11 July,2026 03:23 PM IST | Mumbai | Devashish Kamble
PICS COURTESY/FULCRUM
North Goa's Aldona village is getting used to being in and out of the news. Earlier this year, it turned heads for a massive R105-crore villa that was listed in the area. In the late 2000s, author Amitav Ghosh was considered the rustic village's most famous resident. But before global literary heft reached Aldona, it was home to original residents, Avicennia alba, Kandelia candel, and Acrostichum aureum - aka the mangroves.
Alarmed by the gentrification of these ecosystems in their homeland, artists Wenceslaus Mendes, Satyam Malhar, Pradeep Naik, and Ashish Phaldesai have set out to remind us what we risk losing. "There is a disconnect between urban citizens and the mud. But when our actions come back to bite us - as we are seeing this monsoon - we'll all be in the same boat," says documentary filmmaker Mendes, who grew up between Goa and Mumbai.
From the backwaters of the Sal River in Benaulim to the salt pans along the Chapora River, the lived experiences of the artists come alive in their unexaggerated artworks in A Disquiet Tide. "Although the art works are rooted in Goa, the message will resonate across the western coast," Mendes signs off.
TILL July 25; 10.30 am to 7 pm
AT Fulcrum, Great Western Building, opposite
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Ashish Phaldesai
Mangroves transform into surreal systems of interdependence that are beyond human perception in Phaldesai's dreamy watercolour work. The artist is not the observer, rather a fleeting object in a mangroves' dream where birds, insects, land and water further destabilise the traditional point of view.
When the forest dreamed of me, Ashish Phaldesai
Wenceslaus Mendes
Mendes' work in filmmaking, photography and art spans matters of indigenous tribes and communities, hydro-ecology, and sustainability. Mendes' photographic series veers from the commodification of mangroves as objects of value to humans, and looks at them as lived environments.
Mool maati mog, Wenceslaus Mendes
Pradeep Naik
In Goa's low lying estuaries, mangroves are both ecological protectors, and a disturbance to farmlands where they emerge. Naik's geometrical works encapsulate this tension through terrains represented by horizontal bands, and incised marks that represent the conflict.
Holding Ground 2, acrylic on canvas, Pradeep Naik
Satyam Malhar
Growing up in a farming family, Malhar's work is deeply rooted in agrarian culture. In this diptych, he turns his attention to the labourers at a saltpan aka mithagar. Malhar presents them neither as subjects of a portrait, nor anonymous passive elements but as "witnesses to a landscape shaped through repetitive, embodied work."
A Life Etched in White - Men, Satyam Malhar
The group has conducted interactions and mangrove walks since touching down in the city. There are lessons to be learnt, says artist Wenceslaus Mendes.
>> Mumbaikars from all walks of life have visited the exhibition, but only a few could instantly connect with it. The Koli community was one of them.
>> Erosion of mangroves is hyper-local, but the repercussions will be felt across neighbourhoods during monsoon. Conservationists cannot work in silos.
>> Mumbai's insatiable hunger for modern buildings are writings on the wall. The city can take a leaf from Goa's push against gentrification, and preserving traditional architecture.
The first pit-stop in the Maximum City is only the beginning of a movement, Mendes assures us. Environmentally-conscious artists are eager to join the tribe, and take the exhibition to cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, and Delhi. Those keen to participate in the movement as artists and hosts can write to wency.mendes@gmail.com.
