Tagging the Goan Quilts

Documenting the Goan quilt, or godhadi as it is called locally, is the task that the Naari Artisans Movement has taken up, in collaboration with the Goa State Museum. Besides recording the origins and physical characteristics of each quilt made in Goa that they can get their hands on, the women who spearhead this project - Natasha, Aira and Milan (yes, by a completely random act of coincidence, the acronym of their names matches that of their organisation!) - also organise quilt-making workshops, and interview quilt-makers and their families to get the stories behind the quilts (some of the which are more than 50 to 60 years old).



In this video, we learn from Natasha, Aira and Milan about the documentation project - how it all started and the work that they are currently involved in. Radha Bhave, Director of the Goa State Museum, also speaks of the museum's collaboration in this project.

On the 8th of July 2013, a selection of the first lot of documented quilts was put on display at the museum for a month-long exhibition. This film was screened on the inaugural day of that exhibition.

Goan Godhadis Through the Ages
English, Hindi and Konkani with English subtitles.

Yodeling with Miguel de Merces

Miguel 'Minglu' Dias, also known as Miguel de Merces, is a veteran Konkani tiatr singer from Goa, famous for his yodeling. In this interview Miguel talks about how, since an early age, he started singing in tiatr shows in and around his village in Goa, and later, drawing inspiration from none other than the famous playback singer Kishore Kumar, taught himself how to yodel. He speaks with nostalgia about his first yodeling performance in a tiatr in his village and the popularity he gained thereafter.

The interview, recorded in Luiza Bar - the bar that he and his family run in Merces (near Panjim, the capital of Goa) - has Miguel giving a sampling of his singing and yodeling skills, which don't seem to have faded much with age (he's 90 plus) even though he very humbly says that he can't sing as well any more.

Interview with Migues de Merces, recorded on March 16, 2013 at Merces, Goa.
Konkani with English subtitles.