Goa Familia: An Evolving Archive Of The Goa’s Social History
– Manashri Pai Dukle

Photography in India has been an important aspect of documentation, since the time of its origin in the mid-19th century. Propagating at a time when colonial rule in the subcontinent was at its peak, the camera was as much a tool of visual storytelling as it was of unfolding and understanding a population that could at times be antithetical. the histories of colonialism and photography in India, and in goa in particular are closely intertwined. goa’s geographical, political and colonial annals are a rich treasure of memoirs and an unending usher to the unheard history of the land and its mixed culture.


Goa Familia is an initiative trying to breakdown complexities of a history often written with assumptions, identifying and studying an alternative archive of cultural material and documents available for current generations to trace. the work-in-progress exhibition for serendipity arts festival 2019 offered an introduction to goa Familia and its motive, with its showcase of physical embodiments of memories, cultural and social legacy in stills, words and in moving images. the displayed photographs, objects and stories were each a piece from the historical narrative of goa’s oral history, touching upon both popular and more private narratives.