Arts in quarantine: Serendipity Arts Foundation launches new virtual festival

In an attempt to continue bringing experiences in the arts during the ongoing nationwide lockdown, the Serendipity Arts Foundation has curated a virtual festival featuring a range of multi-disciplinary presentations from a cross section of art forms.

The offerings will see a diverse mix of archived and aggregated content, presented through webinars, performances, readings and workshops, organisers said.

The digital initiative SAF 2020 x You, starting Saturday, will be hosted on the different social media platforms of the festival, supported by a new, specially designed webpage, and will be evenly spread across at least five days, they added.

Highlights include special sessions by stalwarts in the fields of music, visual arts, dance, theatre and more, including tabla virtuoso Bickram Ghosh, drummer Ranjit Barot, music director Sneha Khanwalkar, photographer Ravi Agarwal, contemporary dancer Astad Deboo and curators Vidya Shivadas and Rahaab Allana.

"At a time when people across all nations are hurting, and lives have been disrupted, the arts bring us together and helps us stay connected.

"SAF 2020 x YOU celebrates the human spirit, the ability to support each other, and to come out on top of any crisis with the human spirit and humanity intact. We hope this will brighten your day and give you reason for joy," Sunil Kant Munjal, Founder Patron, Serendipity Arts Foundation, said.

Both the aggregated and original content for the virtual festival have been bracketed into four segments Exhibitions, Performances, Workshops and Readings/Resources, which will be shared by the partners, affiliates, as well as the past and present curators of the festival, along with a combination of popular content available from public sources.

Among other attractions will be special readings and storytelling sessions for children from fables and children's literature, by theatre personality Arundhati Nag's Ranga Shankara Theater.

The programming will also include several workshops on theatre, music and culinary arts for viewers to participate in and rejoice from the comfort of their homes.

"At Serendipity Arts Foundation, we have been inspired by the resilience and strength of the arts community, in offering kindness, hope and faith through the arts to the wider public, even as we collectively experience these strenuous times. We would like to thank the arts community for their efforts in keeping the arts alive and roaring, through this rough patch and bring some comfort to people," Smriti Rajgarhia, Director of the foundation and festival, said.

The official hashtag of the digital festival is #SAFeFestival.