Vignettes of a Time Gone By Written by Cedric Silveira Sunday, 06 December 2009 00:25
Savia Viegas is a lady of many talents which she showcases time and again through her exhibitions. If it was her photography exhibition some time back this time around it is an exhibition of her paintings. Says Savia, Blame it on a family gene that we are humble workaholics. My mom is 77-year-old, yet she runs a tailoring and embroidery school, besides having a strong presence in the village. Savias exhibition titled Picturing Us will be held at her home at Carmona till December 31. The works feature Goan themes. But then, why would anyone care to go all the way to Carmona to see a first time painters work and that too one who has almost no formal training. Well Savia has an answer to just this as she explains, My house is big and old. Through this exhibition I wish to first and foremost utilise this available space. Also, I would like to exhibit the paintings in the village for this is where the inspiration came from. When asked why she, a prolific fiction writer cum photographer, had taken to painting the response is quick, Ideas mature with age. Why Rabindranath Tagore started painting at the age of 67, she adds as she breaks into a smile. According to Savia, painting is an expression. And she further adds, I couldnt articulate a lot of these things thorough my writings, so I resorted to painting. Her paintings have the slight edge of roughness of a first exhibition, yet have the maturity of thought and comprehension, which redeems this fault and elevates then beyond the ordinary. The painting of Mae her mother with her winter preserves and pickles looks at the predicament of a dying class and its world through the display in the cupboard of the preserves of yesteryears. Another of her paintings entitled Begging Inheritance looks at the decay of a lifestyle and its emptiness evoked through the bhatkar in a vest and his wife working on her embroidery. Yet another of her paintings Sailors Narrative evokes vignettes from the social and professional life of a sailor. Savia, who completed her PhD in 2000, has also done a 3-year course in heritage management. In the year 2003-2004 she was awarded the Fulbright Fellowship in America. On settling in Goa In the year 2005, she started her school. http://www.navhindtimes.in/buzz/5965-vignettes-of-a-time-gone-by Details of Savia Viegas' Exhibition: http://picasaweb.google.com/GoanetBlog/ArtExhibitions#5406022450384955842 http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B-GEukNSKtDIMjM5Y2I5YWUtMDgxOC00MDI4LWFlODEtNmZlZDU5NmQ1MzQ0&hl=en
