In its third edition as Goa’s hallmark art event, Serendipity Arts Festival sets up exhibits, performances and interactive events spanning fifteen locations and seven disciplines of art – craft, music, theatre, dance, culinary arts, visual arts, and photography. Native or visitor – there are few better ways to explore Goa’s deep cultural history and evolution than this discerningly curated experience.
With over 90 projects to choose from, we’ve selected 10 highlights to help you drop a few must-see pins in this extensive 8-day schedule. Although, if you can, we recommend seeing it all!
Serendipity Barefoot School of Craft: Made in Goa / Participatory Events
Last year, the Festival initiated an architectural project – a pavilion – that would serve as a collaborative space for the local community. Through an initial design competition and then an architectural residency, this project was finally brought to life. It was inaugurated on 6 December as a venue to buy and sell historic and contemporary Goan crafts. It will continue to hold a diverse programme of events curated by Annapurna Garimella including workshops and discussion forums till 10 February 2019.
Time and Venue
15 December 2018 – 10 February 2019
10:00am –6:00pm
Next to Municipal Garden
Admission is free
More information
Tityache Khabbari (Marketplace News) / Culinary Experience
The Goan marketplace, known as Titya (Tinto) or ‘market at three roads’ has been the bustling focus of local daily life. It not only served as a safe and vibrant economy of local trade but also the place where townspeople gathered to share news, gossip and hold communal discussions.
With the emergence of supermarkets and department stores, this colloquial meeting place has slowly slipped from prominence. Tityache Khabbari, curated by Odette Mascarenhas, invites you to experience a ‘Tinto’ at the Children’s (Art) Park, with “stalls serving organic and Saraswat thalis, freshly-made fish dishes, pickles, meat dishes and desserts through an artistic representation of color, vibrancy and flavours communicating a tableau of a true Goan story, recreated by Nature’s Inn”.
Time and Venue
15-22 December
12:00pm –4:00pm
Children’s (Art) Park
Admission is free
More information
Sriyah / Dance Performance
‘Sri’ in Sanskrit embodies the quest for the goddess. It is the internal search for ancient wisdom and divine transformation. This electrifying piece is curated by Ranjana Dave and performed by The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble – India’s first modern Gurukal that trains dancers from around the world through traditional learning methods including Yoga, Natyashastra, Kalaripayattu and Odissi exercises.
Time and Venue
15 December
7:00pm –8:00pm
DB Ground
Admission is free
More information
Revolutions Per Minute: Early Hindustani Music Recordings By Goan Musicians / Music
Following the establishment of the British Crown in 1858, many Hindustani musicians including courtesans and Goan devdasis moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) to continue their practice. Training under maestros in Bombay, many of these women and men from Goan families became revered musicians that inspired successive generations. Their music was typically recorded on 79 rpm gramophone discs. This exhibition, curated by Aneesh Pradhan, showcases their compositions, specifically as performers for the gramophone industry.
Time and Venue
15 – 22 December
10:00am –6:00pm
Old Goa Institute of Management
Admission is free
More information
The Urban Re-imagined / Photography
The identity of urban development is often established as a divisive comparison with rural imagery. As progress and gentrification entail pollution and decay, this exhibition curated by Ravi Agarwal, photographs by Gigi Scaria and Pooja Iranna depict the clash and conquest of urban expansion in an attempt to rethink it.
Time and Venue
15 – 22 December
10:00am –6:00pm
Gigi Scaria – Promenade (across the GMC)
Pooja Iranna – Adil Shah Palace, Courtyard
Admission is free
More information
Panjim 175 / Special Project
Panjim has a unique social and cultural history both during and after Portuguese colonization as the capital of India’s smallest state. 2018 marks the 175th anniversary of the city’s ascent to the status of ‘urbs prima’ in a maritime arc that stretches from Mozambique to Macau. Panjim 175, curated by Vivek Menezes, will assess and celebrate Panjim’s evolving historic and cultural value. A series of talks by prominent experts on the subject will take place intermittently throughout the week.
Time and Venue
15-22 December
10:00am –6:00pm
PWD Complex
Admission is free
More information
Fermented Frontier
Fermented Frontier is a series of performance walks that begin in libraries or books stalls and then spill over into cafes. During the walk, participants will move through interactive installations with sounds, dramatic texts, visuals and movements of conversations in multiple languages. The walk is a multi-sensory journey through a real-life film plot with sci-fi overtones, including alien invasions, siege, surveillance and survival. The participatory performance seeks to raise questions about the concept of reality and normalcy in relative contexts. Fermented Frontier is curated by Atul Kumar and directed by Lawai BemBem.
Time and Venue
15 – 22 December
10:00am –6:00pm
Old Goa Institute of Management
Admission is free
More information
Mondays Are Best For Flying Out Of Windows
A play inspired by the absurdist works of early Soviet era writer, Daniil Kharms who was often incarcerated by the Stalinist regime for this rebellious views. He is said to have starved to an anonymous death in the psychiatric ward of a Soviet prison in 1942.
As Kharms himself said, ‘I am interested only in pure nonsense, only in that which has no practical meaning. I am interested in life only in its absurd manifestation. I find heroics, pathos, moralizing, all that is hygienic and tasteful, abhorrent… both as words and as feelings.’
The play is a Perch Production curated by Atul Kumar.
Time and Venue
15 December
3:00pm –4:15pm
Black Cube, Old GMC
English
Admission For Mature Audiences Only
15 December
5:30pm –6:45pm
Black Cube, Old GMC
English
Admission For Mature Audiences Only
16 December
3:00pm –4:15pm
Black Cube, Old GMC
English
Admission For Mature Audiences Only
16 December
5:30pm –6:45pm
Black Cube, Old GMC
English
Admission For Mature Audiences Only
More information
Young Subcontinent: Sightlines
The third edition of this Serendipity Arts Festival Foundation initiative, curatorially assisted by Anuj Daga, features multimedia works by 24 artists who map the geopolitical dynamics of the South Asian subcontinent; commenting on stringent culturalism and the ‘otherness’ of narrow nationalism. It seeks to illuminate the common struggles and aspirations of the region – looking at reassertion and reinvention of geographies as well as facilitating conversations on peaceful co-existence.
Time and Venue
15 – 22 December
10:00am –6:00pm
Old Goa Institute of Management
Admission is free
More information
Digital Heritage Play Lab
Curated by Quicksand and featuring works by two other research and design collectives – Tandem, and Greenhouse, this ‘digital heritage’ exhibit features a medley of objects, places, and practices that are staples in Goan households. Through immersive media and interactive storytelling that includes augmented reality, virtual reality, 360 films, gamification, app design and transmedia, the works encourage audiences to explore Goan heritage through emergent media experiences.
Time and Venue
15 – 22 December
10:00am –6:00pm
PWD Complex
Admission is free
More information
Happy Reading!
Elvina Halli.
