Goan Godhadis through The Ages

Documenting old Goan quilts is a project our group has taken up along with the Goa State Museum to try to locate and identify and document old Goan quilts. We were trying to locate handmade quilts... as well as machine made quilts that were made at least 40 years back because we are finding that very few women in this day and age... work with their hands to do traditional embroidery Initially when the group started, we were looking for ways to revive traditional needlework. The group was called Needlecrafters Group, and we had people like Sujata Noronha of Bookworm, Rajal Shinkre of the Goa Home Science College and Isabel Santa Rita Vas and Fatima Gracious who were part of this group and helped come up with ideas of how we can encourage women to work to do more hand embroidery works. And after many sessions, we came up with the idea of starting workshops on the old Goan quilts. You must leave the same width of cloth on all four sides. This half and the other will then become the same size. If there's a small difference, just cut it. Because the stiches might be long or short. Complete this square, and then join the other squares and complete the row. After you complete this square, join it with the next, then that with the next... The project has got many prongs to it; one of the ideas is that because handwork is dying out... and though a lot of people would like to have it with them, there's nowhere we can go to get it. So the idea is why not get women to come back to doing something of your own where you can own your own piece of embroidery, or in this case quilt... and it's something that'll be cherished because it's been done by you. There would always be a quilt in every house. After rounding up the housework, the women would sit for an hour to work on the quilt. When we were small, we used to watch them and help them in making the quilt. Sometimes, the cloth was not full, but small pieces which we used to join together. In those days, cloth was not as easily available as it is now, so they used to take small pieces of cloth and very skillfully patch them together to make the quilt. We used to always watch what they did and how it was done. More than stitching, we did the work of observing a lot more. How it had to be done, how to help them in their work, we used to be busy with that. And they would also prefer to take us with them always, because they were old. We would be asked to pull here, pull there, do something else at the other end... While they would make the quilt, we would always be there to help them. This was prepared by my mother, say around 1947-48 maybe. from the pieces which were available in cloth shops which were coming as samples that they were getting, So it was collected from the cloth shop, and she arranged these and it (the quilt) was made. That was quite long back, more than 60 years. (60, 70 years old). And it was at that time, no? Not many things were available, so they used to sit and do it. Connecting these pieces together... Connecting was OK, then to make a design or so was too much. They used to arrange (the pieces) on the floor, and then they used to make it. When we thought of having a workshop on quilt making, during that time... I actually started visiting villages looking for the women who were doing it. And my first experience - directly when I asked them, they said "We don't make quilts". I was discouraged. But at one point, I saw the quilts were hanging or drying, so I just entered the house and I said... "Who is making these quilts?" Then, in that same village, that woman said "I am. I make these quilts." That is how I first met her and I met the first lady who was making quilts and from there, then I got more contacts from her, she told me. And from then, after that I went to other villages and I found more women who were doing this and I realised - yes, there is a demand and what I had heard that "In Goa, now nobody is making quilts"... I realised: No, there are people - there are few - but in Ponda, Pernem, even Panaji, Madgaon... ...many places they are making quilts. "The quilt" - a symbol of love and warmth. Our grandmothers and mothers developed such an art in which using old saris and garments, they created a cocoon of love and warmth for the children. This art, this skill is diminishing every day, because our lifestyles have changed. That this art needs to be preserved, we can all see. But who will take the initiative? At such a time came the 'Naari Artisans Movement' - an organisation started by three women who came together... These three women together came forward to the Museum and spoke of their idea... ...of preserving this art and skill, and asked if the Museum would help with this in any way. We liked their idea a lot, and we decided that with them, we would work... ...if not to fully preserve this art, but to at least document it. With this in mind, we started our documentation project. Our project got an overwhelming response from the Goan women, and we don't want to stop here, but we want to document all the quilts of Goa. all the different kinds of quilts, the patterns that have been used... We want to do the documentation of these quilts. After this project, it is our intention that to create an awareness about Goan quilts... we will publish a book that will not only inform the people of Goa, but will also make people from outside Goa aware of this art and skill from Goa.