From Family Albums to Future Archives: A Goan Odyssey at SAF 2024

The future is always rooted in the present.

The Archive of Potential (Goan) Futures, an exhibition featured under the curated segment, ‘Goa Familia’, as part of the recently concluded 9th edition of the Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) 2024, did just that.

The latest edition of the ‘Goa Familia’ project aimed to document the present state of Goa in archive format for posterity.

Curated by Lina Vincent and Akshay Mahajan, the project took inspiration from Jacques Derrida's ‘Archive Fever’, balancing the act of preserving Goa’s cultural fabric while fostering public dialogue to envision possible futures, making a case for instance, through two contrasting photography exhibitions, one which focused on heritage homes and the other which humorously critiqued the rise in the trend of ‘second homes’ in Goa.

“We wanted to focus on creating ‘archives of now’, and more than 20 individuals and collectives came together as a part of ‘Archive of Potential (Goan) Futures’, creating a variegated compilation of stories and images from across Goa. Someone will look back 10 years from now at this wonderful body of material that came together. We have shifted our focus, looking at a very contemporary space,” said Vincent.

Complementing their curatorial effort is a collaboration with the Museum of Christian Art (MoCA) for a special exhibition during the XVIII Exposition of the Sacred Relics of St Francis Xavier. “In true ‘Goa Familia’ style, we gathered personal stories, objects and memories from the community. The sub-exhibition at MoCA at the Church of Santa Monica, Old Goa, open for public viewing from November 21, 2024, to January 9, 2025, has already sparked deep connections and we're thrilled to have extended Serendipity Arts Festival 2024 to a new location at MoCA,” Vincent said. 

According to Mahajan, the 2024 edition of ‘Goa Familia’ explored various aspects, like ace photographer Ulka Chauhan’s book ‘The Memory Keepers and Future Seekers’, which documents heritage homes in Goa, focusing on the people who inhabit them and not just the architecture.

Chauhan’s exhibition was juxtaposed with Niharika Chauhan’s ‘Second Home’, which critiques the phenomenon of second homes in Goa, highlighting how the state has become a hotspot for investment properties and holiday homes.

“We’ve created an immersive space where the past, present, and future intersect—through innovative displays, storytelling, and interactive elements. It’s a celebration of Goa’s living archive—an exploration of where we’ve been, who we are, and where we might go,” said Mahajan.

In its earlier editions, ‘Goa Familia’ collaborated with SAF to document Goa’s history through family archives and oral stories, leading to a series of exhibitions. The first, in 2019, was titled ‘Goa Familia’.

After a pandemic break, the curation focused on the stories of Panaji, ‘Families Are Like Rivers,’ in 2022. The exhibition, ‘Let The Sound Linger’ (2023), explored music and theatre as core elements of Goan identity.