The Altar of Time | A Presentation by Anirudh Kanisetti and Kevin Fernandes | Project Showcase@IFA | June 23, 2023

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA)
invites you to
The Altar of Time: A History of India's Christian Art
through objects from the Museum of Christian Art (MoCA), Goa

A Presentation by Anirudh Kanisetti and Kevin Fernandes
and a discussion with Natasha Fernandes, Curator at MoCA

Friday, June 23, 2023 | 06:30 PM onwards | Zoom and Facebook Live

How does one unpack the meaning of Indian Christian art? What can objects tell us about the people who made them and lived with them? What do these artefacts, currently housed in a museum, mean to the community now?

Join us to listen to Kevin Fernandes and Anirudh Kanisetti, producers of the podcast The Altar of Time: A History of India's Christian Art as an outcome of the IFA – MoCA Creative project that narrates the history of Goa using select objects from the museum's collection of Indian Christian art.

The project, in collaboration with MoCA in the Convent of Santa Monica in Old Goa, attempts to take the museum and its collection beyond the confines of space and time to people across the world. Inspired by Neil MacGregor’s kaleidoscopic history of humanity titled History of the World in 100 Objects, this project looks into the power and politics embodied in each object. It explores myth, ritual, craft and lives of India's vast, varied—and almost completely unknown Christian art, bringing to life the everyday living contexts of the artefacts which most people only see as inanimate items behind a glass frame in the museum. The podcast currently has 16 episodes in English and some in Konkani, with nine more to be added. Kevin and Anirudh will also be in conversation with Natasha Fernandes, curator of MoCA.

Anirudh Kanisetti is a historian and author of Lords of the Deccan: Southern India from the Chalukyas to the Cholas. He also hosts the podcast Echoes of India.

Kevin Fernandes is a researcher and currently the Assistant Professor of English at the Indian Institute of Psychology and Research, Bengaluru. He is the primary collaborator with Project Coordinator Anirudh Kanisetti for the Foundation Project implemented by IFA.

Natasha Fernandes is the Curator of the Museum of Christian Art, Goa. She has coordinated several museum projects, curated experiences and heritage walks in Old Goa.

Image: From the collection at Museum of Christian Art (MoCA), Goa

This Foundation Project implemented by India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), under the Archives and Museums programme, in collaboration with MoCA, is made possible with support from Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi and Parijat Foundation.

This session is organised as part of the Project Showcase @ IFA, a series of online presentations to showcase, discuss and engage audiences with the diverse projects we support and implement across programmes.

Click here to register for the presentation on Zoom.

The session will also be streamed live on our Facebook page, for which no prior registration is required.