Shubha Mudgal, Lillete Dubey among 35 curators to lead 10th edition of Serendipity Arts Festival

New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) Serendipity Arts Festival will mark its 10th edition this year with a multidisciplinary programming curated by a total of 35 curators, including singer Shubha Mudgal, actor Lillete Dubey, dancer Geeta Chandran, musician Ehsaan Noorani, food historian Odette Mascarenhas, and chef Manu Chandra.

The "largest-ever edition" of the festival will take place in Panaji, Goa, from December 12 to 21 across heritage venues in Panjim including the Old GMC Complex, Art Park, Promenade and Gazebo, Kala Academy, Excise Building, Directorate of Accounts Building, Azad Maidan, Santa Monica Jetty, Yoga Promenade Jetty, and The Arena at Nagali Hills Ground, the Serendipity Arts Foundation has said.

Marking a decade of "celebrating the arts and fostering creativity, collaboration, and inclusivity", the 10th edition will feature artists across disciplines like visual arts, dance, music, theatre, design, and culinary innovation.

Sunil Kant Munjal, founder and patron of Serendipity Arts, said that the festival was imagined as a place "where canvasses, workshops, stages, cuisines, cultures, and audiences could come together in a seamless mix".

"We also visualised a platform where technology and tradition could blend and reflect on our reality. At that time, it seemed like a difficult, if not an impossible, goal. It is a delight to see that a decade later, this very place has become a thriving city of ideas where we are not merely celebrating art—we are redrawing its map and reaffirming our belief that when the arts come together, society moves forward," he said in a statement.

The Visual Arts section will be curated by cultural theorist Ranjit Hoskote, artist duo Thukral and Tagra and large-scale conceptual artist Sudarshan Shetty.

Mumbai-based curator and writer Veeranganakumari Solanki, known for her narrative-driven practice spanning public and private spaces, will take the visitors on an interesting site with her artistic interventions, while curator-critic Vidya Shivadas will curate exhibitions based on pedagogical and material experimentations.

The Dance section will have curators including dancer Geeta Chandran, founder of Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts Jayachandran Palazhy, writer and dance practitioner Ranjana Dave, and dancer Tanusree Shankar. Dave’s curation based on dance and movement will focus on a wide range of accessibility needs, while Palazhy will curate projects that explore the strength of human connections, the concept of influence, and daily urban challenges through AI interventions, visual installations and interactive performances.

Aimed to ignite the socio, political and cultural consciousness of society, the Theatre section will be curated by playwright, director, and filmmaker Mahesh Dattani, who is known for bringing contemporary issues to the stage will curate an Ambedkarite opera, along with Anuradha Kapur, who will put spotlight on the 180-year-old rich legacy of Marathi theatre.

Theatre director Sankar Venkateswaran will bring a classical touch to his curatorial work around a Koodiyattam act which will reflect on the themes of justice, power, and love in an unequal world. The other curators in this section also include popular actor-theatre director Lillete Dubey, and theater actor-director Quasar Thakore Padamsee.

The Music section will have a lineup of curators like Ehsaan Noorani, Bickram Ghosh, Aneesh Pradhan, Ranjit Barot, Shubha Mudgal and Zubin Balaporia. Balaporia and Noorani will curate a performance blending the blues, funk and jazz.

Barot with Balaporia will curate a musical tribute to the iconic tabla player and composer Zakir Hussain. Pradhan and Mudgal’s curatorial performance will put together a percussion act spotlighting folk instruments.

“As we step into our 10th year, Serendipity Arts Festival remains committed to creating spaces for artists, audiences, and communities to meet in meaningful and inclusive ways. With a stellar line-up of curators and an expanded set of grants and initiatives, we hope this edition catalyses new ideas, questions and connections that continue to energise the arts in South Asia," Smriti Rajgarhia, director, Serendipity Arts Foundation and Festival said.

The Craft section will be curated by ceramic artist Kristine Michael, and textile designer/artist Rashmi Varma who is known for exploring identity, memory, and gesture through the language of handmade fabric.

Art historian and craft researcher Anjana Somany will curate a project exploring the subterranean worlds of step-wells with a craft showcase. Designer Sandeep Sangaru will spotlight Kashmiri crafts in his curation.

Artist and environmentalist Ravi Agarwal, author-curator Rahaab Allana, and documentary photographer Prashant Panjiar will be among the curators of the Photography section.

While Allana will curate an exhibition of image-oriented works from the Indian subcontinent and Arab peninsula, Panjiar’s curation will spotlight various occupational communities from Goa.

The Culinary curators including Odette Mascarenhas, Rahul Akerkar, Thomas Zacharias and The Locavore will create a sensorial experience that will extend beyond taste and smell. The collective Edible Issues focussed on Indian food systems, will curate projects that probe the cultural perceptions of aroma, as well as those around climate change’s effect on livestock and pastoral communities.

Influential Chef Manu Chandra will pay an ode to old Goan tavernas in his curation. Sommelier-restaurateur Prahlad Sukhantar will spotlight India's diverse salt traditions in his curation.

Writer and disability campaigner Salil Chaturvedi will curate acts led by deaf and mute artists, workshops tailored to audiences with special needs, and create an inclusive space like 'Studio Me' under the Accessibility section. PTI MAH MAH MAH