Materials and Makers: Goa Past and Present
06 Dec 2025 to 31 Mar 2026Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts announces Makers and Materials: Goa Past and Present, curated by Leandre D’Souza with Dr. Kelli Wood as Historian & Exhibition Advisor. This landmark exhibition connects Goa’s longstanding material and visual traditions with the practices of contemporary makers in India, situating the region as both a site of historical complexity and a continuing force in global cultural production.
The show situates Goa at a centuries-old crossroads — a place where ideas, skills, and stories travelled as freely as spices and silk. Long before globalisation had a name, Goa was a vibrant centre of knowledge production, where artisans, scholars, and traders shaped ideas that journeyed far beyond Europe — to Asia, Africa, and South America. The objects and materials born of this exchange carry layered histories: of making and meaning-making, of power and resistance, of places outside Europe as vital contributors to the world’s shared knowledge.
Makers and Materials: Goa Past and Present traces these threads, linking Goa’s rich material past to the contemporary practices that keep its spirit alive today. The exhibition examines Goa’s artisanal heritage — from shell craft and woodwork to intricate metalwork — shaped by centuries of cultural encounter. It explores the region’s transformation
in the 16th century into a cosmopolitan hub where Indian, Mughal, and European forms merged, and materials from both local and global sources flowed through sea and land routes. The resulting artworks and architectural forms emerge through complex dynamics of negotiation, appropriation, resistance, and coexistence.
Featuring sculptural works, textiles, multimedia installations, photography, and text-based pieces, the exhibition brings a critical eye to the way objects embody both the visible and invisible forces of history. It reasserts Goa’s position as a centre of artistic knowledge and innovation, inviting viewers to consider how histories are not only recorded in archives, but also embedded in the grain of wood, the weave of cloth, and the patina of metal.
A companion book, Makers & Materials, will be launched during the exhibition, offering further reflections on the intersections of craft, memory, and resistance.
Participating Artist
Akshay Mahajan | Hemali Bhuta | Parag Tandel | Nivedita Madigubba & Priyanka D’Souza | Shreyas Karle | Uriel Orlow | Wencislaus Mendes | Goa Artist Collective - Bhisaji Gadekar, Kalidas Mhamal, Pradeep Naik, Rajendra Mardolkar, Shilpa Mayenkar & Siddhesh Chari
Exhibition Dates
06 December 2025 - 28 February 2026
In partnership with
Swiss Arts Council ProHelvetia, The University of Tennessee and Fulbright India.
