Excited about the upcoming Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa? Want to know what the performances are that are taking place this year? Here is all about the performances that you can look forward to at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2022.
At Serendipity, witness diverse creative expressions from the region of South Asia. The performances are curated by Bickram Ghosh, Ehsaan Noorani, Quasar Thakore Padamsee, Mayuri Upadhya and Geeta Chandran.
The festival intends to bring together traditional and contemporary forms.
FROM GOA AT SERENDIPITY
Curated by Goa-based classical guitarist Shyamant Behal, Music in the Park features some of Goa’s finest musicians who will regale audiences with daily performances. You will come across a confluence of artists from diverse backgrounds who will underline the Goan spirit of Serendipity Arts Festival.
IN THE MUSIC SECTION
Curators Bickram Ghosh and Ehsaan Noorani will bring to you music concerts covering diverse genres such as classical, fusion, folk, indie pop, rock and more.
Bickram Ghosh, who is the music curator, intends to present some of the best fusion artists like A Shivamani, Taufiq Qureshi, Ricky Kej and others, across the 9 days of the festival.
Sufi-Folk Tales will see the coming together of Parwati Kumari and Folk singer Kalpana Patowary for the first time in a folk and qawwali jugalbandi.
RD Burman
Bickram Ghosh will also be paying tribute to ace music composer RD Burman through his project titled "The World of Pancham: An RD Burman Tribute". He will bring together a collection of songs and stories in memory of the legendary music director.
Look out for innovators like Sanjay Mondal who will lead a group of children through instruments made from scrap and waste material.
CURATION BY BICKRAM GHOSH
Speaking about the 5th edition, Bickram Ghosh said, “The festival has become an important platform for showcasing the Indian arts on a global scale.”
"While curating for the festival, there were two things to consider. Firstly, keeping the vast scale in mind. Secondly, keeping the variety in mind and taking both of these elements to create a bigger sound and put it into a format which makes the final outcome more festival friendly, something that I have been working at for several years now," he added.
NORTH-EAST INDIA ARTISTS AT SERENDIPITY
As India celebrates the 75th year of Independence, the Serendipity Arts Festival aims to focus on bringing regional expressions to the fore. For this, musician Ehsaan Noorani will be taking the mandate of inclusion and celebration of diverse regional voices a step further with his project "Spotlight: Indie & Folk Music Showcase".
The idea of the project is to promote talent from North-East India by featuring artists like Avora Records, Trance Effect, Tetseo Sisters, Rudy Wallang & Family Band, Takar Nabam and Abdon Mech.
ARTIST FROM NORTH-EAST
Curator of Serendipity Arts Festival Ehsaan Noorani said, "The North-East has always been on my radar. It was during the lockdown, when I was going through my Instagram, that I came across a lot of artists from the North-East, and realised that their talent was significantly noteworthy."
He then added that he realised that these bands/singers mostly tour in the North-East itself and sometimes do events in some pockets of Delhi and Mumbai. "The pan-India appeal was missing. I thought that this would be a good platform for them to showcase their material to thousands of people who would be visiting the festival,” said Noorani.
INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS
The programming this year will give weightage to interdisciplinarity, which will be further explored through their projects, intersecting dance, drama, music and storytelling.
Speaking about the curation process, Geeta Chandran said, "This is indeed a unique opportunity for me to bring to the festival truly interdisciplinary work since the festival gives curators complete freedom to explore creative forms of expression. Puppeteers with dancers, theatre artists with dancers, different dance forms dialoguing with each other, all very exciting and fresh.”
RUMI, MAHABHARATA AND MORE...
Chandran’s curation will include projects like "Game of Dice" from the Mahabharata, a dance production that draws from kathakali, Chhau and contemporary dance with its creativity and experimentation.
"Rumiyana", a musical puppet theatre performance by Ishara Puppet Theatre will synergise puppets, actors and dancers, to create a multimedia performance with music, animations and digital projections, and recreate the works of the Sufi poet and philosopher Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi.
A thematic presentation of "Mohiniyattam, Panchabhutam: Elements of Existence" curated by Chandran in a recital format by Neena Prasad will explore the theme of the five elements (air, water, fire, earth and space) to showcase the process of creation and the connection of the five elements to every living creature.
THE PROJECTS
A line-up of immersive and interdisciplinary projects curated by Quasar Thakore Padamsee such as "Pah-Lak", based on real stories from the 2008 Lhasa riots and a play titled Made in Ilva, based on real-life testimonies and poems from the workers at the Ilva steel plant in Taranto.
Exploring the post-pandemic transition from the virtual to the physical, choreographer, educationist and creative entrepreneur Mayuri Upadhya will focus on the engaging and immersive nature of the arts that delves deeper into culture and its stories.
"On the Move" will feature young dancers from around India with a focus on contemporary dance forms by Latha Srinivasa, Vicky Bhartaya, Nilava Sen and Promita Karfa who will premiere their work at the festival.
Speaking about her curation, Mayuri Upadhya said, “This year, I am very excited to bring world-class Indian acts to the festival. Our programming is a perfect mix of immersive, experimental and inclusive. Our programme has spectacular creations by the veteran Madhavi Mudgal, international choreographer Ashley Lobo, the mythology musical 18 Days by Sharath and Bharat Prabhat, a new take on Ramayana in Shruti and Parshawanath Upadhye's Abha, and award -winning contemporary works by Surjit Nongmeikapam and Priyabrat Panigrahi.”