11. The boat ferrying across shores has always connected distant worlds. Two shores that have been separated by a force so strong that it can carry you away. We intended to perform research on this force – this current – that can sway us off our feet. In the process, we discovered and learnt about ourselves, about Goa and its memory, about people that have travelled through its landscapes and, of course, about him. The installation and this exposition helped us articulate and comprehend our experiences in This material world and That mystical world. We hope to have urged you into getting your feet wet, alighting on the ferry, embarking from your shore and into distant yet familiar lands across the rivers and seas.
So, towards the end of the project, we went to look for one. Not far from this shore, just across the Mandovi river in Verem, we found a workshop. They make boats, for a price of course. For now, we just wanted to test the waters (get our feet wet), so we hung around a little. Revisiting every other week to watch them layer the fibreglass sheets in the moulds and glue them together. Then, they waited for it to dry and harden. We have gathered that strength takes time to build.
And finally, one day when the hull of the boat is hard as a rock, they open the mould to release the boat into its first and forever float.
