By Kiran Galani
The annual Serendipity Art Festival that is held in Goa every year kicked off on the banks of the river Mandovi in Panaji on the 15th of December. The festival intends to expose more people to art and to address issues such as art education, patronage culture and interdisciplinary discourse by bringing together seven artistic disciplines?crafts, culinary arts, dance, music, photography, theatre and visual arts. The festival will last until the 22nd and features an interesting lineup that is highly reflective of the organization?s diverse ideals.
The festival is organised annually by the Serendipity Arts Trust, an arts and cultural development trust that was created to encourage and support the artistic community as a significant contributor to civil society. The festival aims to help artists make connections and to foster artistic communities.
The events were an eclectic celebration of art
This year?s event featured an expansive lineup of over 70 different art projects that focused on several different themes from jaali motifs and crafts from across India to Goan musicians and the Indian Jazz scene. Some of the performances included a fascinating display where four performers recreated moments from the life of street vendors using the street as a performance space. Participants were invited to sit and?share personal stories that revolved around food.?There was also a photographic installation titled ?A Slow Violence: Stories from the Largest River Basin in the World? that aimed to narrate stories from the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin.?Celebrated photographer Dayanita Singh?s series on the famous Bollywood choreographer Saroj Khan, entitled Master Ji, was another of the highlights.
The festival saw several collaborations between artists from India and from abroad. Visitors got a taste of crab Xacuti ?take? by the Australian celebrity chef, Sarah Todd, who said that her dish was inspired by the locals she met. A spectacular theatrical dance drama was also performed; in a fusion of the Chinese contemporary style of dance and Indian classical dance music the audience was charmed by a performance of ‘Shiv Yin?A Celebration of Life’. The event also hosted several exhibitions and workshops aimed at facilitating interactions between artists and engaging the general public with the work of professionals from all of the arts.
An example for other cities
Festivals such as these help to create?a platform for professionals and enthusiasts in each artistic field to display their talents to the public. In a nation that possesses an excess of talent but not enough venues for it, events such as the?Serendipity Art Festival are essential to fostering the cultural industry. Goa’s annual event is helping to build a strong artistic community and one can only hope that this tradition continues and is imitated elsewhere.
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