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Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Serendipity Arts Residency artists present collage of tales, transformation, and intimacy
New Delhi, Ningkhan Keishing looks at the tall three-legged "sculptural folktale" that he has created and is transported back to his home in Manipur, where sitting around the Lusivi, the wood stove, his mother would tell him a "Phunga Wari", a traditional folk tale. Serendipity Arts Residency artists present collage of tales, transformation, and intimacy At the culmination of three-month Serendipity Arts Residency, Keishing is one of the five artists to showcase his work here for a week-long multidisciplinary exhibition that explores the idea of memory, transformation, intimacy, sexuality and identities. The 29-year-old Keishing from Manipur has pulled out from his memories the traditional wood stove and given it a large ceramic interpretation, verging on the abstract, titled "Phunga Wari" , as a vessel for memory, storytelling, and intergenerational wisdom. "It's like a fire place, where people gather around and share stories. The elders of the house tell tales. They narrate folk tales and stuff. It's a warm kind of feeling. I tried to create that and I want to create this kind of folk tale that already exists in the tradition and it is vanishing today," the ceramicist told PTI. The sculpture is also a call to one of the stories his mother would tell him where the three legs of the stove are represented by the mother, the father, and the spirit. "Like a song passed down through generations, this piece holds nostalgia and imagination in equal measure. I want people to pause before this abstract form and wonder - what is it? What does it mean? I want them to feel, even without words, the story my mother once shared," he said. The eighth edition of the Open Studio exhibition, running from August 2-8, is part of the Serendipity Arts Foundation's year-long lead up to the 10th edition of Serendipity Arts Festival, to take place in Panjim, Goa, from December 12-21. The studio space was shared by residents: Keishing, Anishaa Tavag, Anshumaan Sathe, Malavika Bhatia, Valia Russo, and programmer-in-residence Harshada Vijay. While Keishang looks at memory and traditions, Bhatia in "Archive of Impossible Exologies" reflects on their relationship with Schizophyllum commune, a resilient fungal species, and weaves together a narrative through colonial archives, living fungal cultures, and a living text. The deeply personal collaboration with the mushroom has resulted in decomposing installations that respond to touch, breath, and time. Bhatia has also attempted to create a mycelial book that grows and rots and is subject to constant transformation. "It's a relationship that I have had with this fungus for many years and it has helped me understand the world a lot better. I have created a living text with it, I have created sculptures, spore prints of it, and just kind of think through how mycelium, which is basically the body of a fungus, gives us a different model of how we think of memory," the 31-year-old forager said. The fungus, which can be commonly found across the world, has also made Bhatia connect with a place that would have been a strange setting otherwise similar to finding a kin at a new place. "When I am in a new place where I am having a difficult time, and if I see it I feel settled that my kin is here. Someone I know is here," he added. Anshumaan Sathe has delved on gender identity and sexual fantasies in their showcase, "Come Play With Me". It is a series of intimate portraits emerging from conversations, letters, and sketching workshops with fellow trans people with an objective of normalising trans bodies and their sexualities. "The larger mainstream narrative is about how we are having so much unnatural sex and there is a lot of shouting about that, there is very little meaningful conversation. For trans people, our body is something that we create and it can often feel like something that doesn't belong to us," the 25-year-old said. The week-long exhibition looks at masculinity and desire through dance in Anishaa Tavag's performance piece "Hi Bi Kadlekai", and investigates the overflow of digital images and the psychic residue they leave behind in Valia Russo's "Pediluve". While Russo's work confronts the image-fatigue with acts of filtering and fragmentation, Tavag's dance reflects on fluid identity and the shapeshifting nature of desire, drawing from childhood stereotypes of Bollywood heroes. Programmer-in-Residence Harshada Vijay said that at the heart of this year's curatorial thread is the idea of "chance", who observed early into the residency that all residents were engaging, whether consciously or intuitively, with the unknown: letting materials dictate form, inviting others into their processes, and opening up their work to the unpredictable. "Chance became the quiet anchor of the residency. It revealed itself in experiments, in serendipitous meetings between mediums and artists, and in the space between control and surrender," she said. The week-long showcase will feature a series of performances, walkthroughs, workshops, and conversations that invite the public to engage deeply with the residents' evolving practices. The open studio will come to an end on August 8. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Time of India
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Serendipity Arts residents' tryst with chance, artistry and transformation
The Open Studio is not just a showcase of artistic output, but a celebration of dynamicity, vulnerability, and artistic companionship The Serendipity Arts Foundation is alive with the energy of emerging artists and lovers of artistic experiments, as it kicked off its Open Studio, a weeklong showcase for the Serendipity Arts Residency 2025, running through August 8. Billed as a 'constellation of images, ideas, textures and emotions,' the Open Studio offers more than a glimpse into the minds of six residents, Anishaa Tavag, Anshumaan Sathe, Malavika Bhatia, Ningkhan Keishing, Valia Russo, and Programmer-in-Residence Harshada Vijay, who have immersed themselves in a three-month journey of experimentation and collaboration in the eighth edition of the Residency, which is an annual flagship for cultivating new artistic voices. Open Studio offers more than a glimpse into the minds of six talented residents - Ningkhan Keishing, Malavika Bhatia, Anshumaan Sathe, Anishaa Tavag, Valia Russo and Programmer-in-Residence Harshada Vijay Behind this curation was the theme: chance. 'Chance became the quiet anchor of the residency,' shares Harshada Vijay, Programmer-in-Residence, reflecting the spirit of risk and openness that united this cohort. Over shared meals and studio walls, artists meandered between disciplines, letting materials and serendipity guide the way. 'The Residency programme has always been a space for discovery for the artists and for us,' says Smriti Rajgarhia, Director, Serendipity Arts. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like World's 25 Best Cities to Live In Learn More Undo 'This year's residents remind us that artistic practice is as much about vulnerability and generosity as it is about creativity. What emerges from their work is not just individual expression, but evidence of a thriving creative ecosystem. The Foundation hopes to nurture: artistic practices that are brave, generous, and deeply rooted in context. " Here's what took form in the past three months: Come Play With Me by Anshumaan Sathe Anshu's project is equal parts intimate and unapologetic, a series of tender portraits created in dialogue with fellow trans folks. Emerging from letters, oral conversations, and sketching workshops, these portraits aren't merely visual studies, they're love letters that reclaim joy, desire, and the act of being seen, infusing the space with humour and honesty. Archive of Impossible Exologies by Malavika Bhatia Archive of Impossible Exologies by Malavika Bhatia (as MycoDyke) Teaming up with the resilient fungus Schizophyllum commune, M has created living installations, decomposing, responsive to touch, breath, and time. Their project weaves together a Punjabi riddle about mushrooms, colonial archives, living fungal cultures, and the displacement of ancestral memory. The centrepiece was a 'mycelial book', made of agar agar and mycelium, which grows and rots. About the installations and the work, they say, "All of this started with foraging. It (Fungi) really has a mind of its own. I haven't done this alone," quipped M, while interacting with curious visitors. Come Play With Me by Anshumaan Sathe Hi Bi Kadlekai by Anishaa Tavag Through dance, Tavag explores the play and performance of masculinity—a shapeshifting exploration inspired by Bollywood heroes and personal longing. Vulnerable yet playful, her movement-based installation asks: What does masculinity look like, and who gets to inhabit it? Her performance blurs the line between fantasy and embodiment, prompting viewers to reflect on their cultural scripts. "I look at what makes the male star, what actions create that aura around the male star. This was not about disavowing femininity, but embracing what is masculine. I feel masculinity is not limited to men," she remarked, while interacting with the audience post her performance. Hi Bi Kadlekai by Anishaa Tavag Phunga Wari (Lusivi) by Ningkhan Keishing Rooted in his Tangkhul Naga heritage, Keishing's large ceramic installation reimagines the traditional three-legged wood stove of his childhood, each leg symbolising a parent and the spirit. With stories passed down from his mother, the piece becomes a vessel for memory and intergenerational wisdom, dynamically blending indigenous practice with contemporary abstraction. Pédiluve by Valia Russo French artist Valia Russo draws us into the anxiety of digital excess with an installation that fuses photography, urban waste, and botanical matter. Named after the French ritual of cleansing before entering sanctity, his work is a poetic filter for our image-saturated lives, generating hybrids that float between ruin and renewal, and challenging us to question how we process today's visual overload. Pédiluve by Valia Russo One can expect work in process, performative experiments and dialogues with artists. Visit, don't miss the chance ! Pics: Serendipity Arts Foundation
Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Serendipity Arts Festival turns 10
Photo artist Dayanita Singh often credits tabla maestro Zakir Hussain as her mentor. She was still a student at the National Institute of Design when she first encountered him. Travelling with him and his peers through the '80s led to her first book, a graduation project, in 1986. Over the years, she photographed him innumerable times, as he became an intrinsic part of her life and art. Now months after he passed away in December 2024, Singh is paying him a tribute in Birmingham. 'Zakir Hussain Maquette' is one of the several highlights of the Serendipity Arts Festival Mini Edition that is on in Birmingham till May 26. The outreach is part of the multidisciplinary festival's tenth anniversary celebrations. Expanding its global outreach, over the next few months, it will travel to 10 cities, including Dubai. Smriti Rajgarhia, Director, Serendipity Arts Foundation, states, 'As we mark the 10th milestone edition of Serendipity Arts Festival, we see this not just as a moment to celebrate, but as an opportunity to evolve. This edition is a way of looking back at a decade of building one of South Asia's largest multidisciplinary arts festivals while taking it forward in the world, to new regions and audiences… While selecting international locations, we were identifying cities where vibrant communities, dynamic public culture, and thriving creative ecosystems intersect.' Birmingham and Dubai, Rajgarhia notes, became 'natural choices'. 'Birmingham has a rich artistic legacy with iconic cultural venues and a significant history in the performing arts. Added to this is a large South Asian diaspora… Later this year, we plan to travel with a slice of the Festival to Dubai. In the last few years, the burgeoning arts scene in the UAE has attracted art collectors, patrons, local visitors, international tourists and galleries, making it a meaningful choice for us to have a presence there.' Being held at Birmingham City University, the festival also involves its students, who are participating in the workshops and engaging with curators and artists. At the heart of the Mini Edition's programme is 'Thumri in the Chamber', exploring the layered beauty of the semi-classical Hindustani vocal form that embodies poetic storytelling, improvisation and emotional depth. The musical line-up also includes Portuguese-Goan music by Zubin Balaporia and Nadia Rebelo, and ghazals and Bollywood classics by Priyanka Barve and Sarang Kulkarni. A documentary directed by Sumantra Ghosal on Zakir Hussain's musical journey will be screened along with a curated selection of films on Indian music by Dharmesh Rajput. Also on display will be 'Eternal Echoes', archival images of Indian musical instruments from the collection of Sunil Kant Munjal, curated by Helen Acharya, 'highlighting the craftsmanship and cultural legacy of Indian music'. Rajgarhia states, 'The curation for Birmingham was very context-driven. In Goa, we have the luxury of time and scale with 10 days, 20-plus venues and over 150 projects; we're able to build a truly immersive experience that spills into the city. In contrast, the Mini Edition in Birmingham is a more focussed, four-day format, and so the approach had to be precise and layered. We curated projects that reflect the values of SAF — interdisciplinary, experimentation, and accessibility, but also ones that could resonate deeply with local and diasporic audiences.' While Goa will continue to be the flagship edition, the tenth anniversary year will also see select programming in Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai. 'We like to explore how the differences in each city, its character, diverse people, artistic collaborations, and eclectic socio-cultural influences shape our festival. Rather than simply touring with the same set of events, each city will have different programmes, some of which have been showcased in the past. They're curated in the context of the location. Some core projects may travel from one city to another, especially those that can adapt across formats. But each edition will also include region-specific collaborations and programming. The goal is not uniformity, but cultural resonance,' adds Rajgarhia.
India Today
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
A decade of Serendipity Arts Festival
In a first, Serendipity Arts Festival—one of South Asia's most recognised multidisciplinary arts festivals—makes its way to Birmingham for a Mini Edition. Scheduled from May 23-26, the event—organised in collaboration with Birmingham City University (BCU)—is a concentrated yet immersive experience of the flagship festival held in Goa every year. 'The Mini Edition is an opportunity to engage with the Festival's spirit in new geographies and forge new cultural connections leading up to the milestone celebration in December,' says Smriti Rajgarhia, Director, Serendipity Arts Foundation.
