After a long lull, on-ground festivals and art fairs are back. Last month, Bengaluru hosted the 11th edition of the Bengaluru Literature Festival with much fanfare. Further south, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale returned after two years.
And in Goa, on the Mandovi Coast, a lively December mood returns Serendipity Arts Festival (December 15–23) Restored to his true form, two years after discovering his virtual form. “For many people, this was a year of revenge travel. [This edition highlighted] That art is all about shared experiences and how people feel when they are together,” says Smriti Rajgarhia, director of Serendipity Arts Foundation and Festival.
Amit Trivedi performing at the Serendipity Arts Festival.
Since 2016, when Serendipity Arts Festivals (SAF) made its debut, it has grown into a public arts festival that goes far beyond the Panjim festival. This year, it offered a series of smaller events that brought together Indian and international talent from formats as diverse as art and photography, theater and dance, besides talks and workshops, with open air DJ sets- Along with performing Hindustani classical on a boat. “Most festivals are fairly specific to one discipline, but for SAF, we bridge the gap between genres and themes, so we can’t be typecast,” says Rajagadhia. of the plan.
bigger and better
The multidisciplinary festival returns to its former glory with a massive program featuring nine days, 14 venues, and over 500 artists.
where sidewalks turn into steps
While the Kochi Biennale had teething issues (its opening was postponed by 11 days), SAF was like a well-oiled machine, where episodic programming, smooth execution, and a variety of curated shows brought together a celebration Which worked like a successful social experiment. To revitalize public spaces. Visitors can experience art in unconventional places – old government buildings converted into temporary galleries (the Post Office Museum’s display of miniatures was a triumphant retrospective of Indo-British art from colonial India), abandoned buildings converted into immersive theaters turned into a creative playground for Performances of the Money Opera were packed every day) and concerts in parks and even parking lots.
money operaAn experimental production, in the unnamed building in Altinho.
“When the festival began, I was impressed by the goal it set for itself: to create a new form of interaction between heritage and art, and citizens and the city. And I have seen over the course of seven years and five editions that they have lived up to that mission. The latter have gone unnoticed,” says Goa-based journalist Vivek Menezes, who has been associated with several festivals in his home state, from the prestigious International Film Festival of India to the recently launched Liberty and Light Festival.
With sidewalks and promenades serving as forums for all performance venues, festivals such as SAF provide a fluidity to public spaces that encourages the local community to utilize their multipurpose potential. In eschewing the traditional, commercial art route, it shows them not only how art can impact society but how communities can shape their social space.
For Menezes, a modern historian from Panaji, the festival brought new ways of interacting with a city he knows all too closely. “The evolution of their buildings and finding unique locations every year is one aspect that I find interesting. This year alone, I found at least three locations on the Mandovi Coast, which I have not experienced in a lifetime in Panaji. ”
with Mandovi
The Excise Building, the Post Office Museum and an unnamed building in Altinho were opened to the public at this time.
inclusive and interactive
As a festival built on an inclusive mandate, SAF provides a platform to artists with different abilities (Swiss artist Michael Fehr, born with a visual impairment, was one of the artists this year) while opening new avenues and Together initiate tactile art appreciation for the people. different needs.
sudarshan shetty who is sleeping who is awake In Excise Bhawan.
Outside the white box formality of boutique galleries, SAF invites locals and tourists alike to walk around in shorts and flipflops – the beach state’s comfort item – and take over the streets and public spaces, Which are more interactive and inviting through artistic interventions. For example, case of missing speciesAn interactive public art exhibition by Amche Mollem’s artist collective presented a call-to-action opportunity for people to participate in one of modern India’s largest civic movements by asking them to send postcards, urging politicians and officials to implement infrastructure plans prompts to give up. for our biodiversity.
In Old GMC Complex Nava Stories of nine urban trans women told through nine Juice.
In this sense, the festival provides many opportunities for the spectators to interact directly with the surroundings around them. “The intention is to mix the city, the audience and the art together. Usually it’s all in a silo, but when you combine all of these, the city becomes a phenomenon over time,” Rajgarhia told Aldo Rossi. Quote shared. city architecture,
“SAF is just a model for other cities and state governments to see that there is potential for regeneration, for activating public space and for the public to come back and reclaim the places they belong beyond Netflix, restaurant, and bar. And we hope this becomes a ripple effect across the country.
The culture & lifestyle writer is based in Goa.