Panaji: Pick five cards from a set of 48, look for clues in the life size comic strips about the Mapusa
market and figure out where the answers in your respective cards lie. This immersive art technique, called 'Mapping
Mapusa Market,' laid out by Aldona-resident, Orijit Sen at the
Adil Shah Palace as part of the Serendipity arts festival in
Panaji compels the attendee to look at Goa a little bit closely.
In the comic strips, Sen has documented the conversations between fish vendors, sellers of recheado masala and pickles, choriz-pao stall owners, etc. and their buyers, to bring it to our attention that a few things are unique only to Goa, most of which can be found within the famed Mapusa market.
"The Mapusa market is a microcosm of Goa because everything that defines Goan lifestyle and culture can be found here like the maadachem godd (jaggery), ukdo tandul (red rice), fruit vinegar or rosary sausages. The sellers are keeping Goa's traditions alive through this market," he said.
Sen's tryst with Mapusa market started in 1997 when he moved to Goa with his wife. He was fascinated with the sights and sounds of the bazaar each time he visited, for his weekly household purchases. In 2012 when Goa University invited him as a visiting professor, he started to further explore the market and document it with the help of post-graduate students.
"As a Goan there are many things that locals may take for granted since these are things that have always existed. But for me as an outsider, Mapusa market is a centre for generating culture," he said.
Sen insists that the cultural value of markets must be preserved, "The people in Mapusa market are important to the social fabric of Goa since they are the ones with the knowledge of Goa's traditions. Changes in this space by way of infrastructure or commercialization can wipe out generations of knowledge," he said.
Presenting his installation like a puzzle, Sen tries to make the viewer of this installation understand the nuances of the market and the its people through visual documentation and play.
"It's a way to get people to look at the artwork in an introspective manner. If they figure the clues and answer correctly, they win one of my prints as a reward," Sen said.
On Sunday, shop owners and vendors from Mapusa market who Sen has befriended over the past three years will be visiting the palace to see the exhibition for themselves.
"This work involves a lot of research and documentation, all of which has a non-biased and objective perspective since it comes from an outsider. We are looking forward to seeing more of his work," said Sandeep Falari, who was chairperson of the Mapusa municipal council when Sen was mapping Mapusa market.
