Serendipity Arts Festival (Goa)

Sometime in December last year, 14 thinking heads from various disciplines related to arts, culture and even food got together and brainstormed to create a multi-disciplinary space for young India to engage. Their idea was to move beyond the existing festival structures such as the Edinburg festival or even a Kala Ghoda and construct something that played heavily with experimentation and form.
These 14 thinking heads were the current curators on board of Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) and in charge of some 40 projects across 7 disciplines that they commissioned. Organised by the Serendipity Arts Trust, a Munjal initiative, SAF is to be an interdisciplinary festival, spanning seven—visual, performing and culinary—arts. The festival is scheduled to be held from December 16 to December 23 in Panjim, along the River Mandovi.

“SAF is a conceptual construct, a space for young India to engage,” says Preeta Singh, festival director. “The idea is to connect aspiring young artists with professional possibilities, and Indian arts with the international community. The idea is that arts shouldn’t be limited to south Delhi, south Mumbai but be accessible to all Indians.”
The first edition of this nine-day festival would be held 7-10 venues and comprise close to 100 events that would include, exhibitions, performances, talks and film screenings. The target audience for the festival includes artists, performers, writers, academics, collectors and enthusiasts, and tourists in general.
The 14 curators for the festival are masters in their respective disciplines and include classical singer Shubha Mudgal, poet Ranjit Hoskote, artist Riyas Komu, historian Jyotindra Jain, photographers Dinesh Khanna and Prashant Panjiar, musician Ranjit Barot, chefs Manu Chandra and Odette Mascarenhas and actor-director Lillete Dubey.
Earlier, announcing the festival, Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman, Hero Corporate Service Private Limited, said the idea behind the festival was to add to India’s global position when it came to development. “We have had a rich history and culture which were the preserve of a few earlier. In the last 250 years, we have slipped back on this front. But since the 1990s, economic reforms, which gave free rein to India’s enterprise, the arts got more vibrant, too. The idea is to showcase this experimental festival as ‘India’s festival’. It hopes to be entertaining, educational and experiential.”
A number of networking events, mentorship programs and workshops by renowned personalities have also been planned during the event and the audiences would be encouraged to interact with the arts and the practitioners making it truly multi-disciplinary.