Saffronisation of art

It is a moment of pride that the sacred relics of a by-gone era has today found a new home, with the relocation of the Christian Art Museum to the Convent of Santa Monica, Old Goa.

Recognised as Asia’s first and only one of its kind museum, this side of the universe, devoted to Christian art, the treasures of the museum will undoubtedly enrich Goa’s cultural fabric. Besides adding immensely to the artistic heritage of our State. An occasion enough to make a song and dance of. But for the colourful glossy brochure released by the Directorate of Tourism, Govt of Goa, that I chanced upon much before the event. The glossy was a blatant attempt at a saffron baptism effort. Reducing the efforts of an entire generation of artisans and craftsmen to a religious caste-bath. Not only were there pointed references to one’s religion - here, of the artisans who toiled tirelessly at producing these master-pieces - but the government shamelessly tried to saffronise even their art, using repeated religious overtones, pointed at their code of worship. Give me a break from heavy-duty propaganda exercises.

Frankly, I am not interested to know whether the artisans were Hindus, Muslims or Christians. Because art is art. It is above religion, above caste, above politics. Sure, one’s cultural, religious and psychological influences could come into play whilst interpreting any forms of art. Time and again we have seen the works of great masters who interpreted the history and politics of the era they represented. Their works incited discussion and debate amongst the gentry and lay folks. No book on the life of great Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh says whether he was a practicing Christian or aesthist. Same with Leonardo da Vinci or Tagore. I have a suspicious mind. Call it years of questioning and looking behind the farces of our lives, but surely this exercise was totally uncalled for. A crafty, scheming exercise to tint history with a more-than-necessary pinch of saffron.

Second - going strictly by the brochure - I have never shied away from acknowledging that my ancestors were Hindus. That Goa, pre-Portuguese was predominately Hindu, and practiced the forms of worship prevalent at that time. Our forms of dressing and customs were tribal, so were our mating rituals and food habits. Yes, I do agree that there is an over-dose of Portuguese hyperbole even today, because nobody can see beyond `Com esta’ or a Portuguese passport. Nothing wrong with that, but that’s not true for all. Similarly, I also sympathise and empathise with the horrors of the Inquisition, that, in my opinion, was totally uncalled for in the name of extending the boundaries of a religious order. I respect the fact that Hindu artisans of that time contributed immensely to the emergence of Christian art in Goa. Perhaps, even under pressure. And that their efforts are indispensable to the growth of art in Goa, even today. So purely from an artistic perspective, it makes no difference whether it was `a’ particular Hindu who painted portraits of the first 13 Viceroys of Goa (because like Floriano Lobo says in an email, `a feat that should make the painter at least 120 to 150 years-old!?!’), or other Hindus sold images of Christian religious icons from door-to-door. By reducing their artistic talent to a Hindu or Christian sentiment (because all religion is about sentiments), the government has demeaned their contribution to a larger cause. Yes, perhaps, even under pressure the forces of secularism might have been stronger then than they are now. Politics has reduced religion to a joke, by flaming up religious sentiments, instead of focusing on issues that should be more community based, not communal.

My enthusiasm has dampened. It is no encouragement that art too has been given a dirty slant with one badly produced brochure (whoever wrote the script, and approved of it, must have been an ignorant, intellectually dead nincompoop) that has changed many hands, thus succeeding in doing more damage. Which makes me wonder whether this is the first step (amongst several that are to follow) towards turning the Rome of the East, into a Kashi of the West, thanks to the RSS.

And now that our vision has been sufficiently clouded, let’s look at every artist, and work of art that surprises us, with religious fervoured eyes. You know, now is that artist Hindu/Muslim/Sikh/Etc? What political party does he belong to? Does he consider the `Father of the Nation’ a traitor? Does he disagree with the dissolution of Gandhi Jayanti? Were his ancestors tortured, oppressed and forcefully converted? What are his opinions on turning a heritage monument like the old GMC building into a commercial mall? Welcome to the saffron age. And heck! Orange is a great colour.

Ethel Da Costa
October  2, 2002

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