The Estuary Talks: At the borders of Discipline

The Serendipity Arts Festival, which is hoping to be a driver in the field of arts, aims at being a cultural experiment that hopes to open up the ways we interact with art. Rather than just being a showcase of great Indian art, we believe in beginning conversations across disciplines that will change the way each person finds meaning within the larger art framework.

Like an estuary, which by virtue of being an in-between watery lace is a fertile ground, Serendipity Arts Festival hopes to be that junction between artists and the public ecosystem. A space where the mixing of both entities are bound to happen and because of which both ecosystems are nurtured.

And to encourage this uninhibited process, a breaking down of barriers is necessary. By bracketing ourselves and others, numerous issues of isolation emerge. Such situations cannot be anymore managed by the piecemeal and uncoordinated interventions that result from growing chasms between multiple specialised disciplines.

At the Serendipity Arts Festival space, we hope address these concerns. We intend to look at the ways arts are demarcated and the problems that come with such disciplinary boundaries. We believe those in the arts need to address the silos created and work towards conversations across disciplines.

Inaugural session – 10.30 am
1) Anti-disciplinarity: Madhusree Dutta & Anuradha Kapur (11 am – 11.55 am)
Why do we box artistes? Does it come from our need to understand them or to restrict their boundaries? It is time we challenged categories.

2) Transference of legacy through craft – Laila Tyabji, Ritu Sethi, Kalam Patua (12 pm – 12.55 pm)
The traditional arts have mostly stood the test of time. But many arts are struggling to survive. Sporadic governmental and non-governmental efforts to preserve the traditional arts is not enough. It is only through inculcation and opening up to new ideas that it is possible. Then there is question of artists not getting their due, which must be addressed.

3) Conscience drama: Hartman Dsouza, Sanyukta Saha, Vikram Phukan (2 pm – 2.55 pm)
Theatre is an effective medium. It can be cutting edge and be a tool for social change. Drama cannot be reductive or patronising but full of imaginative storytelling and complex characterisation. Through theatre we can address some of the very complex and worrisome issues that affect us. This panel will look at the various ways of integrating drama and our conscience.

4) Regional responses through art (3 pm – 3.55 pm)
Subodh Kerkar, Deepan Sivaraman; Moderator: Anuradha Kapur
Art and varied use of media has the power to unite, educate and possibly change a public. Inclusion, humour, and history are themes which lace through the works of these artists ensuring they echo in the regions they stem from.

5) At the intersection of arts, science and technology: Asim Waqif, Prateek Raja, Abhishek Hazra (4 pm – 4.55pm)
Art, science and tech have become more intertwined than ever before. It provides new ways to mix different types of media, allowing more human interaction or simply does it make the process of creating it easier? Through technology, art can be brought closer to the public documenting ecological concerns, the decay and destruction, around which our lives revolve.

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