~ As anticipated, it was a flawless day of art and learning ~
Panaji, 17th December, 2016: Serendipity Arts Festival – India’s premier, curated, interdisciplinary arts festival that aims to change the way art is viewed in the country, saw a massive lineup of fascinating activities and eminent guests on the 2nd day.
The much-awaited festival provided the partakers various platforms to indulge in with full excitement and fervour. Following its intent to provide a perfect platform to all art enthusiasts (including those who are not art-educated), the day saw seamless movement across diverse art forms at signature venues along the river Mandovi.
The Adil Shah Palace played host to Photography exhibitions such as Old Homes, New Homelands – an exhibition based on the private collection of Arminio Rebiero. The photos exhibited aim to capture the Goan diaspora experience through photographs from their geographical clusters. Our Eyes, Our Stories is another exhibition which includes six qualified photographers from across the globe who, through their photography show the unique connect between man and nature, issues of identity, metaphysical realm of individual existence, and the grief of the rape survivors and victims in India.
The Spoken Word Project | Kommune by Roshan Abbas is the modern day take on the good old days of sitting around a campfire sharing stories. At a time when interactions primarily take place across screens, The Storytellers encourages people to look up and connect with one another by sharing personal experiences face to face, without inhibitions, and with honesty. Since 2015, The Storytellers has collected over 300 stories from across India and done 30 stage shows. The performers included Anoop K R, Roshan Abbas, Shamir Reuben, and Tess Joseph
A beautifully curated Craft exhibition – Indian Crafts: Traditions and Expressions brought to life folk and tribal arts and crafts. The Adil Shah Palace also witnessed Lucid Sleep. Curated by HH Art Spaces Foundation, it is a series of unique theatre performances by select artists who perform un-choreographed, unique pieces composed live, in-situ. Today’s performance Chotu Virtual Migration, dealt with the issue of migration, physical and imagined, across class and social divide. The artist made references to the folklore around Goa as a place where people come to be cleaned and refreshed by the sea and the sun, a place where social boundaries are crossed freely, and sexual or spiritual freedom is not compromised.
The Old GMC Compound hosted a very interesting workshop on Sanjhi Paper Cut with Mohan Verma. Tiny tots received a dose of craft education at the Camlin Children’s corner where they unleashed their creativity. Carrying forward the old tradition of postcards, Post Goa offered children the scaled canvas of a postcard to openly share their interpretation of the. This gave the children the freedom to share their ideas about their geographical region as well as their world.
The Mandovi Promenade hosted a photography workshop named – The Promenade of Express/Aspire an inclusive initiative by Samar S Jodha, with young photographers and even younger students from local schools highlighting education for the less privileged.
The second day of the festival was rounded up with musical and dance performances across the Kala Academy and D.B. Grounds. These included a specially curated performance by Sanjeev Bhargava, Pravaha – an extraordinary amalgamation of dance styles performed by Parwati Dutta and her troupe, Nrityaruta. The performance reflected upon the idea of life, preservation, and conservation using the river as a narrative.
On the other hand was a treat for lovers of classical music in the form of Living Traditions, a concert of Hindustani classical music curated by Shubha Mudgal. The performance featured Murad Ali, Kaushiki Chakraborty, and Mohammed Akram. The last show of the day was The Heart of Drums featuring Sidi Goma Tribe, Electronica and Big Drums ensemble.
The Serendipity Arts Festival has an enthralling line up of performances and exhibitions till the 23rd of December with something new being revealed each day for lovers of art to rediscover the artiste within.
