‘If a coconut falls’, a new book by artist Keg de Souza, will be launched at PAS Granville on Wednesday 27 November. Join us from 6pm for a warm cup of chai and listen to Keg in conversation with Nithya Nagarajan, Curator and Artist Development, PAS.⁠
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This publication was developed in response to Manuel Erédia‘s ‘Suma de árvores e plantas da Índia intra Ganges’ (1612), an early colonial attempt of a compendium of South Asian medicinal plants – containing 74 illustrations of Indian plants and descriptions of their medicinal uses.⁠
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‘If a coconut falls’ is a ‘mirror’ archive created by the artist in response to the Goan traditional medicine in ‘Suma…’ being held in a European collection – featuring hand-drawn images of each of the plants and their medicinal uses in Konkani language first, and then English. The publication repatriates cultural knowledge back to the lands it is from – centring local language, and archiving and disseminating Indigenous plant knowledge back to Goa as a work of cultural reclamation.⁠
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“The title of this book originates from a Goan saying my mother told me: ‘If a coconut falls from a tree in Goa it will either land on: a pig; a priest or a de Souza’. What seems like a simple observational adage about the abundance of these things in Goa, truly embodies a long history of colonisation… and the legacy of Portuguese rule and cultural imperialism through food, Catholicism and language – even through the Portuguese surname I hold.” – Keg de Souza⁠
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‘If a coconut falls’ was produced for ArQhive: Early-Modern-Contemporary Visions, Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts, @sunaparanta_goa, 9 August – 2 November 2024⁠. This project was funded and supported by Creative Australia, CreateNSW and the Australian Government through the Vice-Consul in Mumbai. ⁠