Goan youth shares details on preserving Vamona Navelcar’s life and work through film
Ashley Fernandes and Ronak Kamat while filming acclaimed Goan artist Vamona Navelcar at his house in Goa.
LONDON
A documentary on the life and legacy of acclaimed Goan artist Vamona Ananta Sinai Navelcar (1929–2021) will be screened at the Museu do Oriente in Lisbon on September 5 at 6 pm GMT.
The 60-minute Konkani documentary ‘I am Nothing’, with subtitles in English, delves into the heart of Navelcar's art, philosophy, and resilience, revealing a man who embraced humility and creativity over fame and accolades and whose work and experiences spanned three continents: Asia, Europe, and Africa.
The documentary, directed by Ronak Kamat and shot entirely in Goa, features archival footage and insightful conversations with Navelcar himself, with sound and music provided by Ashley Fernandes.
Speaking to The Goan, Ashley Fernandes shared details on how and why he decided to preserve Navelcar’s life and work through the documentary.
THE CONNECTION
Ashley Fernandes was born in Leceister-UK and initially studied till year 4, when his parents decided to go to Goa for a short holiday, which eventually turn out to be a permanent stay.
Having enrolled in a school in Divar, the family later mover to Salvador de Mundo and they lived in their grandmother’s home.
“This was an open home where locals dropped in for a chat and during one of these visits, someone told my dad, Goencho Festakar Marius Fernandes, that there was an artist who lived in Pomburpa and that, he had lived abroad,” recalled Ashley.
“My dad and I did some investigation, and we made contact with Vamona Navelcar. The interesting meet found some common grounds between our family and that of Navelcar. Both had lived in Africa, the Navelcars in Mozambique and our family in Kenya.”
“Seeing the ways Navelcar was settled in his simple studio with loads of painting, sketches, brushes, canvases, in his dimly lit studio, I felt somewhat connected to Vamona hearing about his life and also the way he worked in Goa.”
“The more he heard of Navelcar’s stories, the more he got drawn in and realised that it was important to document Vamona’s life. It was important to preserve his work through the documentary.”
This inspired Ashley to document Navelcar’s life which had a very interesting links with Mozambique and Portugal.
THE COLLABORATION
Ashley then decided to team with his friend, Ronak Kamat, with whom they both had earlier produced a documentary ‘Caazu’ on the production and process of Cashew feni, as well as the problems confronting the workers.
“Ronak and I teamed up and agreed to start documenting Navelcar’s life. Navelcar had agreed to work with them but on his own terms. The filming started in 2016 and took almost a year to film most of the footage. We had an estimated six hours of raw unedited recording,” said Ashley.
THE CHALLENGES
Ashley admitted that documenting the life of Navelcar was not easy.
Ashley (sound engineer) and Ronak (camera man) often had to plan their meet as Ashley was based in the UK, while Ronak lived in Goa. Ashley had to work out plans with Ronak, in order to take two weeks of leave from work to be in Goa for the filming.
Ashley Fernandes along with acclaimed Goan artist Vamona Navelcar.
“Navelcar would agree the day they could drop in at his studio. But at times, Navelcar would not be in the mood to participate with the filming. We would respect his wishes and do no work.”
“We also developed a way of trying to persuade Navelcar, but on his own terms. Both Ronak and I develop a technic that we would be ready to film Navelcar while we interacted with him.”
Ashley said Navelcar’s studio was poorly lit, with not much ventilation.
“He had a small fan to keep him cool while he worked on his drawings and paintings. This made filming and sound recording challenging. I had to work out the best way to keep the sound clean, despite the fan emitting motor sound.”
“Filming Navelcar was not easy. At times, he struggled to speak because of his age, and he spoke softly.”
“ Navelcar often referred to his little book in which he had verses written in Portuguese and English. Picking a line, Navelcar would read and further develop this into a story. Proverbs, poetry and his art were his extension of his life experience.”
Incidentally, this project was self-funded as both Ashley and Ronak knew that they were fighting against time to ensure they covered the best of Navelcar’s life.
THE APPRECIATION
Ashley said most of Navelcar’s artwork reflected his humanity, artistic brilliance and his range of honesty.
“It covered layers of spiritually, politics, and his experience in exile, with his personal struggle. Never did he paint for fame. His work was like an extension of his life,” said Ashley.
Apart from filming Navelcar, Ashley and Ronak picked a selection of his clients who bought his paintings, art collectors, fellow artists and even featured Anne Ketteringham, author of ‘An artist of three Continents’, a book on Navelcar.
“It is amazing that most of his students in Mozambique and Portugal who range in the ages of 50-60 years now have a FaceBook account on Navelcar. He was not even aware of his, clearly indicating how much he is loved by his students,” said Ashley.
“In our first showing recently at the Museum of Goa (MOG) in Goa, the audience was over-subscribed clearly indicating public interest in Goa’s famous artist,” Ashley added.
Navelcar had twice received the Gulbenkian Foundation Fellowships (1963 and 1971) and had won an international award at the International Exhibition of Art in Monte Carlo for his ink drawing, ‘Angoch Woman’.
Vamona Navelcar’s portrait of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa was presented to then Portugal Prime Minister António Costa in 2017. The presentation was significant because Costa's father, Orlando da Costa, had previously commissioned Navelcar to paint his portrait.
