Over 30 women artists have transformed Goa's historic Aguad Port and Jail complex into a large-scale exhibition titled 'Show of Strength: Contemporary Women Artists at Aguad.' Curated by Samira Sheth, the show features 37 women artists from Goa working across painting, sculpture, textile, photography, installation, and digital media. The exhibition, which opened in March to coincide with Women's History Month, uses the 17th-century heritage site—once a place of control and confinement—as an integral part of the artistic experience, with works exploring themes of feminine power, resilience, memory, and healing.
The exhibition matters because it reclaims a historically oppressive space for contemporary feminist expression, while also foregrounding inclusivity by featuring neurodivergent artists and emerging practitioners alongside established names. By embedding itself in Goa's social and ecological realities—highlighting invisible labor, indigenous practices, and women's relationships with land—'Show of Strength' offers a model for site-specific, community-rooted curatorial practice that expands representation and access in the visual arts.