Exclusivity is the trend in the arts world. To be limited, private, and elite is a style statement of the contemporary arts scene. In the midst of such selective art events is the upcoming Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa which claims to cut across class, exclusivity, and levels of art appreciation. The inclusivity of this festival is such that even cuisines and culinary skills too shall be on display and treated as a refined art genre.
This interdisciplinary arts festival, an initiative of Munjals, will be held from December 16 to 23. Its main objective being to encourage the evolving arts community, promote a culture of patronage and create value for the arts, thus ensuring India’s place in the global cultural dialogue. The festival has called upon a number of curators to organise different programmes.
The curators who will be giving shape to the festival include Ranjit Hoskote, Riyas Komu, Sanjeev Bhargava, Ranjit Barot, Shubha Mudgal, Anuradha Kapur and Lillete Dubey.
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Elaborating on how each curator has been given the freedom to develop his-her own project, Preeta Singh, the Festival Director, states, “ We are celebrating diversity in art with a special focus on visual, performing and culinary arts, each of which will be led by renowned curators with distinct backgrounds.”
Shubha Mudgal says, “This festival is one-of-its-kind in the sense that either we have seasoned classical music festivals or the new age jazz music fests, both exploring a single genre of art. But this festival includes all, is open for all, and thus would end up educating a whole lot of people on a variety of arts.” On whether the audience will take this mixing well, she comments, “My husband and I used to curate a festival called Baja-Gaja, and we invited art forms which were poles apart like a rock band and Yakshagana. You won’t believe, not only did the audience explore and immerse themselves in the forms they would never have indulged in but the artists themselves were mesmerized by each other as well. Such festivals can only bring a healthy dialogue and thus are welcome!”
Explaining how Serendipity festival will help regain the lost patronage of arts, its director Sanjeev Bhargava says, “You have to constantly rethink the culture. Who are my patrons? Not just those who sponsor me! But also those who come and watch my festivals. From the point of economics, the larger the footfall we have, the more interested corporates might be. The government has done enough, and now it is time for us to take our festivals on a much larger scale to attract potential patrons who can contribute to the continuity of our arts.”
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The festival will attempt to connect with Gen Y by incorporating funky aspect to it. One such is “The Selfie Project” by the Delhi Photo Festival whose co-founder Dinesh Khanna says the project brings forward the relationship between technology and art. “A selfie today may be considered as a form of self-portraiture. It is a part of people’s everyday lives; thanks to the technological inventions which have taken place.”
The programmes will be held at indoor and outdoor locations along the Panaji waterfront. The venues range from historic Portuguese structures to modern day ones. On the relevance of this integrative festival, Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Corporate Service Pvt. Limited, said, “The interdisciplinary curated arts festival is designed to challenge boundaries and redefine the formats of presentation and engagement. Nurturing our rich past, while acknowledging the present, the festival addresses the future and the new vocabularies that are rooted yet progressive.”