The Archive of Potential (Goan) Futures explores the evolving role of archives and artistic practices beyond mere preservation and documentation, positioning them as active spaces for dialogue that shape and interrogate potential futures. Inspired by Jacques Derrida’s Archive Fever, the exhibition examines the tension between safeguarding historical narratives and fostering new discoveries. It features contemporary archival practices in Goa, including diverse local initiatives and individual artists using photography. These projects emphasize public interaction, reinterpretation, and the dynamic potential of records to influence community futures. By treating archives as living entities, the exhibition underscores their significance in defining cultural trajectories and realizing the full impact of today’s documentary efforts in tomorrow’s contexts.
Through visuals, texts and objects, the exhibition delves into stories and commentaries mapped across various locations in Goa. Documented through lenses that shift between the personal and public, the projects resonate with notions of time and transformation, memory and residue, bringing forth discussions on material culture, living heritage and personal histories, within a shifting landscape. Goa Familia continues to facilitate the coming together of archives and archivists that present newer interfaces through which to engage with our collective present and future.
Curators: Akshay Mahajan, Lina Vincent
Project Associates: Christina Dedhia, Manashri Pai Dukle
Design Partners: SWITCH!+ROY Studio; FREEHAND Studio
Collaborative Advisor: Pantaleão Fernandes
Archives: Goa Banyan Project, Colva Chronicles, Lion around Goa, Tankis of Aldona, The Divar Island Project
Artists: Assavri Kulkarni, Brice Dossin, Clare Arni, Leaxan Freitas, Lester Silveira, Natalie Lycops, Niharika Chauhan, Pantaleao Fernandes, Pretika Menon, Rai, Rajaram Naik, Ulka Chauhan, Urna Sinha, Vince Costa
Contributors: Condillac Family, Gunjan Mitra, Ruth Mascarenhas
Special Collaboration: Museum of Christian Art (Old Goa)
Image Courtesy: Serendipity Arts Festival
