Serendipity Arts Festival to return to Goa after 2-year break

Serendipity Arts Foundation has announced a line-up of curators for the fifth edition of its flagship event, Serendipity Arts Festival 2022, scheduled from December 15-23 at Panaji, Goa

Goa will again witness the largest multidisciplinary festival of arts in South Asia, which will take place after a two-year intermission due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a press release by the organisers, the guardians of arts will conceptualise a series of immersive and interdisciplinary programs spanning across performing arts, visual themes, culinary arts and crafts.

Serendipity Arts Foundation, the body that organises the event, has announced a line-up of curators for the fifth edition of its flagship event, Serendipity Arts Festival 2022, scheduled from December 15-23 at Panaji, the capital of Goa.

Spread across 10 venues with the Old GMC Palace at its heart, the Festival will continue to uphold its fundamental values of sustainability, inclusivity, and accessibility with a marketplace focussing on homegrown, sustainable products and produce workshops and for those with special needs, children’s programmes, says the press release.

The festival aims to instigate positive change across the arts on a large scale. The festival programs include music, dance, visual arts, photography, film and theatre. Social issues in arts education such as pedagogy and cultural patronage, inter-disciplinary discourse and access to arts, are prominently addressed by the festival. Lastly, it is an intensive program of exhibitions and performances that are energised by social and educational presentations.

Section curators named

Serendipity has named the curators for the various sections that the festival comprises. Pramod Kumar KG, curator for the craft section, will organise the section crafts, will highlight a world of specialist books on art history of India.

Anajana Somany, an artist, will enliven the world of craft and it’s “rich traditions of materiality” through “space-making”, an art related to making and ornamenting building elements, furniture and details.

Quasar Thakre Padamsee, in charge of the theatre segment, will helm the section where an eclectic selection of theatre plays will be showcased.

Prahlad Sukhtankar, curator for culinary arts, will display important culinary qualities at Serendipity Arts Festival through community meals and revealing some secrets about food that most visitors would not know existed, says the press statement.

Another segment will feature a range of  classical folk, indie pop and rock music. Geeta Chandran and Mayuri Upadhya, curators for visual arts, will arrange for and put together classical and contemporary performances this year.

Mr. Bikram Ghosh and Mr Ehsaan Noorani will be curating the musical segment.

Also, filmmakers and visual artists- Sudarshan Shetty and Veerangian Solanki will display their performances and explore post pandemic transition to physical environment.

“In our attempt to grow the economy over the last many decades, the enormity and significance of India’s cultural heritage and its arts often gets missed. As a result, we have allowed the arts to go into decline. This festival showcases the many dimensions through which the arts and culture touch and enrich our lives. Through the many diverse programmes and events we hope to get more and more people interested and engaged, in the process enhancing one of the most fascinating aspects of India’s true soft power,” says Sunil Kant Munjal, founder patron at Serendipity Arts Foundation.

“We have announced our curators for the Serendipity Arts Festival 2022 and we are aiming to host an inclusive festival that challenges the public at large to push beyond accepted notions and conventions in arts and culture,” says Smriti Rajgarhia, Director, Serendipity Arts Foundation.

The organisers say that the festival aims to offer five much deserved platforms to contemporary arts and crafts, and highlight the cultural heritage of South Asia by building a strong network of artists across the globe.

In addition to programming, many special projects have been lined up, including a collaborative exhibition between four galleries, a special archival exhibition by Jyotindra Jain, an international collaboration between Rahaab Allana and Pascal Beausse of Centre Nationale des Arts Plastiques of the French Culture Ministry.