Photography takes centerstage spanning history, fine art, fashion, self-portraits and more
Panaji, 18th December, 2016: Serendipity Arts Festival – India’s premier, curated, interdisciplinary arts festival that aims to mainstream arts in the country, had a host of different activities for art lovers and enthusiasts to indulge in on day 3 of the Festival.
Unfolding across multiple locations in Goa, the cultural melting pot of India, the one of a kind, multi-disciplinary festival celebrates diversity with a focus on music, dance, theatre, crafts, visual arts, and culinary arts.
The day began with Estuary Talks held at Adil Shah Palace which intended to look at the different ways arts are demarcated and the problems that come with such disciplinary boundaries. The all-day conclave had 5 sessions with discussions around using theatre as an effective medium for bringing about social change; the coming together of art, science and technology and the impact it has on our lives; transference of legacy through craft; and art & use of varied media to unite, educate and possibly change public opinion. Renowned names and artists including Madhusree Dutta, Anuradha Kapur, Sanyukta Saha, Asim Waqif, Prateek Raja, Abhishek Hazra, Laila Tyabji, Ritu Sethi, Kalam Patua, Subodh Kerkar and Deepan Sivaraman were on the panel of the conclave.
Padma Shree Award winner, Goan fashion designer Wendell Rodricks turned project curator for the Serendipity Arts Festival, to put together a 10-piece collection called ‘Ten Histories: Goan Costume’ that were not mere museum pieces. Each mesmerizing exhibit had a story to tell – about Goan mythology, Gods, people, customs, traditions, festivals and folklore. The objects on display included mesmerizing historical items such as mother goddess photograph, a 17th century gold cross, a Narkasur effigy, Shantadurga & Kunbi saris, a Pano Bhaju garment, 1930’s Womenswear Lingerie, a Muslim turban, Edwin Pinto shoes and zottim sandals and a 7th century Buddhist sculpture.
The Adil Shah Palace restored to its former glory, also had on display photographs captured in the 1970s by noted fashion and fine-art photographer, the late Prabuddha Dasgupta. The rare B&W images – which have never been displayed in Goa before today – capture the cultural dilemma faced by the Catholic community in Goa in the years following the state’s freedom from Portuguese rule.
Lucid Sleep, a project curated by Goa’s HH Art Spaces, was part of the performances at the Palace. A multitude of live performances by Uriel Barthelemi, Bhisaji Gadekar and Yasmin Jahan Nupur each highlighting the artist’s unique practice and visual conceptual imagination, created a parallel world of within these spaces.
The Postcard Project leveraged what is probably the country’s oldest way of communication – the postcard – as a means for Goa’s young children to openly share with the world, their vision of the state.
In tandem with the times, the Festival unveiled a unique Selfie Project at the Old GMC compound today. The initiative crowd-sourced over 1,50,000 individual images showing the relationship between technology and art.
There’s more that awaits the cultural aficionado as the Serendipity Arts Festival is on till 23rd December 2016, at locations across the city.
