Goa gears up for a second edition of the Serendipity Arts Festival 2017

India’s cultural diversity showcased from 15 – 22 December at 11 different locations across Panaji
Goa, December 6, 2017: With just one week left to host a one-of-its-kind interdisciplinary arts festival, Serendipity Arts Trust addressed the media in Panaji at a press briefing at the legendary Adil Shah Palace along the banks of the river Mandovi. The briefing was graced by Mr.Siddharth Kuncalienker, former member of Goa Legislative Assembly; Shrinivas V.Dempo, Chairman, Dempo Group, Vivek Menezes, artist and columnist, George Wirsching, artist and custodian of wirching archive of Hindi cinema history and Swayan Chaudhuri, Managing Director & CEO – Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd and Mission Director – AMRUT & Executive Director, GSIDC.

Slated to commence on the 15th of December along the banks of the Mandovi River, Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) 2017 has grown monumentally since its inaugural edition last year. The second edition of the festival brings an array of cultural forms, diverse visual arts projects and exclusive theatre productions from renowned artists. This year’s festival brings together a large network of Indian and international artists across more than 70 genres and mediums, with 40 of them exclusively commissioned for SAF17.

The Festival will witness projects curated by eminent personalities like Lillete Dubey, Ranjit Barot, Shubha Mudgal, Prashant Panjiar and many more and is aimed at rebuilding and reviving India’s diverse and varied legacy of the arts. Viewing the success, it garnered last year, it is a testimony to the artists’ efforts in bringing forward such an exclusive talent pool to a national platform.

The programming will be dispersed across a mix of indoor and outdoor locations along the beautiful city of Panaji. These venues range from historic Portuguese structures to modernist marvels, and include both indoor and outdoor spaces. Audiences will get to engage with the arts in beautiful, carefully designed, immersive and often-unconventional settings. Most venues will be within walking distance of each other and the festival will provide transit/shuttle options. Urban interventions and public art projects will transform the city into a vibrant and open cultural space. The venues are Adil Shah Palace, Captain of the Port Jetty, Bento Miguel, PWD Complex, Children’s Park, Old GMC Complex, ESG, Kala Academy, DB Ground, Mandovi Promenade and Santa Monica Jetty.

Addressing the media, Ms. Smriti Rajgarhia, Director, Serendipity Arts Festival said, “Serendipity Arts Festival has gained much attention since our first edition last year, and we have galvanized the arts to gather more momentum than ever before. We hope to see a larger gathering of audiences this year, especially considering that Goa, with its diverse culture and international audience, is the perfect destination for such a large display of the arts.

The venues are seamlessly connected for surface transportation for all guests attending the festival, and we want to ensure that all our venues are accessible and reachable for everyone.

The artist line-up is incredibly exciting, and we hope to see this year’s festival build momentum for many years to come.”