The Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) is set to play a defining role in shaping conversations around artistic excellence and creator empowerment at the 10th edition of the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 in Goa. From December 15 to 20 at Azad Maidan, Panaji, the IPRS Stage will once again become a vibrant platform celebrating India’s musical diversity, evolving soundscape, and the creators who drive it.
The IPRS Stage offers a rare space where regional, folk, traditional, and emerging artists from across the country come together to connect with wider audiences beyond their local geographies. The platform not only celebrates performance but also reinforces the importance of access, recognition, and opportunity for music creators in an ever-changing industry.
The stage opened on December 15 with the Vayali Bamboo Band, whose handcrafted bamboo instruments and ecologically rooted soundscapes set the tone for a programme rooted in creativity and cultural consciousness. On December 17, audiences will witness Gulabi Vinyl, a collaboration between vocalist Vidhya Gopal and poet Alok Ranjan Srivastava, blending thumri, dadra, ghazal and classic Hindi melodies with contemporary expression. The musical journey continues on December 18 with Beintehaan: A Musical Harvest, curated by songwriter and filmmaker Mayur Puri, weaving together Kajri, dohas, Sufi kalaams, indie-folk sensibilities and original compositions.
On December 19, Shahbaaz Hussain Khan of the centuries-old Gwalior Gharana will lead Rooh-e-Qawwali, bringing the spiritual energy of Sufi devotion and collective expression to the stage. The showcase culminates on December 20 with Dashugs, a dynamic Ladakhi band whose powerful, community-driven sound reflects the emerging creative voices from the Himalayan region.
Sharing IPRS’ broader vision, CEO Rakesh Nigam highlighted that the IPRS Stage at Serendipity Arts Festival marks an important milestone in celebrating India’s creative spirit while building an inclusive music ecosystem. As IPRS deepens its engagement with the artistic community in Goa this December, the initiative underscores a future where creators are not only celebrated on stage but also empowered beyond it, ensuring that India’s cultural legacy continues to evolve with purpose and pride.
Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral National Desk
Airbnb is set to transform the live music experience in India with the launch of exclusive Airbnb Experiences at Lollapalooza India 2026, marking its first-ever global live music partnership. Scheduled to take place on January 24 and 25 at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Racecourse, the festival will now offer fans unprecedented access to the creative processes, backstage moments, and people who bring one of India’s most anticipated music festivals to life.
As part of this new initiative, Airbnb introduces a curated set of Experiences that go far beyond attending a concert. From guided backstage tours and artist-led sessions to behind-the-scenes access led by a Lollapalooza India Insider, these Experiences are designed to immerse guests in the world behind the stage, offering rare perspectives that are usually reserved for artists and crew.
Speaking on the partnership, Amanpreet Bajaj, Airbnb’s Country Head for India & Southeast Asia, highlighted the natural connection between music and travel, noting that festivals are as much about exploring a city and building meaningful connections as they are about performances. He said the collaboration with Lollapalooza India allows fans to experience the festival not just as attendees, but as insiders who become part of its story.
Among the standout Experiences is the opportunity to join celebrated singer-songwriter Ankur Tewari’s entourage at Lollapalooza India. Participants will gain backstage access, witness his pre-performance rituals, and attend exclusive aftershows, offering an intimate glimpse into the creative rhythm and collaboration that define his work. This Experience will take place on January 24, 2026.
Another immersive Experience brings fans behind the stage with composer-producer duo OAFF and Savera, known for shaping some of India’s most influential contemporary soundscapes. Guests will observe their pre-show creative process, connect with their crew, and experience how music transitions from studio to stage. This session is scheduled for January 25, 2026.
Festival-goers can also opt for a behind-the-scenes tour led by Raashi Sanghavi, a key figure behind Lollapalooza India’s production and global partnerships. Through insider stories, real-time insights, and festival trivia, this Experience reveals the scale, coordination, and creativity involved in producing a world-class live music event. The tour will take place on January 24, 2026.
Naman Pugalia, Chief Business Officer – Live Events at BookMyShow, said that Lollapalooza India has always been about more than performances, emphasising culture, community, and creativity. He added that the partnership with Airbnb opens up a side of the festival usually unseen by fans, bringing them closer to the people and moments that shape the event.
Bookings for all Experiences opened on December 15, 2025, with slots available on a first-come, first-served basis. Guests are required to arrange their own travel to and from Mumbai. With Lollapalooza India 2026 set over a long weekend, Airbnb also offers a wide range of stays across Mumbai’s most vibrant neighbourhoods, making it easier for fans to combine the festival with an immersive city experience.
DAG, in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Government of Goa, has opened A Treasury of Life: Indian Company Paintings, c. 1790 to 1835, the most comprehensive exhibition of its kind in India, at the Aguad Port & Jail Complex. Featuring over 200 works drawn entirely from the DAG collection, the exhibition is curated by Giles Tillotson, Senior Vice President at DAG, and remains on view from 2 December 2025 to 14 January 2026, following a private preview held on 1 December.
Dedicated to honouring the largely anonymous Indian artists commissioned by the East India Company in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the exhibition explores how these painters responded creatively to new forms of patronage. Moving beyond traditional courtly conventions, they developed entirely new visual languages that blended Indian artistic practices with Western influences, marking a crucial transition in the evolution of Indian art.
Long marginalised within art historical narratives, Company painting has often been viewed as falling between classical tradition and modernism. A Treasury of Life challenges this perception by positioning the genre as a vital precursor to Indian modernism. The exhibition presents works across three broad themes: natural history, architecture, and Indian manners and customs. Together, these paintings document India’s flora and fauna with scientific precision, record architectural landmarks and cityscapes through hybrid visual techniques, and vividly portray traders, artisans, religious figures, and sacred idols.
Beyond their aesthetic value, these works serve as historical records of worlds that have since undergone profound transformation. From depictions of now-endangered plant species and altered ecosystems to careful renderings of architectural heritage and social customs, the paintings offer rare visual insights into India’s past. They also reflect European patrons’ desire to document an unfamiliar land and the ingenuity with which Indian artists adapted their skills to meet new expectations and audiences.
The exhibition includes works by known Company artists such as Sita Ram, Sewak Ram, and Chuni Lal, alongside contextual works by European artists including James Forbes, F. B. Solvyns, and Charles Gold. These references illuminate the broader visual culture of the period, demonstrating how Indian painters engaged with foreign models to create something entirely new rather than merely imitating Western styles.
Speaking on the occasion, Hon’ble Minister for Tourism, Shri Rohan A. Khaunte, said the exhibition brings to Goa an extraordinary era of Indian artistic brilliance and reinforces the state’s growing role as a centre for heritage-driven cultural experiences. Ashish Anand, CEO and Managing Director of DAG, noted that the exhibition builds on the gallery’s longstanding commitment to presenting pre-modern and hybrid art practices that laid the groundwork for Indian modernism.
Director of the Department of Tourism, Shri Kedar Naik, highlighted the exhibition’s contribution to Goa’s cultural calendar and its role in promoting meaningful tourism rooted in learning and heritage. Managing Director of GTDC, Shri Kuldeep Arolkar, and Vice President of Operations and Business Development at Aguad Port and Jail Complex, Shri Savio Mathias, also emphasised the importance of hosting high-calibre cultural initiatives that bring together art, history, and public engagement.
Accompanied by a publication featuring an introductory essay by curator Giles Tillotson and scholarly contributions from Apurba Chatterjee, Nicolas Roth, Malini Roy, Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, and Jennifer Howes, A Treasury of Life repositions Company painting as an essential chapter in India’s artistic journey. The exhibition invites audiences to reconsider the beginnings of modern Indian art through the lens of a genre that captured a moment of profound transition and creative exchange.
Migration and displacement, often discussed through numbers and geopolitical debates, take on deeply human dimensions at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 through the exhibition Displacement, curated by art historian Rahaab Allana. Open to viewing at The Old PWD Complex in Panaji, the exhibition brings together artists from South Asia and the Gulf region whose works reflect lived experiences of exile, asylum and rupture.
Allana situates the exhibition within the context of recent global migration trends, noting that 2024 witnessed record levels of displacement worldwide. From conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan to internal displacement within South Asia, the curator connects global crises with local and regional realities. These transitions, shaped by racism, border anxieties and minority-majority debates, form the conceptual backbone of Displacement.
The exhibition foregrounds image-based practices that confront today’s volatile socio-political landscape. While wars, territorial conflicts and ideologies dominate headlines, Allana stresses that it is ultimately human lives that bear the consequences. The works on display insist on a humanist approach, using art as a provocation for dialogue and empathy at a time of increasing polarisation.
Many of the artists featured are themselves living in exile or seeking asylum far from their homelands. Their works speak of both internal and external displacement, addressing themes of severance, surveillance, memory and loss, while also revealing how art becomes a means of survival and community-building. Through creative expression, these artists forge connections and shared spaces even while navigating life in exile.
Among the notable works is that of Afghan artist Hadi Ranaward, whose piece maps Kabul with delicate origami planes and helicopters hovering above the city. The shadows they cast evoke constant scrutiny and surveillance, capturing the psychological reality of living under watch and within contested spaces. Such works invite viewers to reflect not only on territory and power, but on the everyday lives shaped by them.
Trained in art history and photography, Allana’s curatorial practice has long focused on decolonising visual narratives, a sensibility that is evident throughout the exhibition. Rather than closing conversations, Displacement opens them up, encouraging viewers to ask questions and engage with perspectives that are often marginalised.
At its core, Displacement resists simplification. It does not seek easy resolutions but instead insists on complexity, compassion and attentiveness. Within the broader framework of the Serendipity Arts Festival, the exhibition stands as a reminder that behind every migration story is a human life — carrying memory, trauma, hope and the enduring need to belong.
The second day of Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 unfolded as a vibrant celebration of sound, memory and visual storytelling, reaffirming the festival’s commitment to diverse artistic expressions spread across multiple venues in Panjim. Audiences moved seamlessly between music, film, exhibitions and culinary experiences, encountering art that invited both participation and reflection.
At The Arena at Nagalli Hills, the evening’s musical journey began with The Revisit Project, curated by Zubin Balaporia and Ehsaan Noorani. Known for demystifying the complexities of jazz, the band delivered a powerful blend of groove-driven rhythms, old-school funk and contemporary jazz, weaving pointed observations about life, love and politics in India into their performance. The set offered a refreshing balance of technical precision and emotional accessibility, drawing in both seasoned listeners and new audiences.
The night reached a celebratory high with Motown Madness, also curated by Zubin Balaporia. The high-energy concert paid tribute to the iconic Motown sound that shaped generations, transporting audiences through timeless hits associated with legends like Michael Jackson, The Supremes and Stevie Wonder. The performance blended nostalgia with exuberance, turning the venue into a space of collective joy and shared musical memory.
Reflecting on the evening, Balaporia noted that the curation was about embracing the vast emotional range of music — from the sharp, contemporary language of jazz to the enduring warmth of Motown. Despite their differences, he observed, both performances met on common ground through rhythm, storytelling and shared energy.
Meanwhile, the Captain of Ports Jetty in Old Goa continued to host unique experiences aboard the Barge installation. The Silent Film Screening by Aldona Video Club transformed the floating venue into an intimate cinema, where audiences engaged with cinema that both honoured and questioned traditional narrative forms. The collective’s approach examined representation and media boundaries, offering a contemplative counterpoint to the city’s musical pulse.
From December 14 onwards, exhibitions across festival venues opened to the public, further expanding the festival’s immersive landscape. At the Directorate of Accounts, Multiplay 02: Soft Systems, curated by Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, invited visitors into a participatory environment designed as a sandbox for collective experience. Featuring works by artists including Chunky Move, Jayasimha Chandrashekar, Alke Reeh, Bwanga Kapumpa and Teja Gavankar, the exhibition encouraged acts of care, rest and attention — from modelling clay portraits in the dark to listening to the sounds of trees and birds. The curators described the project as a tender constellation of practices that hold space, invite participation and foster connection through touch, rhythm and generosity.
At Art Park, The Culinary Odyssey of Goa, curated by Odette Mascarenhas, explored Goan cuisine as a living archive of memory and migration. The project showcased five traditional kitchens representing Hindu artisans, Muslim descendants of the Bijapur dynasty, Gaud Saraswat Brahmins, Indo-Luso influences and Christian descendants. Through tastings centred on ingredients such as turmeric, kokum, black peppercorn, tamarind and star anise, visitors engaged with stories of spice, history and everyday ritual narrated by the curator herself.
The Promenade hosted Urban Reimagined, curated by Ravi Agarwal, which examined the city through the lens of waste, extraction and inequality. Featuring photographs by the late Vivan Sundaram, the exhibition positioned waste as a marker of caste and class, prompting audiences to confront what urban spaces reveal — and conceal — about aspiration, excess and social structure.
At The Access Village in the Old GMC Complex, Therefore I Am brought together seven artists whose lived experiences of disability shape their creative practices. Working across painting, sculpture, photography, video, performance and digital media, the artists challenged conventional perceptions of the body, presenting disability as a powerful site of creativity, resistance and truth. Curator Salil Chaturvedi highlighted the exhibition as an essential reminder that disability is not marginal, but an integral part of the collective human story.
Together, the experiences of Day 2 wove a rich tapestry of jazz, nostalgia, visual inquiry and participatory art, underscoring Serendipity Arts Festival 2025’s role as a platform where artistic expression meets social reflection and shared experience.
