The multimedia chapter on Goa's Water Stories will be launched on March 5 at 6 pm with a conversation between the lead curator, Wency Mendes, an independent documentary film-maker and artist with over 25 years of industry experience, and Prof Suhita Nadkarni, a researcher at the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER).
‘Goa Water Stories’ engages and intersects with local and indigenous communities living in Goa through 18 interactive and immersive story projects on a diversity of water challenges and their intersection with livelihoods, cultural practices, and the environment. It has been produced over two years by more than 30 young people, researchers and artists in collaboration with institutional partners including the Centre for Public Policy and Governance School at the Goa Institute of Management, the Manohar Parrikar School of Law, Governance and Public Policy at Goa University, the Sunaparanta Goa Centre of the Arts, and the Living Waters Museum.
‘Goa Water Stories’ initiative was commenced in March 2023 through an ‘Open Call’ for a small grant, offered as a fellowship, to support research on water, ecology, climate change, and its impact on communities in Goa. The fellowship grant, augmented by a mentoring and skill-sharing process, facilitated advocacy by researchers and field practitioners, providing a policy lens to understand concerns related to water and climate change, their effects on livelihoods and the environment and conservation efforts.
The initiative focuses on creating media-rich multimedia content – encompassing text, images, audio, and video – to document water-related narratives in Goa. These stories are thematically linked to the Western Ghats, the monsoon water cycle and watershed, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, tanks, wells, the khazan lands, and the coastal ecosystem. Goa is nested at the base of the Western Ghats, acknowledged as one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots in the world. These ghats are critical for supporting evapotranspiration and the monsoon rains. Here, eleven rivers with their 42 tributaries form the large hydrology schema that critically interconnects rivers, ‘khazan’ lands with their bordering mangroves, Ramsar sites, multifarious water bodies, lakes, tanks, wells, springs and waterfalls, all interlinking with the coastal ecosystem.
Along with their indispensability towards an enriched biota and ecology, these water systems have been integral to the diverse cultures and socially meaningful rites and practices, origin myths, music, songs and poetry which have shaped Goa. These interdisciplinary multimedia projects present hyperlocal narratives, amplifying voices from the ground. Traditionally, repositories of oral traditions and community knowledge reside with the elders, who pass down accumulated wisdom through rites of passage, rituals, and folklore. The program fosters dialogue through visual storytelling towards building an online interactive and immersive archive, serving as a platform that brings together diverse stakeholders, including institutions, students, researchers, academics, writers, artists and experts.
This collaborative effort facilitates critical engagement with water-related issues through workshops, colloquia and presentations in libraries, colleges, universities, museums and galleries. Through these activities, the participants developed a shared vocabulary and subjectivity, initiating hyperlocal and public discourse on water heritage. This multi-dimensional and inclusive approach integrates research, data visualisation, storytelling, and digital tools.
These ethno-technologies and intangible cultural heritage have played a crucial role in preserving ecologies and enabling sustainable community living. Rooted in lived experience, they are closely linked to local flora, fauna and livelihood practices. These traditions hold immense relevance in contemporary discussions on climate change, water conservation, environmental studies, and ecological regeneration. They also serve as alternative models for sustainable development.
The richness of this archive draws upon the deep relationship between knowledge sharing and local communities. The media objects produced by the cohort include illustrations, photographs, texts, videos, audio recordings, and maps. This initiative aims to raise awareness of Goa’s diverse water heritage and promote sustainable and equitable solutions for managing shared water resources for future generations.
All content – including videos, images, illustrations, photographs and written materials – developed by the cohort are under Creative Commons. These digital objects are metadata-tagged, geo-tagged, and translated into English, with further auto-translation enabled for additional languages via web-based software.
The resulting digital archive is now community-curated as an interactive and interconnected storytelling platform – Goa Water Stories – hosted by the Living Waters Museum. Through this online archive, users can engage with multi-narrative storytelling, explore and learn from these experiences, and connect with the environment and communities on the ground.
