Goan Stories Through The World of Azulejo Tiles
History often influences various elements we see around us today. Be it architecture, occupations, or cultures, if we look deeper into these elements, their origins often stem from age-old historical events. When it comes to art, many art forms worldwide have originations that are centuries old but still alive to this day. And in our beautiful state of Goa, we are fortunate to see a historical art form that’s kept alive through unique and eye-catching Azulejos.
Azulejos are unique hand-painted tiles that originated in Portugal during the late 16th century. Creating one is hours worth of effort, but the final outcome is hard to go unnoticed. These tiles often depicted historical events, places, people and were used as wall decorations across various locations. This unique art was first brought into Goa by the Portuguese. But at the same time, they were also taken away once they left India. Fortunately, Azulejos made a return to Goa, allowing the state to display this unique tile art once again through the artistic skills of Orlando de Noronha, who fell in love with this unique art form and became determined to keep it alive.
While studying about Portuguese language and culture, Orlando stayed with a Goan family based out in Portugal. He was introduced to the world of Azulejos through Fernando Martins, a friend of the family’s, involved with creating these unique tile artworks. After a few lessons on making these tiles, Orlando began his own journey as an Azulejos artist.
Upon his return to Goa in 1998, he acquired a furnace that would allow him to make the tiles and work on them. But starting out did not come easy. The furnace purchased by him did not bring out any satisfactory results, and it took him over eight months to get it repaired. Having no one to guide him with the process in Goa also added to the initial difficulties in creating the Azulejos. When Orlando first started with his own creations, he would paint single tile pieces that depicted Goan sceneries, architecture, heritage, and much more. These tiles helped serve as unique mementoes for people wanting to take a small part of Goa to their homes.
Orlando’s Azulejos work saw a boost when Taj Hotel asked him to create Portuguese style pool tiles and murals. Soon he was creating tiles for major clients in the hospitality industry, such as Club Mahindra, Hotel Fidalgo, and Intercontinental Hotel in Canacona, where he made a 700 sq feet tile mural using 2800, 6x6 inch tiles. The mural was a depiction of Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India. Some of Orlando’s small paintings include 3x3 inch coasters, but he states that people don’t value these as much as the large artworks.
Be it big or small, creating Azulejos is a detailed and time-consuming process. It involves a mixture of clay and water turned into a dough, spread out and cut accordingly to different tile sizes. They are further fired in a kiln, dried, and glazed. The artwork is then painted onto each tile and fired at around 1000°C. This allows the glaze to melt and fuse in with the colours. Although the colour blue is often used on Azulejos, Orlando states that they use other shades for standard 15x15 cm tiles.
Azulejos art started out as a hobby for Orlando. But today, it has grown to become a full-fledged business that he runs with a team of local craftsmen. It wasn’t an easy, smooth-sailing journey, but it’s the journey that has kept Azulejos art alive in Goa. In India, one can find Azulejos only in Goa, which shows how special they are for the state. Each artwork painted onto a tile is not an ordinary painting but the depiction of stories that showcase Goa’s heritage, culture, and livelihoods that have shaped the state’s history over the years.
With modern art forms that have been growing around us over the years, age-old, traditional works of art are often looked over. Today, Goa wouldn’t see these unique Azulejos at various locations across the state if Orlando de Noronha hadn’t decided to take up this extraordinary tile art. Not only has he helped in reviving art that would have otherwise faded away, but has also given people the chance to appreciate the beauty of Azulejos and understand why it’s necessary to keep such age-old, unique works alive.
