‘Kantar Goa: a shellac disc study at the intersection of cosmopolitan Bombay and colonial Goa (1910-1961)’ is being presented by filmmaker and educator Nalini Elvino de Sousa at Sunaparanta-Goa Centre for the Arts today
DANUSKA DA GAMA | NT BUZZ
In the early 1900s, the recording industry created commercial discs from resin, secreted by female lac bugs, for music recording and Goan performance practices that thrived in Bombay’s shellac disc industry.
Research on these discs gained importance in the 21st century. Filmmaker and educator Nalini Elvino de Sousa is among those who has been keenly studying these. Currently, one of the grantees of the V.M. Salgaocar Fellowship Grant, de Sousa will highlight the results of her research findings at a presentation and talk ‘Kantar Goa: a shellac disc study at the intersection of cosmopolitan Bombay and colonial Goa (1910-1961)’ at Sunaparanta-Goa Centre for the Arts, Altinho, on May 10.
The presentation focuses on performance practices in Goa such as the mando, dulpod, dekhni, zagor, and khell, along with practices that were taken by Goans to Bombay and developed in other performance practices such as the ‘cantaram’ (part of the Goan tiatr). De Sousa will also express her concerns about preserving performance traditions on shellac discs, a vital aspect of Goa’s musical legacy.
A master’s student at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, de Sousa is part of the project ‘Liber | Sound’ dedicated to connecting the archives of shellac discs in Goa, Mozambique, Brazil, and Portugal and the political, aesthetic and social importance of the repertoire they safeguard.
As part of the project, she intends to produce a documentary that portrays the sensitive transition of Goa as a Portuguese territory into a state of the Indian Union which is expressed in the musical repertoires performed by Goan tiatrists who lived between the 1920s and the 2000s.
“I am very grateful to Sunaparanta for allowing me to showcase my research. The significance of shellac discs in comprehending Goa and its portrayal in the early 1900s is interesting,” says de Sousa.
Sharing more about the V.M. Salgaocar Fellowship Grants, programme director at Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts Leandre D’Souza says these were introduced in 2022 as part of Sunaparanta’s ongoing commitment to supporting the cultural ecosystem in Goa. “These grants are aimed at advancing scholarship and research in the region and acknowledge exceptional cultural professionals who bring forth critical new projects and enrich our creative landscape,” she says. “What drew us to Nalini’s work was how she brings our attention to an art form integral to Goan culture and identity, tracing not only the lineage of the musical components in Goan tiatr, but also bringing to life a very delicate and poignant moment in Goa’s political transition from the Portuguese colonial empire to being handed over to the Indian nation.”