Venue: Bikaner House
Date: April 6 to 16, 2017

Serendipity Arts Festival traveled from the beaches of Goa and landed with a big wave at Bikaner House in the capital. With hundreds of performers, this 11-day Art Festival brought a variety of art and culture to Delhi during April 6 to 16, 2017.The Festival was organised by the Serendipity Arts Trust.

A melange of visual and performing arts, Serendipity Arts Festival also blended traditional with contemporary. In fact it broke the barrier and juxtaposed various crafts together to create a unique arts festival. Due to our perennially preoccupied schedules we attended this festival on last day which happened to be a Sunday. The parking at Bikaner House was a breeze and we instantly fell in love with green surroundings and the beautiful architecture of the building.

As soon as we entered the exhibition area we saw an installation called “Chakraview” – an abstract installation that covered one side of a hall, made of hundreds of mirrors and painted circular discs with kitschy artwork and text. It took us a minute to realise that by entering this area, we have also become a part of the installation. On the other side was a video room with blue lights and a continuously running video about arts and artisans.

Outside this area was a photo exhibition which was an outcome of a photography workshop with school students. Most of the photos were about daily objects and it looked like an experiment in the art of photography to find a story in regular and mundane.

Outside this area was the beautiful courtyard that reminded us of Anandgram on Mehrauli Road. This area was dedicated to exhibition “Indian Crafts – Tradition and Expression“. A few terracotta statues, tie & die, Bandhni and Bandhej artworks, Cast Iron crafts of Chattisgarh, artwork made in cutwork and contemporary looking Krishna made the shutterbugs glued to the area. An autorickshaw, a bike and a bullock cart, all made of cane, were examples of traditional craft being given a cool contemporary twist.

Serendipity Arts Festival not just showcased Indian visual arts but also included performing art events like theatre, storytelling and dance. We hope the Serendipity Arts Festival travels to all states of the country and comes back to Delhi way bigger and richer.