'Goa's Michaelangelo' passes away at 84
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/4817982590/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/4817359575/
We have fond memories of Dr Jose Pereira, the the
multi-faceted scholar and author, among the tallest
Goan intellectuals of this generation, who passed
away in the United States earlier this morning (our time).
Dotor "Ze Pereira", as he was known, was a magnificent human
being and a brain that shaped our understanding of Goa in
ways we would have never anticipated without his work.
His life-long friend, the late Alban Couto, pays a tribute to
him here [http://bit.ly/alban-tribute] sometime around 2008,
in the context of the Borda art work. That essay has a title
referring to Pereira as "Goa's Michaelangelo".
On a personal note, I had been following some of Dr Pereira's
work since my college days, and we got to meet -- thanks to
the growth of the internet -- over a dozen years back, when
he was working on the frescoes in Borda. The above photos and
the article below relate to this encounter.
Subsequently, fate gave us the opportunity to
co-publish two of Dr Pereira's books on Goan music,
on the mando and dulpod, which he co-authored with
his fellow-Curtorkar and cousin Pe Antonio Costa
and the late maestro Micael Martins.
http://bit.ly/songofgoa http://bit.ly/undramujamama
We will definitely miss the contributions of this great man,
but are grateful for the days he spent with us. A lot of
happy memories...
Frederick Noronha
Founder, etc.
Goa,1556
PS: Condolences, messages and memories can be sent in via
[email protected]
--
P +91-832-2409490 M 9822122436 Twitter: @fn Facebook: fredericknoronha
* * *
SCENES IN THE SACRISTY [c. 2001]
A US-based expat artist's gift of love to Borda
****************************
By Frederick Noronha
****************************
LIKE A HOMING PIGEON, Dr Jose Pereira has remained
obsessed with returning to this tiny chapel at
Margao's Borda locality over the past two decades.
It took him work spanning 21 years to complete
frescoes in the sacristy here. Next, he
enthusiastically wants to contribute more in an
unusual art style that comes all the way from Italy.
Frescoes are pictures made by painting on wet plaster
(basically, a mixture of sand, lime and water) on a wall or
ceiling. Some of the famous frescoes are in the Sistine
Chapel in Rome, by Michelangelo.
Back in Goa recently, this seventy-year-old US-based expat
describes himself as a "theologian, cultural historian of
Indian culture, and last but not the least a fresco painter".
After he retires shortly from the Jesuit-run university of
Fordham, he plans to spend more time completing the only
frescoes that exist in Goa. (Others are known to exist in
India are at Santiniketan, the univarsity set up by Tagore.)
"Frescoes are the most permanent method available (to an
artist)," says Pereira. On preparing the lime and sand in a
special way, the art virtually becomes 'part of the wall'.
"It's a very successful marriage between painting and
architecture," says he. Some have lasted since 3000 BC.
But, even in polluted cities like ours, they could easily
last 500 years, he explains, when asked.
As he displays his work, Pereira explains what makes frescoes
so unique. Pure chemical pigments are etched into plaster,
when it is still wet. This means, the artist has to plan his
work carefully, and execute it speedily while the medium is
still wet.
Frescoes are an Italian "discovery", if you could call it
that. They first blossomed in the 13th century, and grew
popular in Central Europe and Spain too. But frescoes have
hardly been used outside of Europe.
What makes this art-form so fascinating to him, and kept him
glued at the task since 1979?
Partly, it was something about the kind of results that
frescoes give. Its luminosity, and the fact that the pigment
forms an intimate bond with the wall itself, is interesting.
"Also, there was a desire to emulate the great masters,"
laughs Pereira, half-jokingly. Some famous fresco artists
were Michaelangelo, Tiepolo and the Spaniard Goya.
Not surprisingly, Pereira eagerly looks forward to his
retirement, and the work he could do at Borda. If he had the
time all these years, all the past work could have been
finished in a six-month straight run. But, doing this during
the US summer holidays -- which unfortunately coincides with
the trying monsoon period in Goa -- meant things were tough.
He had to spend years creating it.
Why Borda?
His roots are in Curtorim, and Pereira says he had always
been "looking for a vault" to paint his frescoes on, till he
came across Borda. There, he was encouraged by the then
parish priest, Martinho Noronha, to go ahead with the work.
Frescoes call for a lot of homework and preparation, some of
which was done in his studio back in NY. Calculations have
to be precise, so that everything fits into place even before
the wet-plaster of sand-and-lime dries.
In the sacristy, Pereira's frecoes focus on the fruits of
life.The theologian that he is, he offers multi-cultural
explanations for the meanings. "This lamb is the Jewish
sacrificial animal, while the boar is the Indian equivalent,"
he suggests, pointing to one part of the elaborate wall.
So far, his work at Borda has been in the sacristy. His plan
is a panorama of Indian wildlife in the main area of the
chapel. "If God gives me energy and life, I'll put up a
range of butterflies there," he points to the exact spots
where he plans to do it. You can almost see it jumping out
from his mind's imagination.
"I like to think of myself as a mural painter," says Pereira,
who has incidentally accomplished much else. "I started off
as a painter. In order to go deep into my subject, I needed
to branch out into diverse themes -- theology, the history of
Indian cultures, languages..." he adds.
Then, being the scholar he is, he "tended to stay" in each
while working on these subjects.
Recently, he published a book called 'Baroque India'. This
looks at the Portuguese, French, British, Dutch and Danish
influences in creating a new form of architecture, as
reflected in the 'Northern Provinces' (Daman, Diu, Vasai and
Chaul), the Konkan, the Malabar and in Bengal.
Better known in Goa for his work on the popular song-dance
form of the Mando, Pereira has also written on the other folk
song called the 'Dekhni' and co-authored books on Goan music
with the late maestro Michael Martins.
Recently, he finished his work on the 'mande' of union and
lamentation. His earlier book was on the the 'mande' of
yearning, while a forthcoming one would possibly look at
these songs focussing on 'events'.
So far, he has published 14 books in all. 'Baroque India',
spanning a fat 495 pages, took a good part of the past 40
years in preparing.
In the course of an enlightening talk, Pereira
explains that even the Hindu temple in parts of
India carries a legacy of Euro influences. He
feels the 'Indian Baroque Quintet' -- or the
prominent monuments done in this country -- are
largely based in Goa. His favourite-list of
Baroque monuments include the Church of Espirito
Santo in Velha Goa, Margao's Holy Spirit, Santana
at Tallauli, Nossa Senhora da Piedade at Divar, and
Jua-Santo Estevao's.
"Most of these (important Baroque churches) are in Goa,
through there are some magnificient churches in Kerala too,"
he says.
He explains patiently the intricacies involved to a lay-man
innocent of such matters, like this writer. "Stained glass
belongs to the Gothic architecture. The only examplar of
this (gothic architecture) in Goa is the Saligao church. Our
climate doesn't permit large windows. With storms and
tempests, we don't have the scope for vast empty spaces
covered by stained glass.
In their very early days in Goa (early sixteenth century),
the Portuguese built in Gothic style. Few of these examples
remain. Then, the neo-Roman style came in from Italy. This
style has been so called because it was seen as an attempt to
restore Imperial Rome.
"India opened its doors to the first global inter-continental
style, and produced some work of great merit... though not
of the highest quality," he says, eyes shut deep in thought
as he seems to conjur up images before his mind's eye.
During his Feb-March visit to Goa this year when he is based
at Xennoibag in Curtorim, Pereira said he would "not be
painting". Instead, he was concentrating efforts on where he
would find the right quality and quantity of sand, how he
would transport it, and who would mix it. "I'll do my
initial drawings when I go back to New York," he added.
"As a boy, I was always impressed by paintings on walls," he
recalls. He says the work he did single-handedly was tiring.
But that didn't discourage him. "I retire from Fordham's in
September. Now I can come anytime," he says.
Replying to another question, he points out that in the US
"discrimination based on age" is not tolerated. That's why,
he doesn't have to retire even though 70, but has voluntarily
"chosen to retire". Says he: "If I can function well at age
80, why should I not be allowed to function well?'?" Makes
sense, in days where life-expectancy is going up, and when
persons accumulate the best skills they can over decades of
experience.
Dr Pereira is perhaps the only Indian architectural historian
who has written on the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Mustlim and
Neo-Roman forms.
At Fordham's, Prof Pereira said they earlier had "grand
plans" in the 70s and 80s to get students to learn Sanskrit,
and choose for their dissertation some great Hindu
theologian. "But we realised that it's not possible to learn
Sanskrit in three years, and takes at least 13. So I ended
up doing (much of the required translations) for them
myself...."
Pereira himself knows Latin, Sanskrit, Italian, Spanish,
Portuguese and French... apart from, of course, English and
Konkani.
Does he speak Sanskrit? Not really, he admits. "It's the most
archaic and most complex of all Indo-European languages.
Sanskrit is a very difficult language to speak. Its grammar
is very complex. There are eight cases. You don't speak it
unless you're forced to," he adds. (ENDS)
* * *
A BRAHMIN... AMONG THE YANKS; A Profile of Dr. Jose Pereira
****************************************************************
From: Frederick Noronha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
He studied Sanskrit in Bombay and got a PhD in
Ancient Indian History and Culture in times when
Goa was still a Portuguese colony. Jose Pereira is
currently professor of theology at New York's
Fordham University and has as many as 14 books to
his credit.
Not satisfied with these achievements, the artist in him
spanned two decades to recently complete frescoes in the
sacristy of a chapel in Borda (Margao). Dr Pereira also has
two more books in press -- one on 'Baroque India: The
Neo-Roman Ecclesiastical Architecture of South Asia' and
another titled 'Song of Goa: Mandos of Yearning'.
Sixtyeight-year-old Jose Pereira has been connected with
various institutions either in a research capacity, or as a
visiting professor. Starting with the Lisbon-based Instituto
Superior de Estudos Ultramarinos, he has also been with the
prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in
London, the American Academy of Benares (Varanasi) and
Fordham University. He has been at Fordham for nearly two
decades now....
[It was posted in 1999 --FN]
* * *
This piece mentions Dr Pereira's work, but only in passing:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1503/eminent-goans.html
Here's another based on his 2003 book on the mando:
http://www.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet/2003-April/001564.html
* * *
IN GOA, EAST AND WEST MET... AND THAT TOO, FIRST
PANJIM, Jan 16: Goans were the first people
anywhere in the non-Western world, to adapt Western
cultural modes to "non-Western conditions",
resulting in this tiny region scoring a number of
firsts in history.
This point comes out strongly in a new book published by a
prominent scholar, the New York-based Dr Jose Pereira.
"Goans became the first non-Western people (from 1510) to
accept Western civilization, today the patrimony of mankind,"
writes musicologist, theologian and eminent researcher Dr
Jose Pereira, in his latest book titled 'Churches of Goa'.
Touching on a vast canvas while trying to explain the
backdrop of the subject, Dr Pereira suggests that Goa played
an important, but often overlooked, role in global history.
Other non-Western people -- who had earlier encounters with
European colonial powers of the times -- followed them. These
included the Mexicans from 1519 and the Peruvians from 1533.
"Today, all the lands of Asia have become westernized --
some, like Japan, enthusiastically -- availing themselves of
the products of European genius: technology, political
systems, literary genres, types of music, forms of the visual
arts and architecture, and, not least, dress," he comments.
But Goans did so, or were pushed into doing so by history,
first of all.
Goans were the first to adapt to Asian and Indian contexts,
concepts such as a sovereign republic, sovereign national
state, or political party.
Goa, inspired by European ideas, also was the first
to rebel against European colonial rule, in the
1787 Conspiracy of the Pintos. This "anticipated"
the French Revolution by two years, though it
postdated the American Revolution by some 13 years.
"In 1861, the Goan Francisco Luis Gomes (1829-69) formulated,
for the first time, the rationale of an independent
nationhood for India, arguing that, as a culturally
distinctive society of great antiquity, India deserved to be
independent and a sovereign -- to be, in other words, a
European-style nation state," argues Pereira.
This development, he notes, was 21 years before another
Indian, novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-94) advanced
a similar ideology.
In 1865, the Goan Jose Inacio de Loyola (1834-1902), formed
the first Indian political party, the Partido Indiano. This
came some 20 years before a like institution was organised in
India, the Indian National Congress (1885).
In the 19th century, Goan historians -- again, before most
Asians, comments Pereira -- wrote Western-style histories of
their native land. Among them was Jacinto Barreto Miranda
(1842-79).
In other fields too, early Goan pioneers made notable
headway.
In linguistics, a Goan seminarian, whose name may have been
Andre Vaz, had composed as early as by 1563 a grammar on his
native tongue, Konkani. This turned out to be the first
grammar on any Indian language based on European models,
according to Dr Pereira.
In 1583, in Goa, the Englishman Thomas Stephens
(1549-1617) "instituted the basic notation" of
comparative linguistics, preparing the way for a
later scientific study of the subject.
After that, in the 18th century, such linguistic and other
research began a process that led to the creation of the
"Western discipline of Indology" by French, German and
British scholars.
European writers in Goa, or those writing on India, were
among the "first to discourse on non-Western themes in
Western tongues, using Western literary genres".
Native Goan authors began to write in Portuguese in the
seventeenth century.
Says Pereira: "More important pioneer literary work was done
in Goa's own language, Konkani, the first non-Western speech
anywhere to adopt Western literary genres."
Curiously, comments Pereira, most of this work was done by
Europeans.
But Goans were also among the "first non-Westerners
to adopt Western music". They availed of Western
musical instruments -- the violin, the piano and
the organ -- even while they retained their own
'gumott' (a pot-shaped earthenware drum of ancient
Indian provenance)," says Pereira.
Goans took to Western musical structure, harmony (both
polyphonic and homophonic varieties), wile modifying it with
the "typical rhythms and grace notes of Indian music".
They also had recourse to Western choral singing and Western
genres of music -- like the motet, the oratorio and the mass
-- while creating genres of their own, such as Mando, the
Dulpod and Deknni.
It was on the soil of Goa that the European visual arts was
implanted (Neo-Roman architecture) before they were "anywhere
else in the non-Western world".
India's gates to the world's "first global style of
architecture" were also opened in Goa. (Incidentally, India
itself had previously also hosted the inter-continental
Islamic style of architecture.)
This new style had sought to "restore that of imperial Rome",
and Pereira says it can therefore be identified as
"Neo-Roman".
"Goa's churches, Roman in scale, are the finest
Neo-Roman monuments anywhere in Asia -- not
excluding the Philippines, the other Asian site of
extensive Neo-Roman construction," comments Pereira
in his latest book, released in Goa in the last
week of December.
'Churches of Goa', written under Oxford 'Monumental Legacy'
series (which also looks at India's splendour as reflected in
the ruins of Hampi, Pattadakal, Khajuraho and Ellora) looks
at nine churches.
These nine churches, says Pereira, can be taken as examples
of Goan architecture. They either "closely follow" European
models in idiom and style, or "subject European forms to an
Indian aesthetic".
Online image of the mural:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/2449072588/sizes/o/
Dr Jose Pereira on Goan architecture:
http://www.india-seminar.com/2004/543/543%20jose%20pereira.htm
Goans, pioneers in Westernisation (Dr Jose Pereira)
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg07325.html
