The Archives and Museums programme of IFA has been initiated with a two-fold objective: to provide arts practitioners and researchers an opportunity to generate new, critical, and creative approaches for public engagement with archive and museum collections; and to energise these spaces as platforms for dialogue and discourse. For more information, click here.

About the Museum of Christian Art (MOCA), Goa

The Museum of Christian Art, the first of its kind in Asia, was set-up in 1994 in the Seminary of Rachol, in collaboration with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Portugal and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), New Delhi. The museum was later relocated in 2001 to the Convent of Santa Monica, in one part of the Church, on the Holy Hill, in the vicinity of the UNESCO World Heritage site in Old Goa. Asia’s first and largest convent, it was built between 1606-1627, during the Portuguese presence in Goa.

Today, the recently refurbished museum has a unique collection of objects that reflects the rich and pluralistic history of Goa. The historian and writer Mukul Kesavan has described the museum as “a little jewel of a repository housed in the Santa Monica convent of old Goa. Its icons, crucifixes, coffers, chalices bear witness to the extraordinary coming together of Portuguese, Mughal, even Jain art”.

About the Collection

The museum has an exceptional collection of Indo-Portuguese objects that date as far back as the 16th century. The objects - sculpture, painting, jewellery, embroidery – in materials such as stone, wood, metal, ivory and textiles - cover a variety of genres and styles from different periods of religious imagination.

During the early period of Portuguese rule, images and other objects designed for religious and daily use, were brought to India from Europe. Since these were sent in limited numbers, local Goan artists were commissioned to recreate these European objects to meet the ever-increasing demand. The resulting work, a synthesis of different cultures, is now widely recognised as Indo-Portuguese art, which is a combination of Christian, Hindu and Islamicate art forms.

Please visit www.museumofchristianart.com for more information about the museum and the collection.

About the IFA-MOCA Creative Projects

The IFA-MOCA Creative Projects offer Project Coordinators the opportunity to research this collection over a period of a year, and create public programmes such as exhibitions, talks, workshops, etc. both online and offline, over the project period, which IFA will implement.

For more information about the collection that is available for research, please contact Natasha Fernandes, at museumofchristianart@gmail.com

Applicant profile:

We seek applications from curators, visual artists, researchers and other creative practitioners with a strong interest in research and working with museum collections. We also encourage applicants to think through interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches and methods for their public programmes.

Practitioners who are Indian nationals or have been residents of India consecutively for five years or more are eligible to apply. To know more about our eligibility criteria please click here. Applicants from Goa will be given preference as the project coordinators will need to spend a considerable amount of time at the museum during the project period.

Application Process: Your application must include:

A proposal briefly describing an exhibition that could be developed from the museum’s collection.The description should include the vision, approach and possible outcomes. A brief note on other public programmes that could be developed from the material. A detailed budget.
Your curriculum vitae with a brief description of a project you have been involved with as a curator, arts practitioner, or researcher. This description should comprise the vision, approach, processes, and outcomes that have resulted from that project. Please send us links and not attachments.

Project Budget:

• The project costs should not exceed Rs 2,00,000/-.
• You may budget for an honorarium of Rs 12,000/- per month subject to a limit of Rs 1,44,000/- for the entire duration of the project. Please note that the total amount is inclusive of the honorarium.
• Our funds will cover only project-related costs and activities and will not pay for infrastructure costs or equipment purchase.
• Please ensure that each budget category pertains to a specific item of project-related expenditure.
• Please note that IFA will implement this project with you directly as project coordinator.

Key dates:

• The deadline for receiving applications is Monday, May 31, 2021.
• Interviews with shortlisted candidates are expected to take place in June 2021.
• The project will commence in June 2021 for a period of one year.

Please note, considering the current situation, we only accept applications via email. Email your application or any queries to Suman Gopinath at suman@indiaifa.org.

The Archives and Museums programme is part-supported by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi.