Sahil Naik | Susana Bastos Mateus | Uriel Orlow | Vijay Bhandare | Viraj Naik