Report: Serendipity Arts Festival 2023

“Returning to Goa for our annual celebration is not just a tradition, but a reaffirmation of our enduring commitment to nurturing the rich cultural diversity of India,” said Sunil Kant Munjal, the founder and patron of the Serendipity Arts Foundation. He added that this year’s edition focussed on giving South Asian artists a platform and on keeping inclusivity and sustainability at the heart of the programming. “The festival has independent and collaborative projects that highlight these features,” he said.

The venues included the Old GMC complex, Art Park, ESG complex, PWD building and Nagalli Hills. Besides these, River Raga, a classical singing performance, was held daily on a cruise which set off from the Santa Monica jetty allowing the audience to experience music against the picturesque backdrop of the sun setting in the Mandovi river. Other musical events included performances by tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, Indus Creed, Bollyjazz and Kabir Café, Neeraj Arya’s folk-fusion band that has created a sterling playlist out of the poetry of medieval mystic Kabir.

Held at The Foundry inside the Old GMC Building, Kahaniyon ka Manthan, a confluence of Kaavad Katha (the 400-year-old endangered oral tradition of storytelling from Rajasthan) and Mohiniyattam by theatre person Akshay Gandhi and Bharatanatyam dancer Divya Warrier, carried forward the spirit of co-creation and collaboration. Curated by choreographer and educationist Mayuri Upadhya, the contemporary reworking of the Kaavad, known as Maya, saw Akshay narrate stories, with Divya bringing them to life through her recital. 

“Stories can be found in various places — in libraries, performance spaces, hidden rooms of old buildings, the crowded parts of a new city, and even in the most deserted corners of the world,” Akshay said during his narration. Seated on an elevated platform fashioned like a wooden box with multiple doors, each of which depicted a different scene, the performance included him opening the doors as he moved on from one story to the next.

In Lives of Clay, a solo play at the Art Park,Bharatanatyam dancer and potter Vidya Thirunarayan enacted the stories of three women. The set that included a platform with a potter’s wheel and a staircase recalled a construction site. Thirunrayan moved up and down the set, working on the wheel, making a pot and then quashing it as she performed the story of Meena, a contemporary labourer, and Parvati, the goddess who created Ganesha with mud and the dirt from her own skin. As music and the narration played in the background, Vidya’s hands moved gracefully, and her eyes expressed, by turns, despair, anger, and the cheerfulness of Ganesha. A truly mesmerizing performance, both the pieces presented, Manthan and Lives of Clay drew on mythology, creative storytelling, and Indian classical dance forms to come up with a fresh work of performance art.

“More than a mere showcase of performances, SAF is a dynamic exploration of the multidisciplinary art landscape. Here, tradition meets innovation, and the performing arts become a living, breathing testament to the limitless possibilities of human creativity, ” said Smriti Rajgarhia, director, Serendipity Arts Foundation and Festival.

At one of the workshops, Goa’s Coconut Vinegar: A Comparative Tasting of a Forgotten Culinary Gem, curated by Chef Thomas Zacharias and The Locavore Team, which promotes conscious eating, Hansel Vaz, founder of the feni distillery Fazenda Cazulo, introduced vinegar tasting to participants. He spoke at length about the significance of coconut vinegar and how integral it was to the culinary traditions of local Catholic homes. In the past, every household made coconut vinegar through a simple fermentation process. Toddy, left to react with airborne yeast, was fermented to the desired flavour and stayed unspoiled for a year. During the colonial period, Goa used vinegar as currency for trading with the West. It was used to preserve food sent overseas. However, the introduction of the exotic cashew by the Portuguese overshadowed coconut and its products. Today, mass-producing coconut vinegar is tricky due to uneven toddy fermentation, which results in varied flavours. Vaz stressed the need for its revival.

Another workshop organised in the Old GMC Building’s lawn by Nila House, a label from Jaipur dedicated to natural dye and handloom traditions, featured eco-printing with flowers. Big vessels filled with water, large bowls of rose and marigold petals, scissors, threads, and squares of white cotton cloth placed on a large wooden table gave the scene a romantic quality. Participants were encouraged to arrange flowers on the cloth squares according to their preferences, and then roll and tie it up. An hour later, everyone untied their individual pieces and dipped them in water to remove the flower residue. Pretty floral prints in purple and yellow emerged and were left to dry in the shade. Experimenting with natural materials in dyeing is a mindful process that yields beautiful results with flowers creating delicate transfer prints on fabric. A sustainable way to repurpose used flowers, eco-printing ensures that nothing is wasted even as the process results in beautiful prints. 

20 brands, mostly labels from Goa, featured at the Serendipity Mercado flea market curated by Bhagyashree Patwardhan, who brought together people passionate about sustainable lifestyles. Crowds thronged the stores for handicrafts, perfumes, jewellery, trinkets, fridge magnets, organic food, pickles and jams, wall hangings, pottery, and bags. A graduate of the National Institute of Design, throughout her 17-year career, Patwardhan has showcased items that are handcrafted, Indian-made, produced on a sustainable scale, and adhere to ethical practices. The brands that participated, including Little Wholesome Pantry, a Delhi-based Sustainable Cloud Kitchen, and EarthPoorna Foods, which facilitates sustainable development of farmers and LaFabrica Craft, FroggMag and MudSkippers Studio, Quinta Essentia Organic, Choose Kind, ASAII, and Oh Scrap! Madras — all of which are known for their eco-friendly approaches. Among others, CreativeDignity, Mog Assuni and Kissa-goi contribute to artistic expression and cultural preservation. Botanic Love, Blu Toad, Motley Brew, reCharkha EcoSocial, Beej, and Aami explore nature-inspired products; committed to conscious consumerism. Mon Ami Foundation, with its philanthropic endeavours and wholesome offerings, and Love Me Twice rounded out this collection united by a common theme: A dedication to making a positive impact on both individuals and the planet.

Another sustainable show, Bamboo: A Way of Living, curated by Sandeep Sangaru of Bengaluru-based Sangaru Design, was held at Samprah. Here, daily use items and bamboo installations were on display. These included head gear for the monsoon, tools for fishing, water bottles, benches, bicycles and looms. The installation was an effort to preserve the cultural heritage, especially of the Northeast and to appreciate the potential of bamboo. Experimental beam installations also illustrated the tensile strength of bamboo. “It’s a work-in-progress. They made the installation circular, woven in three dimensions to keep it lightweight instead of using heavy bamboo as structure bearing things,” says Sangaru, who began working with bamboo 20 years ago.

All in all, this edition of The Serendipity Arts Festival presented a range of unusual products and experiences that compelled visitors to reconsider their own approaches to rampant consumerism and develop a deeper regard for sustainable living even as they were amazed by the originality of the art on display.

Shireen Quadri is the editor of The Punch Magazine Anthology of New Writing: Select Short Stories by Women Writers.

The Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF), the extravaganza of arts and culture held in Goa from 15 to 23 December, has turned into one of the biggest interdisciplinary arts festivals in India. Open to all and with over a dozen venues hosting a gamut of events, it impels us to reflect on how and why art is created besides facilitating dialogue on various art practices, and fostering a spirit of enquiry. Indeed, the festival’s name itself is an ode to the idea of openness — to unexpected experiences.

“Returning to Goa for our annual celebration is not just a tradition, but a reaffirmation of our enduring commitment to nurturing the rich cultural diversity of India,” said Sunil Kant Munjal, the founder and patron of the Serendipity Arts Foundation. He added that this year’s edition focussed on giving South Asian artists a platform and on keeping inclusivity and sustainability at the heart of the programming. “The festival has independent and collaborative projects that highlight these features,” he said.

The venues included the Old GMC complex, Art Park, ESG complex, PWD building and Nagalli Hills. Besides these, River Raga, a classical singing performance, was held daily on a cruise which set off from the Santa Monica jetty allowing the audience to experience music against the picturesque backdrop of the sun setting in the Mandovi river. Other musical events included performances by tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, Indus Creed, Bollyjazz and Kabir Café, Neeraj Arya’s folk-fusion band that has created a sterling playlist out of the poetry of medieval mystic Kabir.

Held at The Foundry inside the Old GMC Building, Kahaniyon ka Manthan, a confluence of Kaavad Katha (the 400-year-old endangered oral tradition of storytelling from Rajasthan) and Mohiniyattam by theatre person Akshay Gandhi and Bharatanatyam dancer Divya Warrier, carried forward the spirit of co-creation and collaboration. Curated by choreographer and educationist Mayuri Upadhya, the contemporary reworking of the Kaavad, known as Maya, saw Akshay narrate stories, with Divya bringing them to life through her recital. 

“Stories can be found in various places — in libraries, performance spaces, hidden rooms of old buildings, the crowded parts of a new city, and even in the most deserted corners of the world,” Akshay said during his narration. Seated on an elevated platform fashioned like a wooden box with multiple doors, each of which depicted a different scene, the performance included him opening the doors as he moved on from one story to the next.

In Lives of Clay, a solo play at the Art Park,Bharatanatyam dancer and potter Vidya Thirunarayan enacted the stories of three women. The set that included a platform with a potter’s wheel and a staircase recalled a construction site. Thirunrayan moved up and down the set, working on the wheel, making a pot and then quashing it as she performed the story of Meena, a contemporary labourer, and Parvati, the goddess who created Ganesha with mud and the dirt from her own skin. As music and the narration played in the background, Vidya’s hands moved gracefully, and her eyes expressed, by turns, despair, anger, and the cheerfulness of Ganesha. A truly mesmerizing performance, both the pieces presented, Manthan and Lives of Clay drew on mythology, creative storytelling, and Indian classical dance forms to come up with a fresh work of performance art.

“More than a mere showcase of performances, SAF is a dynamic exploration of the multidisciplinary art landscape. Here, tradition meets innovation, and the performing arts become a living, breathing testament to the limitless possibilities of human creativity, ” said Smriti Rajgarhia, director, Serendipity Arts Foundation and Festival.

At one of the workshops, Goa’s Coconut Vinegar: A Comparative Tasting of a Forgotten Culinary Gem, curated by Chef Thomas Zacharias and The Locavore Team, which promotes conscious eating, Hansel Vaz, founder of the feni distillery Fazenda Cazulo, introduced vinegar tasting to participants. He spoke at length about the significance of coconut vinegar and how integral it was to the culinary traditions of local Catholic homes. In the past, every household made coconut vinegar through a simple fermentation process. Toddy, left to react with airborne yeast, was fermented to the desired flavour and stayed unspoiled for a year. During the colonial period, Goa used vinegar as currency for trading with the West. It was used to preserve food sent overseas. However, the introduction of the exotic cashew by the Portuguese overshadowed coconut and its products. Today, mass-producing coconut vinegar is tricky due to uneven toddy fermentation, which results in varied flavours. Vaz stressed the need for its revival.

Another workshop organised in the Old GMC Building’s lawn by Nila House, a label from Jaipur dedicated to natural dye and handloom traditions, featured eco-printing with flowers. Big vessels filled with water, large bowls of rose and marigold petals, scissors, threads, and squares of white cotton cloth placed on a large wooden table gave the scene a romantic quality. Participants were encouraged to arrange flowers on the cloth squares according to their preferences, and then roll and tie it up. An hour later, everyone untied their individual pieces and dipped them in water to remove the flower residue. Pretty floral prints in purple and yellow emerged and were left to dry in the shade. Experimenting with natural materials in dyeing is a mindful process that yields beautiful results with flowers creating delicate transfer prints on fabric. A sustainable way to repurpose used flowers, eco-printing ensures that nothing is wasted even as the process results in beautiful prints. 

20 brands, mostly labels from Goa, featured at the Serendipity Mercado flea market curated by Bhagyashree Patwardhan, who brought together people passionate about sustainable lifestyles. Crowds thronged the stores for handicrafts, perfumes, jewellery, trinkets, fridge magnets, organic food, pickles and jams, wall hangings, pottery, and bags. A graduate of the National Institute of Design, throughout her 17-year career, Patwardhan has showcased items that are handcrafted, Indian-made, produced on a sustainable scale, and adhere to ethical practices. The brands that participated, including Little Wholesome Pantry, a Delhi-based Sustainable Cloud Kitchen, and EarthPoorna Foods, which facilitates sustainable development of farmers and LaFabrica Craft, FroggMag and MudSkippers Studio, Quinta Essentia Organic, Choose Kind, ASAII, and Oh Scrap! Madras — all of which are known for their eco-friendly approaches. Among others, CreativeDignity, Mog Assuni and Kissa-goi contribute to artistic expression and cultural preservation. Botanic Love, Blu Toad, Motley Brew, reCharkha EcoSocial, Beej, and Aami explore nature-inspired products; committed to conscious consumerism. Mon Ami Foundation, with its philanthropic endeavours and wholesome offerings, and Love Me Twice rounded out this collection united by a common theme: A dedication to making a positive impact on both individuals and the planet.

Another sustainable show, Bamboo: A Way of Living, curated by Sandeep Sangaru of Bengaluru-based Sangaru Design, was held at Samprah. Here, daily use items and bamboo installations were on display. These included head gear for the monsoon, tools for fishing, water bottles, benches, bicycles and looms. The installation was an effort to preserve the cultural heritage, especially of the Northeast and to appreciate the potential of bamboo. Experimental beam installations also illustrated the tensile strength of bamboo. “It’s a work-in-progress. They made the installation circular, woven in three dimensions to keep it lightweight instead of using heavy bamboo as structure bearing things,” says Sangaru, who began working with bamboo 20 years ago.

All in all, this edition of The Serendipity Arts Festival presented a range of unusual products and experiences that compelled visitors to reconsider their own approaches to rampant consumerism and develop a deeper regard for sustainable living even as they were amazed by the originality of the art on display.

Shireen Quadri is the editor of The Punch Magazine Anthology of New Writing: Select Short Stories by Women Writers.