Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa: Inclusive of arts and cultures, yet exclusive of local artists

One level up the historical building of Old GMC in Panjim is the visual arts and photography, which continue to be an important part of the 10-year-old festival, like in previous years, even in 2025. “I have come from the south (Goa) to see this,” says Kielle Menezes, who had come to see the visual arts from Margao.” The section also includes the journey of ‘Ressurge Goa’, a Goan periodical and newspaper that was quite active during the region's freedom struggle against Portuguese rule.

The 10-day festival in the coastal state of Goa maintained an impressive display this time, out of which what stands out is the emphasis on an array of local cultures and rituals on display. In the old GMC complex building, the Namada craft of Kashmir, which is believed to have reached there through the central Asian influences, showed how it adapted to the local wool and climate. Also from Kashmir is the Walnut Wood Carving in one of the rooms in the building.

Started ten years ago, SAF received a good applause from the art curators, artists and the cultural critics alike — a reputation it aimed to maintain even in the following years, and since there has never been a very drastic shift to its programming — which is as diverse as it can be — it is, thus, difficult to navigate for the root causes.

The festival, which is spread across Panjim, also catches attention for its artist lineups. Divya Dawar, a backpacker traveller from Ludhiana who has been in Goa for two months now, says, as we take the shuttle from the Old GMC Complex to the Art Park, “I have been living in Goa, and had come to Panjim for the International Film Festival (held in November) when I came to know of SAF. The line-ups were so interesting that it made me come back from the south,” she says. 

The Art Park is hosting live music, with pop-ups and open-air performances, kick-started here with the electrifying performances of Gauley Bhai, a contemporary Folk-Rock quartet formed in 2017 by four musicians who belong to the Himalayan regions. “When I was a child, I thought those were hills; it was only when I grew up, I realised those were tea plantations,” says Veecheet, the lead vocal artist from the band sharing stories from the homeland to a cosmopolitan audience at Panjim’s Art Park, some of whom had come to see the band on the recommendation of their friends. 

The large-scale concert at Nagalli Hills Arena is witnessing musicians for both folk and international musical styles in focus. It started on the first day with Ehsaan Noorani’s curation of old school rhythmic Jazz “with pointed observations about life, love, and politics in India” — a phrase used by the team which, surprisingly, Noorani remained unaware of.

On being asked to define such an intersection of politics with Jazz, Noorani says that he is sure politics exists in all spheres of life in India, but neither does it have an interest in it, nor was he aware of what it entails in the performance, which was curated by him. It is later, at the concert, that the artists highlight how one of their Jazz performances is influenced by the inclination towards the left theorists like Karl Marx, as well as Adam Smith, in their college days!

While such concerts still witness the majority of the locals in the audience with a mix of cosmopolitan crowd, it is only a matter of surprise as to how the ticketed sessions and performances like the ones at the theatre in the old GMC Building have a restricted audience limited to either foreign tourists or elderly Christians from Goa. 

Ironically, these performances in question are the line-ups from the third day that includes classical music and dance from South India (carnatic) and Odissi Pallavi, which makes one question who is the art being created for, is it even reaching the right audience or such highly-priced performing arts remain restricted to those who can afford it, even if they don’t understand them or have much to contribute to. 

“I have not paid yet, but if anything is interesting I come across, I will definitely pay for the performances as well,” Divya Dawar, but immediately adding, “But there is just so much to explore for free too.” Kielle Menezes, a young viewer, denies paying for any event. 

However, the fact that the festival includes the art forms from across the country is its continuous legacy of being inclusive, at least. The above-mentioned performance used cloud as a metaphor in a mix of Kathak and contemporary to portray the expectations and desire whose core value remained: “The truth of love must be sold within.” 

On the other hand, the other one experimented with Odissi Pallavi with Carnatic (violin) — both of which have artistic tension as art forms — along with Hindostani Bansuri in one piece, which shows the gravity of the cultural importance given to the arts in the festival. 

From the west of Odisha, the SAF picks up the Uttarakhand tradition of Ramman, a folk experience curated by Geeta Chandran, which is an offshoot of a devotional movement that continues to be performed as an annual ritual ceremony, to date mostly in Saloor-Dungra and Dungri-Baroshi villages of Uttarakhand.

An exclusion that can be worked upon

As much as SAF remains inclusive of a lot of art forms and cultures from across the country, the much-evident low presence of Goans in the artistic lineups cannot be ignored, and was even expressed by the curators we spoke to. 

Salil Chaturvedi, a Goa-based poet, writer, and digital campaigner, is checking whether the space is accessible to people with disabilities or not as we approach him. Undoubtedly, we spot a lot of PwDs at the exhibition at the Old GMC building and even in the Art Park. 

While even he could include four or five artists from Goa in the previous edition, this time, it is only two. “We needed some changes. Some people were not available,” he says. But he also asks, “Who is stopping anyone from doing another show with only Goans? Those who are conscious about it, try to bring them for the line-ups, exhibitions or wherever possible.” 

But it is not so simple a question to navigate, he shares. “It has got many, many layers involved. Within Goa, there are many people whom I know and have also worked with. They are Goans but have been discriminated against by the Goans themselves. Strong caste issues exist here; there a strong reactions towards the tribals in the state. Within the state, there is a hierarchy, so it is a very difficult question to navigate.”

This is not to deny that the majority of the audience for the festival is locals — elderly Christians for the high-end performances, while all communities for the large-scale concerts, and youngsters for the free art shows, curations and exhibitions. 

Another common thought going on at the festival is echoed by a young professional. “There are fewer people than before,” says a brand’s team member at her stall in the ongoing Serendipity Arts Festival at Nagalli Hills right before the Motown Madness concert performance, inspired by the golden era of artists like Michael Jackson, The Supremes and Stevie Wonder and curated by Zubin Balaporia.

But it is not only her. A local taxi driver, who is on a written lease contract with the festival for dropping off guests from one venue to another, says, “There are fewer guests I am shuttling for this time,” as we travelled between the Old GMC Complex of Panjim to the Kala Bhavan.

‘I’ll earn 50,000 more’

While the artists from Goa might not make up the majority of the curators, performers, they have been running as a backbone for commuting people and guests across venues for this festival, in the state whose major revenue is generated from the travel operators. 

“It is good that we can make money when such festivals happen. On average, I will have a profit of Rs 50-60,000 from this,” says Afridi from Alfred Travels, who also claims that the IFF held recently in Goa was another advantage for him to make good profits last month. 

Out of the 22 cars that Afridi, a 23-year-old, owns, by virtue of the tour business started by his father in 2012, 2-3 cars are available for additional use; however, all of them are now booked with the SAF for the ten days. While driving from one venue to another, he tells me, “I only have 20 drivers, hence my brother and I have been driving too, since there is a demand.” Alfred Travels is in an official contract with the festival, along with many such companies that are providing the patrons and the guests invited by the festival, a free service at the venues. 

“We are offering the services till December 21 (the last day of the festival),” says Afridi, who has been driving since 2018, technically, when he was 16 years old, which highlights how unemployment in Goa leads to dependence on one of the only profitable businesses here. 

While such facilities are available for the guests, the free shuttling services are being provided by the festival between the venues; however, this requires ongoing running around. Multiple sessions are ongoing simultaneously at various venues at such festivals, which has been a great hindrance to accessibility, and SAF is also not untouched by it. “I can’t decide which one to attend, I am so confused as performances are going on at the same time, and I can’t decide on the priority,” says Dawar. 

As much as it is difficult to comprehend the low headcounts this time, in the times when Goa is grappling with lower tourist turnouts, festivals — first, IFF and now SAF — have garnered attention among people for the state. And, if nothing, it has once again made the capital city Panjim come alive, bright, and the much new phenomenon here, congested; but this time, for all things arts, culture and history.