How to {hang}
As we enter the 55th day of lockdown with restrictions easing in some places, perhaps the only thing which hasn’t changed in the last 8 weeks is a sense of uncertainty. There are days of worry, and days of hope. Through it all, we have been lucky to remain connected with our family, friends, colleagues, and the outside world through an increasingly important tool – the Internet. Our lives have taken on new forms, new routines, new ways of interacting, learning, reading, and being. How will we move forward? This question looms large on all of our minds. At Serendipity, we remain committed to keep the conversation around the arts going, and over the next month, are very pleased to bring to you a How To Series as we re-visit past projects, ponder over our present lives, and think big with future dreams in a series of newsletters and online conversations ranging from scenography to sound, storytelling to reading, performance to technology and so much more in between.
In “How to Hang”, we approach the question of how the coming together of a space, a person and a work of art can create new ways of seeing, thinking, and feeling. How does an exhibition display build affinities, relations, and resonances between different histories and peoples? Can showcasing an object in a different way lead us to understand everyday things, such as textiles and saris, in a new light? How is the “scene” of art produced, why do spaces that display and host art, through exhibitions and performances, entice a difference in feeling? As social distancing becomes the norm, where do we go to find these feelings again—how has our relationship to our own objects and spaces changed? How do we hold on to the moments of togetherness, fun, lightheartedness in the face of separation? Join us as we ask these, and many other questions, always together.
#serendipityconversations
As we increasingly rely on ourselves for sustenance, "how-to" videos, tutorials, and stories have gained prominence on the web. We extend the idea of care, sharing, and reliance that motivates these practices to the world of art, as we enter the minds, processes, and strategies used by curators, artists, and experts to bring their visions to life. Each week we approach a new "how-to": exploring the complexities of art through approachable, close-to-life conversations.
Curation & Scenography : The Yin & Yang of Experiential Exhibitions
While the curator creates a narrative that they think needs to be shared with the larger world, it is most often the scenographer who gives a visual vocabulary to the idea. The audience almost always sees the end narrative via the filter of the scenographer. This conversation hopes to bring to light the journey of a collaborative process where narrative and aesthetics deal with trust and control towards a combined understanding of a singular vision. Detailing this common idea needs points of cohesion between two kinds of processes. This exploratory talk shall also examine and bring to the fore points of dissonance and its negotiation while a project is underway.
Watch the conversation again on Facebook!
Exhibition Site as Learning Ground
In the last few years the educational turn has been of great interest to curators working in the field of exhibition making. The discussants for this panel will present some of the artistic and curatorial projects they have developed with art students and young practitioners. They will also touch upon exhibition platforms they have worked on together like Call to Disorder: Experiments in Practice and Research, held at Serendipity Arts Festival 2019, and Students’ Biennale 2018.
Watch the conversation again on Facebook
Public Art as Civic Intervention: Bhubaneshwar Art Trail
“Navigation is Offline", co-curated by Jagannath Panda and Premjish Achari was the first edition of Bhubaneswar Art Trail (BAT 2018), a contemporary public art exhibition held in the Old Town of Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Through this talk, Premjish discusses the challenges in creating a contemporary public art exhibition in a temple town and shares the experiences in negotiating the antagonisms of the diverse communities, opening up the multiple worlds which exist in the city while attempting to foreground the voices of the marginalised.
Watch the talk again on Facebook!
Composite Arts Practices - Emergent Positions
The three arts professionals discuss ongoing strategies at work, as well as prior engagements within the visual/lens-based field, in order to explore the new place and modes of representation that can be envisioned in the future - how we may intuitively or creatively grasp all that is beyond the frame in our current times.
Watch the conversation again on Facebook!
#SAFthrowback
This week, we re-visit three very different exhibitions showcased at Serendipity Arts Festival 2019. The beautifully displayed Weftscapes: Jamdani Across New Horizons, curated by Pramod Kumar KG, examines a fresh approach to the creation and making of Jamdani fabrics, both in its weaving, choice of raw materials, colour, patterns, designs and the end product – a finished garment.
Look, Stranger!, curated by Rahaab Allana, looked at lens-based practices in the South Asian region, influenced by the technological ethos of the turn of the last century. Drawing an arc of inquiry from the Film und Foto (Fifo) display in Stuttgart, Germany in 1929, to experimental contemporary photography from South Asia, the display sought to identify concerns around the persistence of certain modernist historical trajectories.
Call to Disorder: Experiments in Practice and Research, curated by Vidya Shivadas, was the culmination of a three year collaboration between FICA (Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art) and SAF, looking at different focus aspects each year such as light, sound, site, movement, creation of narratives via mediums of zines, comics, installations and video in a post academic space.
P.S. Out of the Blue
Over the next few weeks, we’ll bring you fun and interesting suggestions to while away some time on the Net.
Feeling lazy to make your own art? Here’s a recommendation from the SAF family baker (and Senior Manager), Nandita - become a work of art yourself! Thanks to this masterpiece of a site by AI web developer Sato, turn your selfies into different styles of Renaissance oil paintings. You can also transform into a pixel version of yourself on a site also developed by Sato! Our resident DJ, Moakshaa, who is also one of our Programmes Manager, has had us making crazy tunes on this website, created by Daniwell. Your keyboard turns into various notes and the screen has a corresponding geometric design, when you hit a key. Don’t blame us if you find yourself dancing to your own music! Since you already have your earphones on, don’t miss the astonishing binaural sound in Complicité Theatre’s The Encounter with Simon McBurney, highly recommended by our very own dancing queen/Senior Programmes Manager, Nitya. Keep in mind, the performance is only on till Friday 22nd May. Lastly, the British Council India in partnership with FICCI and the Art X Company has launched an survey to track Covid-19 and its impact on the creative sector in India. Please spare a minute and take the survey. Thank you and see you next week!
Reading and Resources Library
A thematic selection of essays from across the web, discussing aspects of each week's theme. This week, we bring you essays on female desire and hanging out, spending time with one painting, race and perception of life, and the possibilities of representing the lives and journeys of the human mind.
From our archives
Body | Space | Time by Ranjana Dave
An Archaeology of Silence: The Aniconic Worlds of Mrinalini Mukherje by Arushi Vats
From the Internet
Read about desire and friendship, and brief moments of hanging out in Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Teju Cole’s beautiful, burning words on photography, skin, and blackness.
What happens when you spend a really long time hanging out with a painting?
We Love Panjim!
Join Jack Sukhija and Atish Fernandes as they take us to the lesser known Bairro São Tomé, followed by a stroll through Fontainhas. The main focus will be on the city’s unique, hidden gems, people, and establishments that often don't get the attention they deserve.
Join us on Saturday, May 23rd, 6:30 PM IST on Instagram Live
Courses and Learning Portals
We recommend the following courses and online resources to expand your skill sets!
Support the Arts
IN IT TOGETHER | The Art Fundraiser for COVID 19 Relief is an artist-led initiative supporting relief efforts by Goonj & Karwan e Mohabbat
