Serendipity Arts Festival is Delhi’s tryst with creative diversity

After its successful Goa edition, Serendipity Arts Festival has come to the Capital. With over 300 performing artists, the 11-day fest is going to be a treat for the art and culture lovers of the city.

After bidding adieu to the azure waters of Goa, the Serendipity Arts Festival has arrived in the Capital with its first edition. The 11-day fest will feature many artists from different art forms including visual, performing and culinary arts. The organisers of the fest are planning to take it across Indian cities and even globally.

Ayona Bhaduri will perform an Odissi recital.

Smriti Rajgarhia, director of the fest, says, “We didn’t want the projects to end with Goa. We have consciously stayed away from a theme because it could potentially isolate projects which need to be brought to the forefront.” She adds that some of the pivotal points that the fest aims to highlight are reviving patronage, experimenting with new forms of representation, creating cross border conversations and supporting talent.

Tom Alter will perform at the festival in his play Dr Khanna.

Through crafts and photography exhibition, design installations, dance performances, a storytelling session and a theatre performance, the festival aims to demonstrate creative diversity of India. Salil Mukhiya, the storyteller from Darjeeling, says, “My project, Eight Moon, documents the traditions of tribal cultures of the Eastern Himalayas. With the advent of the internet, aural literature is getting lost. And most of our tribal stories are not even documented. Festivals like these, provide an opportunity to represent the same.”

An amazing confluence of performances at the festival will include Odissi and Kuchipudi recitals by Ayona Bhaduri and Amrita Lahiri; with Srinibas Satapathy at the flute and carnatic vocals by Sudha Raghuraman. On how performing in the Capital is different, Bhaduri says, “Delhi means politics and power. It’s in this city that decisions are taken, which transform lives — make or break people. So it is always a challenge to perform in this city. To me, every performance is a revelation — a discovery of self through my art.”

Divya Arora, who is performing in actor Tom Alter’s play, Dr Khanna, says, “It’s an honour to work with Tom. After the Goa edition, there is a pressure to perform better, for an artist is always remembered by her last performance.”

Catch it Live

What Serendipity Arts Festival

Where: Bikaner House, Pandara Road

When: April 6 to 16

Timings: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm

Nearest Metro Station: Khan Market at the Violet Line