Portrait of an unknown Artist Pallavi Pundir : Sun Apr 14 2013, 23:08 hrs In a sleepy village in Goa lives an artist whose oeuvre spans three countries - India, Portugal and Africa. Now, Vamona Navelcar's life and art have been documented in a biography
There's something romantic about obscurity. In case of Vamona Ananta Sinai Navelcar, one is also intrigued by how little is known about an artist whose works have left an imprint on the histories of two foreign countries - Africa and Portugal. Though he has been living in India for the past three decades, Navelcar's is a sweeping tale - in the early '50s, he was appointed by the Portuguese government to study art in Portugal; a few years later, he was made a professor in the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique. Here, he was arrested for his controversial works during Mozambican War of Independence. The 82-year-old lives in the sleepy village of Pomburpa in Goa and art is the reason he gets out of bed every day. Navelcar has created more than a thousand works, showed at numerous exhibitions in London, Lisbon, Macao and Goa, and found mention in the Dictionary of 20th Century Portuguese Artists as well as Encyclopedia dos Artistas de Portugal. Now finally, a biography has attempted to capture his life and the worlds he inhabited. The book was launched in Goa's Gallery Gitanjali on April 12, and coincides with a retrospective of 31 works by the artist. Titled Vamona Navelcar : An Artist of Three Continents (Rs 900, Reality PLC Pune, supported by Village Sanctuary Arts), the biography is by Anne Ketteringham, a retired aeronautical engineer and photographer. With the zeal of an art ignoramus, who wants to know more, Ketteringham delves into the life of the feisty artist, who was constantly in trouble with the Portuguese authorities. "What I did not want was for the book to become was a catalogue of Vamona's work. I wished to produce the book while he is still with us," says Ketteringham, adding that the biography was triggered by a chance meeting with the artist four years ago. More at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/portrait-of-an-unknown-artist/1102436/ ~Avelino
