Blind Date With Friends: A Visionary Step Towards Inclusivity at SAF 2024

Blind Date With Friends: A Visionary Step Towards Inclusivity at SAF 2024

~ Inclusivity should be the norm, says noted Chorao-based poet and disability campaigner Salil Chaturvedi, who is curating the Accessibility quotient for Serendipity Arts Festival 2024.

Panaji, December 2024 – A unique experiential programme at the ongoing Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) 2024 has given a different twist to the concept of ‘blind dating’.

Among the highlights of the festival’s 9th edition is the innovative ‘Blind Date with Friends,’ an experiential programme designed to foster deeper connections and mutual understanding. Participants are paired with visually impaired individuals for a journey through the festival’s exhibits, sharing conversations, meals and art experiences. “The process itself is the art,” explains Salil Chaturvedi, the programme’s curator, emphasising how such encounters break barriers and celebrate the richness of diverse perspectives.

Goa-based Salil Chaturvedi, an acclaimed writer, poet and disability campaigner, has virtually redefined the intersection of art and accessibility at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2024. Known for his poignant works in poetry and fiction, as well as groundbreaking advocacy, Salil has steered SAF 2024’s accessibility-focused initiatives, creating inclusive spaces where creativity and community meet.

This year’s accessibility interventions aimed to set a benchmark for inclusive art spaces, which included tactile exhibits and ramps to outdoor rest areas and wheelchair-friendly installations. A professional access audit guided these changes, ensuring thoughtful infrastructure upgrades across heritage venues. Additionally, initiatives like a deaf poetry jam and tactile art workshops brought artists with disabilities to the forefront, challenging traditional notions of visibility in art.

Salil’s collaboration with differently-abled artists has been transformative. “For the first time, we prioritised their presence not just as participants but as curators and creators,” he shared. Projects like ‘Nature’s Symphony: A Bird Watching Adventure’, where visually impaired individuals explore nature, and others where they create art from beach waste and the tactile design programme, ‘Touched’, crafted with input from blind schools, highlighted how sensory and emotional experiences can redefine art.

Through these efforts, Salil envisions a future where inclusivity is the norm, rather than the exception. “The mindset shift is key,” he stressed, advocating for leadership roles for people with disabilities in cultural institutions. By blending empathy, technology and innovative programming, his vision offered a roadmap for inclusive art, fostering a space where everyone can contribute and experience its transformative power.