Cycle Diaries – A Photo Exhibition

Museum of Goa (MOG) along with The Lala Foundation made possible by the Fonds Voor Cultural Participatie through the International collaboration 2022-2024 grant, organised an art exhibition ‘Homo Ludens: The Art of Play’ that invited art practitioners from India and The Netherlands to create art inspired by the Dutch concept of Homo Ludens.

The exhibition explored the significant role of play in everyday life and human civilisation, through a cross-cultural dialogue by artists from India and The Netherlands. Featuring 3 shows, ‘Homo Ludens: खेल – Spel’ showcasing multimedia artworks curated by Sajid Wajid Shaikh; ‘Cycle Diaries’ A photo exhibition curated by Prashant Panjiar, along with Asmita Parelkar and Sharada Kerkar; and  collaborative artworks created by artists from India and The Netherlands, reimagining clowns as a part of ‘Joint Jesters’ show.

The 3 shows explored the idea of play through various mediums, showcasing the works of 99+ artists displaying over 100 artworks.

Cycle Diaries: A Photo Exhibition explores the essence of Play through the lens of cycles and the various ways we interact with them every day. From young boys sporting their first wheelies to old men returning home after a long day in the fields, cycles are more than just modes of transport; they are lifelong companions that carry stories we encounter daily.

Cycles offer us a sense of freedom, a way to venture beyond our immediate surroundings, to glide through fields, visit distant friends, or even sneak off to a rendezvous with new loves and old bonds.

Cycles are versatile with the things they transport, delivering balloons, candy, flowers, and morning newspapers. In India, they often carry something even more profound: the weight of countless livelihoods. Some bear entire families, in the aftermaths of rain, in the scorching heat, towards safety and towards tomorrow. Some carry siblings and friends, sharing laughter and love as they tease each other as they make their way home.

This exhibition captures images of daily life intertwined with cycles, across various intersections of human experience. Through the eyes of photographers, we glimpse fleeting yet timeless moments that celebrate this enduring relationship.

Curatorial team

Prashant Panjiar is a self-taught photographer, photojournalist, editor and curator. He has served on the jury of the World Press Photo Awards, the China International Press Photo Competition, Indian Express Press Photo Awards and the National Foundation of India’s annual photography fellowship. Being one of India’s leading photo-practitioners, Panjiar is actively involved in mentoring younger photographers.

Asmita Parelkar is a Mumbai-based freelance documentary photographer and photojournalist. Asmita attended the Documentary Photography & Photojournalism program at the International Center of Photography in New York.

Sharada Kerkar, the Chief Operating Officer of the Museum of Goa (MOG), is a visionary leader dedicated to fostering artistic dialogue and cultural preservation. She plays a pivotal role in curating initiatives that celebrate Goa’s stories through contemporary art exhibitions and collaborations.

The exhibition showcases daily life intertwined with cycles, as a lens to explore aspects of play. The cycle is a very common visual element in both India and The Netherlands, with The Netherlands having more cycles than people. 

The exhibition showcases 88 photographs, from 63 photographers consisting of both Dutch and Indian photographers. The photographs were selected through an open call, which received more than 900 photos from both countries. The open call also featured a contest and presented awards of 50,000 INR, 30,000 INR and 20,000 INR to the First, Second and Third prize winners respectively. 

The photographs explore various ways in which humans interact with cycles in a playful manner. With children sporting wheelies to old men returning from work, the exhibition showcases how cycles are lifelong companions. It also depicts the various things that cycles carry, candies, flowers, toys and most importantly livelihoods and families. 

Participating photographers

Aaron Cardozo | Abhay Kanvinde | Amitava Chandra | Anindya Phani | Anja Menninger | Arindam Thokder | Arjun Duvvuru | Arpan Basu Chowdhury | Arun | Arunkumar Marimuthu | Atharv Salgaonkar | Avijit Ganguly | Ayanava Sil | Ayush Krishna Tripathi | Bhagyashree Meshakar | Chenthil B Mohan | Claire Cammaert | Connie Post | Darpana Athale | Debdatta Chakraborty | Deepayan Khatua | Dheeraj Paul | Dipak Ray | Dylan Joziasse | Fahim Sayed | Goutam Podder | Jayasish Banik | Lalita vam Lamsweerde | Madhusudanan P | Masood Sarwer | Meet Kuntmal | Mehak Bakshi | Mithun Kudalkar | Mohit Manwani | Neenad Arul | Onkar Hemant Tapse | Pattabi Raman | Prasanna Govid | Prathamesh Parmekar | Pravin Shekar | Rob Bruns | Rujitha Thirumurthy | Saikat Chanda | Salonee Jain | Sami Siva | Sanjeev Kumar | Santanu Bose | Shivam Harmalkar | Shridarshan Shukla | Siddharth Behl | SK Rahaman Hossain | Somenath Mukhopadhyay | Soumyadeep Kundu | Sourav Karmakar | Stasja Krzeminski | Sudalaimani G | Sudipto Das | Sumit Sanyal | Suraj Thomas | Swaraj Kalyane | Tathagatha Ghosh | Vikram Raj | Vincent Paul

The exhibition is an initiative of the Museum of Goa and LaLa Foundation, supported by the Fund for Cultural Participation.