13 Dec 2017  |   06:38am IST

Serendipity Arts Festival is back with a bang!

Serendipity Arts Festival is a multidisciplinary event on the banks of the River Mandovi in Panjim. A cultural experience in itself, the festival brings together visual, performing and culinary arts

The Serendipity Arts Festival is a multi-disciplinary

arts event set over period of eight days in December in the vibrant settings of Panjim. Curated by a panel of eminent artists and institutional figures, this festival is a long-term cultural project that hopes to effect positive change in the arts in India on a large scale.

This year is all about scale and pushing boundaries – SAF 17 will be experimenting with site, form and display. Along with a line-up of scintillating programming spanning music, dance, theatre, visual arts, and culinary arts, this year’s edition is an unmissable spectacle of epic proportions. In addition, the festival will address issues such as arts education, patronage culture, interdisciplinary discourse and accessibility of the arts. This exciting program of exhibitions and performances will be augmented by spaces for social and educational engagement. Practitioners and audiences will be able to interact with the arts and with each other on a number of levels, in an immersive space that seeks to create discursive opportunities, promote the exchanging of ideas, and inspire the youth of India to access and engage with arts on a meaningful level.

Here’s a look at some of the disciplines of art and unlimited opportunities for multi-disciplinary collaborations at SAF 2017.

THEATRE

Curated by Lillete Dubey and Anuradha Kapur

Keeping the ethos of the festival in mind, the theatre section of Serendipity Arts Festival 2017 aims to transcend boundaries in theatrical practices and engagement, creating a unique experience for visitors. This year’s programming, apart from bringing acclaimed Indian theatre performances to the festival, looks at immersive, physical, urban popular and experimental forms of theatre which question spectatorship and audience participation.

VISUAL ARTS

Curated by Ranjit Hoskote and Riyas Komu

Expanding from last year’s exhibitions, visual arts curators Ranjit Hoskote and Riyas Komu will be engaging with the subcontinent in both a young contemporary as well as archival context. In addition to this, the visual arts spectrum looks at guest curators addressing different media and forms of art such as street art, public art, and current contemporary art practices, along with a special show that includes Goan artistic traditions and art community.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Curated by Dinesh Khanna and Prashant Panjiar

This year’s photography programming experiments with display and ways of viewing, looking at archival and contemporary photographic practices. The focus is on interdisciplinarity in photography, with projects addressing a myriad of topics ranging from environmentalism to the history of Indian jazz. This discipline will also include, as special projects, collaborative shows with eminent people and institutions from this field, which expand photography to include a focus on film, photobooks, and projection as a relevant photographic medium.

DANCE

Curated by Sanjeev Bhargava and Tanusree Shankar

This year’s dance programming expands its focus from last year to explore classical and contemporary dance forms in new and interpretive ways. The programming will be an energetic and compelling blend of commissioned pieces featuring emerging talent, as well as luminaries in the field.

MUSIC

Curated by Shubha Mudgal and Ranjit Barot

Moving away from traditional musical performances, the music curators are exploring innovations in music using technological interventions and a myriad of genres and styles. While Ranjit Barot is showcasing national and international excellence through different forms of music, Shubha Mudgal is exploring interdisciplinarity in music by showcasing diverse formats of representation.

CRAFT

Curated by Manjari Nirula and Annapurna Garimella

A large part of the focus of the craft programme for this year’s edition of SAF will look at Goan craft and architecture as a long term engagement with the region. In addition to this, the craft curators will explore specific motifs and forms across various techniques and types of craft practiced in the region, coupled with artisan workshops and other forms of engagement.