Folks,
Yesterday, 20th March, 2013, Zanzibar lost one of its best artist, John Da 
Silva. John was also a photographer and historian. Here is a link to some of 
his paintings.
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45002663@N00/sets/72157633048680612/


And here is a write up which is worth reading.
 
Mervyn
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John Baptiste da Silva – 1937 - 2013 - A story to be told
 
The wind was blowing and the movie screen was shaking on a hotel rooftop high 
above the remains of Stone Town, ancient capital of the Zanzibar archipelago. 
Yet John Da Silva, then 75, was undeterred. He wanted to tell his story. Many 
followers and friends will remember how the frail man with spectacles made up 
his way on the steep staircase of Emerson Spice hotel to give entertaining 
power point lectures about the elaborate and often painful history of Zanzibar, 
every fortnight or so. The audience of eager listeners was growing every week - 
tourists, expatriates and locals alike. 
 
John da Silva passed away today (on March 20, 2013) at the age of 76, with his 
family by his side, leaving many wondering: Who, now, will pick up where the 
renowned historian left and continue to tell the story? 
 
Da Silva, who died of heart complications, some related to diabetes, had been 
ill for some time and leaves behind his devoted daughters Donna, Valerie and 
Cecilia, his adored nieces Bernadine, Presilda, Lucas, Lorna, Francesca, 
Lorraine, Ulrica, Roselee and Ramona, and three brothers, Santana, Abel and 
Cajetan. His wife Carmen, who he had met and married in Zanzibar, died of 
cancer in 1993 and his late beloved brother Rudolph had passed away recently. 
 
Not least, he leaves an island, which is in mourning today for a man 
universally loved, admired and cherished for his gentle, generous and 
gregarious soul, his sharp wit, intellectual brilliance and tenacious 
dedication to the integrity of Zanzibar and its people. All its people. Those 
from every community he so lovingly sought to be preserved in the intertwined 
intricacies of their diverse histories. 
 
The historian, artist and family father was Zanzibar's living memory. And he 
had indeed a story to tell. Of artistically carved doors of Indian, Persian and 
Arab origin, of Sultans' times and merchandise, of Zanzibar's development over 
the centuries under the gentle trade winds of the monsoon. Audiences were 
spellbound when he talked about "The doors of Zanzibar", "The history of 
Cosmopolitan Commerce" or "The history of Zanzibar thorough old photos" as some 
of his lectures were titled. In his later years, when the end of the Cold War 
in Africa and the world finally enabled him to speak more freely, Da Silva was 
using his private archives of photos, drawings, street maps, shop signs and 
files to bring to life chapters of the rich history of Zanzibar, the spice 
islands off the coast of Tanzania. He presented facts and photos, which might 
have otherwise been lost forever.
 
As the main historian of Zanzibar he had witnessed it all: Born in Portuguese 
Goa on the 24th January, 1937, as the son of Goan immigrants, his family moved 
to Zanzibar in 1947. His father, a renowned tailor, had been the dressmaker of 
the island's ninth sultan, Sayyid Sir Khalifa II bin Harub Al-Said. The Omanis 
had ruled Zanzibar for two centuries before it became independent. As history 
has it, John's father also designed and stitched a dress for Princess Margaret 
from England during her state visit to Zanzibar in 1954. Often, little John was 
to make the deliveries of the royal gowns to his father's clients. 
 
In 1964, when Zanzibar became part of Tanzania after a bloody revolution where 
many were killed and fled the country, da Silva stayed on initially working for 
the local registrar. In 1958 he started work in accounting, but his interest in 
art soon led him to work on the restoration of of the paintings and murals in 
the Catholic Cathedral of St Joseph. Built by the French about 1898, the 
Cathedral's Romanesque style is a replica of the basilica of Notre Dame de La 
Garde Marseilles. 
 
Although Da Silva's early paintings featured Zanzibar portraits, the work on 
the Cathedral stimulated his interest in the architecture of Stone Town. 
Concerned that there was no documentation of these diverse architectural styles 
influenced by cultures of the Omani Arabs, Indians, Persians and European 
colonials, he soon focused his art on the buildings of Stone Town.
 
Da Silva captured these facades in pen and ink and watercolour as well as with 
his camera. He leaves a collection of over 300 photos, and in many instances, 
the only known record of the carved wooden doors, windows, iron lattice work 
decorating the balconies, alleys, streets, historical and architecturally 
important buildings of Stone Town.
 
Over the years he saw the decay of the main island's historic city centre, a 
unique collection of 2000 or so elaborate palaces, temples, merchant houses 
built entirely from coral stone, most of them stemming from the height of 
Zanzibar's development in the mid-19th century. 
 
"In 1880, this was one of the richest trade towns in the world after New York, 
Paris and London; we had a garage for Rolls Royce cars here but only a 
one-mile-stretch of road", da Silva used to amuse his listeners in his typical 
dry humour. 
 
Following the revolution in Zanzibar it was not allowed to photograph Stone 
Town – yet, although it endangered his freedom, da Silva did. As an historian 
he felt a personal obligation to document the fate of the islands, which had 
seen 11 dynasties of Omani rulers in three centuries, before it became a 
British protectorate in 1890, and where the last Sultan, Bhargash, had built 
"The House of Wonders", Africa's first property with electricity and an 
elevator south of the Sahara.
 
John da Silva was intimately connected to the history of the island. Not only 
in talking but also in doing. He personally re-painted some of the frescos of 
St. Joseph Cathedral, the centre of Catholic faith on the predominantly Muslim 
island, and he took part, although not voluntarily, in the building of the 
so-called German Flats, a present of residential buildings by the former East 
German Democratic Republic to Zanzibar.
 
His walking tours became legendary amongst visitors to the island, often 
undertaken in his later life with the help of a walking stick in searing 
tropical heat during periods of ill health. Walking with Da Silva, Stone Town 
became a living museum. He pointed out the details that distinguished the Arab 
(Swahili) doors from the Indian (Zanzibar has the largest number of carved 
doors in East Africa): the simplicity of the Arab mosques as compared to the 
ornate Indian mosques and four Hindu temples: Gothic, Italian and English 
window styles all in the same building; history learned from change of 
ownership of buildings as new rulers came to power .
 
In 1991 the united Republic of Tanzania approved a proposal by Da Silva to 
dedicate a series of postage stamps of the rich architectural heritage of Stone 
Town. A unique collection of four stamps was issued featuring his pen and 
watercolour drawings of the National Museum, The High Court building, the 
Balnarna Mosque and a Balcony. 
 
Not last with da Silva's documentation and scholarly assistance Stone Town was 
declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000. Experts fear, however, that 80 
per cent of the building stock is already beyond repair. The House of Wonders 
was turned into a Museum in 2002, and is currently under repair after parts of 
the backside of the historic monument collapsed late last year. John da Silva 
was furious about this, as he always was when neglect overran conservation.
 
He was an ardent defender of historical sites appreciating their immeasurable 
value against all odds. A conservationist of high moral standard, he always 
pleaded in favour of protecting the cultural sites of Zanzibar in all their 
variety – but also stressed that he did not want Stone Town to become a museum 
nor a collection of boutique hotels. Meaningful restoration to him meant 
authentic, multi-purpose reuse of old structures. The preservation and 
restoration had to be done without creating a sterile, new environment 
affordable only to the wealthy and the tourists.
 
John da Silva loved the island, which was his home and the island loved him. He 
was one of Zanzibar's true and rare cosmopolitans. He has lived to tell his 
story.
 
His funeral mass will take place today (Thursday 21st March) at 3.30pm at St 
Joseph's Cathedral, Stone Town followed by his burial at Mwanakwerekwe 
Cemetery. 
 
ANDREA TAPPER & FRANCESCA MCKENNA

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