The 6th edition of Serendipity Arts Festival, scheduled between the 15th to 23rd of December 2023 in Panjim, Goa will once again bring together a diverse array of creative energies. Anchored with the mandate of making art accessible to everyone, the programming of the nine-day inter-disciplinary festival rests on the pillars of creating an environment of engagement, participation and amplifying local interaction, with a key focus on supporting artists and creative expressions from the South Asian region.
The festival has announced its eclectic programming across diverse disciplines of the Performing, Visual, Culinary and Performance Arts and Crafts. It features over 150 events, incredible works of more than 300 artists, nine curators and around 15 special curators. Alongside, there are around 15 commissioned works, exploring diverse practices and artistic creations through a different lens.
Some of the exciting highlights from the performing arts and crafts section of the 2023 festival are:
PERFORMING ARTS
Music
An Evening of Serendipity with Zakir Hussain and Friends
Renowned tabla maestro Zakir Hussain leads an ensemble featuring the extraordinary talents of Ranjit Barot, Rakesh Chaurasia, Zubin Balaporia, Sanjay Divecha, and Sheldon D’silva. Through intricate rhythms, soul-stirring melodies, and genre-defying improvisations, this collaboration, enriched by diverse instruments and genres, promises a memorable experience that showcases the prowess of the artists while exploring the intersections of their styles.
Curated by: Zubin Balaporia
Date: 15 December 2023
Time: 7 PM Onwards
Venue: The Arena at Nagalli Hills Ground
River Raag
Conceptualized and curated by Shubha Mudgal in the early editions of the Festival, River Raag at Serendipity Arts Festival 2023 is a unique sunset cruise featuring classical performances curated by Bickram Ghosh and Ricky Kej. Departing from Santa Monica Jetty, audience members revel in the rays of the setting sun while the cool breeze blowing across the Mandovi River carries the notes of the artists and their jugalbandi.
Curated by: Bickram Ghosh and Ricky Kej
Date: 15 – 23 December 2023
Time: 5 PM – 6 PM
Venue: Santa Monica Jetty
Bollyjazz
In a time where any experimentation with music, especially Hindi film music, meant simply remixing popular tunes to club beats, Nikhil Mawkin envisioned an amalgamation of two seemingly different genres – Hindi film tunes and Jazz. It was 2011 in India, and what started as an experiment became a successful project that would bring back to life some of the evergreen melodies from what is commonly referred to as the Golden Era of Bollywood. Since then, the band Bollyjazz has evolved through a vast repertoire of selectively chosen melodies that are relatable even in a contemporary setting. The arrangements around the melodies include popular Jazz rhythms such as Samba, Bossa Nova, Swing, and Funk, allowing musicians to improvise and provide their expression to a familiar tune.
Curated by: Shyamant Behal
Date: 17 December 2023
Time: 8 PM – 10 PM
Venue: The Arena at Nagalli Hills Ground
DANCE
Pixel
This production seamlessly blends virtuoso hip-hop dance with state-of-the-art digital projection. Pixel is a direct result of the creative dialogue between choreographer Mourad Merzouki (Compagnie Käfig) and digital arts company Adrien M & Claire B. Employing unprecedented stagecraft, performers execute mesmerising aerial and acrobatic stunts within a dynamic 3-D digital environment that morphs with their every gesture. The outcome is a stunning choreographic marvel, providing a tantalizing glimpse into the thrilling prospects at the intersection of the real and virtual realms.
Project by: Compagnie Käfig
Supported by: The Embassy of France, The French Institute in India, Alliance Française India, and Aaron Fernandes Entertainment
Date: 19 December 2023
Time: 8 PM – 10 PM
Venue: Dinanath Mangeshkar Kala Mandir
Bards Of South
From the time of the Vedas to the present, nature and all of her elements have always been integral to our existence. Watching, witnessing, observing. And sometimes, taking matters into their own hands to balance the scales. ‘Bards of South’ showcases these polarities through traditional South Indian art forms such as Yakshagana, Kathakali, Choliattam, and Pandimelam, paying homage to Mother Nature in all her manifestations.
Curated by: Mayuri Upadhya
Date: 19 December 2023
Time: 7 PM – 8 PM
Venue: The Arena at Nagalli Hills Ground
THEATRE
Don Quixote: A Bharatanatyam-Theatre Production
An idealistic dreamer sets out to revive the lost tradition of chivalry. This music-dance-theatre production is a twenty-first-century stage adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’ early seventeenth-century novel. Sheejith Krishna’s ‘Don Quixote’ combines multiple art forms—poetry, music, dance, and theatre—to unfold a timeless tale with universal relevance.
Curated by: Geeta Chandran
Date: 22 December 2023
Time: 7 PM – 8 PM
Venue: The Arena at Nagalli Hills Ground
Jump
It unfolds on the rooftop of a city building, where a successful female corporate executive teeters on the edge, contemplating suicide. Just in the nick of time, a male cab driver intervenes, preventing her from leaping. This sets the stage for a collision of two profoundly different worlds, encompassing contrasting socio-economic classes, backgrounds, and lifestyles, as well as distinct circumstances, beliefs, and perspectives.
Curated by: Quasar Thakore Padamsee
Date & Time: 19, 20, 21, 22 December 2023; 8:30 PM – 10 PM.
Venue: Multi-Level Parking Terrace
The Land Of Mea Lilo
This family-friendly play follows Mea and Lilo as they embark on a journey filled with wit, teamwork and imagination achieved through the exploration of ordinary everyday objects. The performance values the sharing of unfiltered emotions and uses a minimalist approach to language, incorporating elements of clowning and physical comedy. This makes it highly relatable for young viewers while also connecting with the inner child in adults.
Curated by Quasar Thakore Padamsee
Date: 22 December 2023
Time: 10 AM – 11 AM, 12 PM – 1 PM
Venue: The Foundry, Old GMC Complex
VISUAL ARTS and CRAFT
Bamboo: A Way Of Life
Across the world, numerous communities have woven bamboo into the very fabric of their existence. In India, it has been an inherent component of life in the Northeast where bamboo thrives abundantly. This deep-rooted tradition encompasses not merely a means of earning a livelihood but rather, a profound way of life, where each individual possesses the innate ability to craft bamboo with seemingly effortless finesse.
Curated by: Sandeep Sangaru
Venue: Samba Square
Date: 15-23 December 2023
Time: 11 AM – 8 PM
Crafted Expressions : Embodied
Traditions In The Indian Performing Arts
This immersive and dynamic showcase unveils the captivating world of performing arts as an embodiment of artisanal mastery. This exhibition shines a spotlight on how craftsmanship enriches the auditory and visual realms of the arts. Celebrating the fusion between craft and the performing arts, this showcase offers visitors a multifaceted journey into the depth and richness of India’s vast cultural heritage.
Curated by: Anjana Somany
Date: 15 – 23 December 2023
Time: 11 AM – 8 PM
Venue: Azad Maidan
HOLY FLUX!
Rituals for Deconsecration
Curated by The Packet, the project invites you to reimagine the sacred in contemporary times. What if we could break away from conventional notions of the holy?
Curated by: The Packet
Date: 15 – 23 December 2023
Time: 11 AM – 8 PM
Venue: ESG Courtyard
Culinary Arts and Workshops
A Longing For Home | Phone Booth
It is a captivating installation designed to honour and preserve cherished family recipes uniquely and interactively. This innovative setup invites individuals into the phone booth and embarks on a nostalgic culinary journey.
Project by Thomas Zacharias and the Locavore Team
Dates: 15 – 23 December 2023
Time: 11 AM – 8 PM
Venue: The Grove, Old GMC Complex
Goa’s Coconut Vinegar: A Comparative Tasting Of A Forgotten Culinary Gem
This workshop introduces a first-of-its-kind vinegar tasting to the public, showcasing the vinegar heritage of Goa. Hansel Vaz’s exploration has unearthed a captivating selection of vinegars once integral to Goan cuisine but now largely overlooked. In this session, ancient techniques will be revived to present five of these forgotten varieties, allowing participants to indulge in their distinctive tastes, aromas, and overall culinary experiences.
Curated by: Thomas Zacharias and the Locavore Team
Facilitated by: Hansel Vaz
Date: 17 December 2023
Time: 2 PM – 3 PM
Venue: The Food Lab, Old GMC Complex
Feni Deconstructed: A Sensory Experience
Explore the intricate world of Feni, a finely nuanced spirit born from cashew or coconut palm, dispelling its misconceived “smelly” reputation. Savour its velvety texture, harmonious sweetness, subtle spiciness, and delicate bitterness, all while immersing yourself in a symphony of tropical aromas. Uncover the enduring traditions that have shaped Feni distillation for over three centuries, an art that hinges solely on a single primary ingredient, untouched by time. Delve into the fascinating Feni journey, from ripe cashew apples to the age-old bhatti distillation, in a workshop filled with profound insights and engaging conversations.
Curated by: Thomas Zacharias and the Locavore Team
Facilitated by: Hansel Vaz
Date: 18 December 2023
Time: 2 PM – 3 PM
Venue: The Food Lab, Old GMC Complex
Paint With Food
It is an immersive and innovative activity designed to foster creativity, curiosity, and a playful approach to both art and food. This engaging activity offers participants, especially children, the opportunity to use a spectrum of artistic supplies, ranging from watercolours, fabric paints, food pigments, collage materials, and dry waste, to create artworks depicting food in unusual ways. In the process, we hope to encourage attendees to think deeply about food – especially otherwise neglected indigenous fruits and vegetables – in unique, out-of-the-box ways they previously might not have explored.
Facilitated by: Thomas Zacharias and the Locavore Team
Date: 15 – 23 December 2023
Time: 11 AM – 12:30 PM
Venue: The Grove, Old GMC Complex
Textual Narratives
Text/Matters
A Serendipity Arts Foundation Initiative, supported by the JCB Literature Foundation and in partnership with The Marg Foundation and Art India Magazine, Text/Matters is a project that seeks to highlight our engagement with that tradition. This aspect is showcased through the archives of two pivotal publications—Marg, a pioneering magazine now in its 75th year, and Art India which has been probing developments in modern and contemporary art for the past 27 years in fresh idioms and contexts.
Date: 15 – 23 December 2023
Time: 11 AM – 8 PM
Venue: The Courtyard, Old GMC Complex
Date: 20 December 2023
Time: 2 PM – 3 PM
Venue: The Food Lab, Old GMC Complex
Zine-Making Workshop
These workshops will engage participants in a hands-on experience of creating a zine from scratch that they can take home. In a free-flowing format, this workshop seeks to yield zines that include recipes, indulgence, dislike, nostalgia, etc. to explore creative mediums of expression between people and their relationships with food.
Facilitated by: Zinedabaad Collective
Dates: 15 – 23 December 2023
Time: 12 PM – 1:30 PM
Venues: The Food Lab, Old GMC Complex
The Poetry Playground
The Alipore Post Poetry Playground is designed to make poetry and creativity accessible through guided prompts, allowing participants to engage with poetry and explore writing through a lens of curiosity and play.
Curated by: Thomas Zacharias and the Locavore Team
Facilitated by Rohini Kejriwal
Date: 19 December 2023
Time: 4 PM – 5:30 PM
Venue: The Grove, Old GMC Complex
Talks
Start The Presses: Practising Print Culture Through The Magazine
SAF and The Marg Foundation bring Shukla Sawant, Guest Editor (Readings on Modernism: From 75 Years of Marg), Naman Ahuja (General Editor, The Marg Foundation), Sarita Sundar (Independent Scholar/Writer) and Akila Seshasayee (Chief Designer, Toile Indienne) together for a conversation about print culture in Independent India.
Supported by The Marg Foundation, as part of the Text/Matters project
Speakers: Naman P. Ahuja, Sarita Sundar, Akila Seshasayee
Moderated by Shukla Sawant
Date: 17 December 2023
Time: 12 PM – 1 PM
Venue: ESG Auditorium
Wording And Imaging The World: A Discussion On Writing And Illustrating For Children
The discussion will follow the projection of five animations based on five exceptional books written and illustrated by K. G. Subramanyan and A. Ramachandran and produced by FIAE. Besides looking into the impulses behind these books, the discussion will focus on why artists and writers should create for children and the different possibilities they open up for the creators and their audience.
Speakers: Damodar Mauzo and R. Siva Kumar
Moderated by Vidya Shivadas
Date: 18 December 2023
Time: 12 PM – 1 PM
Venue: ESG Auditorium
