Day 8 of the Serendipity Arts Festival 2023 is awash with hues of art, culture 
Panaji, December 2023 – Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) 2023 was awash with
every hue of art and culture on Day 8 as it quenched the thirst of creative fiends for
artistic inspiration.marellaabiti gabssaldi chilloutshut maisenzashop fracominasaldi ovyescarpe saldibenetton blaineharmont gioie-di-gea saldibenetton tatacalzature scarpeovye andcamicienegozi cainsmooredonna von-dutch
Every corner of the Festival, which is fast turning into a mecca of sorts for art
enthusiasts, was abuzz with an energy that charged the visitors to plunge into the
wondrous world imagined and created for them by artists, performers and thinkers.
All these successes have been brought to life by SAF 2023’s backstage players –
curators, planners and organisers – who have diligently threaded together a string of
events and programmes that cater to every sensibility, aspiration and curiosity — a
herculean feat considering the range and size of the cultural convergence.
The dramatic composition of the quirky play ‘The Land Of Mea and Lilo’ at The
Foundry in the Old GMC Complex stretched the audience’s imagination even as it
spurred their inquisitiveness. The play, produced by Move with Joy & Small Tales,
tried to draw out the viewers’ inner child and unadulterated sentiments by sparse
usage of language and reliance on clowning and physical comedy.
Curated by Quasar Thakore Padamsee, the theatrical performance began with Mea
and Lilo’s finely sketched characters pulling the viewers into a place full of hidden
objects to engage them in the challenges hounding them and then walking them
through their journey of resolving them.
Movement artist Dipna Daryanani and film producer Priyanka Babbar, who devised
and performed the play, kept the tone light and fluffy to foster a deeper connection
with the audience.
Nostalgia hung heavy in the air at the ESG Auditorium as filmmaker Nalini Elvino de
Sousa and Justina Costa, programme coordinator at Sunaparanta Goa Centre for
the Arts, harkened back to the Goa of yore while discussing the immense influence
of music on Goan society.
‘Melodies In Motion: Exploring Goan Artists, Their Music, And The Clubs That United
Them’, a scintillating talk moderated by Team Goa Familia, took the audience down
memory lane as Sousa and Costa exchanged information nuggets on Goa’s musical
past etched on shellac records and archived by All India Radio (AIR), Goa. Their
discussion emphasised how music welded Goa into a cohesive society.
This year’s SAF went beyond the realm of human bonding to explore ways of ending
human-animal conflicts. ‘Solutions For Human-Animal Conflict’, a talk curated by
chef Thomas Zacharias and The Locavore Team, attempted to break down barriers
between humans and animals by addressing the elephant in the room.
There couldn’t have been anyone better than elephant biologist Nishant Srinivasaiah
and Anandram Nagareddy, a farmer from Karnataka, to speak on the topic. At The
Food Lab in the Old GMC Complex, ragi farmer Nagareddy narrated his story of how
he made peace with elephants who used to plunder his fields — all he had to do was
allocate a part of his field to them. At the end of the talk, participants were served
ragi mudde and sambar, which were rustled up by Nagareddy.
At The Theatre in the Old GMC Complex, strains of sarangi, beats of tabla and the
jangling of manjira recreated a Mehfil – a place where dance, poetry and music
merge to singe the air with the warmth of romance – of bygone Lucknow. Kathak
dancer Rani Khanum twirled and tapped her feet, filling the room with the sound of
her anklets and dazzling the audience with her performance.
Curated by Mayuri Upadhya, ‘Mehfil’, which comprised Khanum’s dance
performance, along with ghazals, thumri, bandish, sher o shayari and everything
Lucknow, offered glimpses of the Nawabi charm in Goa.
Day 8 came to a thoughtful end as not very far from the Old GMC Complex, the
audience at the Multi-Level Parking Terrace witnessed the play – ‘Jump’ – which
attempts to deal with themes like loneliness, depression and suicide in a lighter
manner, rendering heavy topics easier to discuss. The play told an engrossing story
of how two diametrically opposite existences collide when a cab driver tries to save a
successful female corporate executive from ending her life from the rooftop of a city.
As the scenes unfolded, ‘Jump’, curated by Quasar Thakore Padamsee, meandered
through the contradictions and complexities in the social fabric of urban living even
as it revealed the common thread of emotions and human sensibilities running
through it.
Amid this philosophical narrative of Maneesh Verma’s play, the suspense of – “will
the man succeed in saving her or will she be back to jump again?” – kept the
audience hooked. Actors Vidushi Chadha and Sandeep Shikhar brought profundity
to their roles with their brilliant acting.
The 2023 edition of the Serendipity Arts Festival has several project and institutional
partners, such as Institut Français (India), the British Council, Boxout, Japan
Foundation, Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council, Sampad, Paper Boat Collective, Art
South Asia Project, JCB Literature Foundation and more.
The official hashtag for SAF 2023 is #ComeTogetherAtSAF, a sign of celebration
and sharing of a vision that has been widely supported. This is the Festival’s 8th
edition, of which two were digitally presented in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
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NOTES TO EDITOR:
About Serendipity Arts
Serendipity Arts is an arts and cultural development foundation created to encourage
and support the arts as a significant contributor to civil society. It aims to promote
new creative strategies, artistic interventions, and cultural partnerships that are
responsive and seek to address the social, cultural, and environmental milieu of
South Asia. Committed to innovation, SA intends to promote and create platforms for
creativity, providing the wider public with a unique source of contemporary art and
culture. SAF’s programmes are designed and initiated through collaborations with
partners across a multitude of fields, and each intervention uses the arts to impact
education, create social initiatives, foster community development, and explore
multidisciplinarity forays in the arts, with a special focus on South Asia.
About Serendipity Arts Festival
The Foundation’s primary initiative and largest project, Serendipity Arts Festival is a
multi-disciplinary arts event held annually every December in Goa. Curated by a
panel of eminent artists and institutional figures, the Festival is a long-term cultural
project that hopes to instigate positive change across the arts in India on a large
scale. Spanning the visual, performing and culinary arts, the Festival’s programming
includes music, dance, visual arts, craft, photography, film, and theatre. The Festival
addresses pressing social issues such as arts education and pedagogy, cultural
patronage, interdisciplinary discourse, and access to the arts. Serendipity Arts
Festival’s intensive programme of exhibitions and performances is energised by
spaces for social and educational engagement. This edition of the Serendipity Arts
Festival will take place in Goa from 15-23 December 2023. This is the 8th edition of
the festival, of which two were digitally hosted in the years 2020 and
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