Tag: Art

Events in Goa

Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 Opens in Panjim with a Grand Celebration of Heritage and Innovation

Tanisha Cardozo

Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral

The landmark 10th edition of Serendipity Arts Festival opened in Panjim on December 12 with a powerful celebration of India’s cultural heritage and contemporary artistic expression. Returning to Goa for ten days of immersive experiences, the opening day reflected the festival’s enduring vision of bridging tradition and innovation through art.

The evening commenced with the inauguration of Barge at the Captain of Ports Jetty in Old Goa, where Founder-Patron Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal welcomed audiences to the milestone edition. Reflecting on the journey of the festival, he described Serendipity Arts as a movement that has grown into a shared cultural space connecting artists, communities, and audiences across disciplines. The 10th edition, he noted, is dedicated to Mukta Munjal, whose early initiatives in the arts continue to inspire the festival’s spirit.

Curated by Veerangana Solanki, Barge transformed a floating structure into an experiential space exploring absence and presence through spatial, architectural, and sonic responses. Drawing from earlier exhibitions, the installation invited visitors to activate the space through movement, sound, and perception, leaving behind fleeting yet personal imprints.

The opening continued at Nagalli Hills with Palette(s), a striking performance by Cédric Gagneur and Marc Oosterhoff that reimagined wooden pallets as both object and collaborator. Blurring the lines between dance and circus, the performance explored gravity, vulnerability, and repetition in a raw and physical expression.

The night concluded with Clay Play, curated by Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan, a mesmerizing performance that foregrounded percussion instruments crafted from clay. Rooted deeply in Goan traditions, the sounds of the ghumat and other instruments resonated through the space, reaffirming their place as living cultural practices rather than relics of the past.

Across the city, Beasts of Reincarnations: Mythical Beings in the City began appearing along Panjim’s streets and waterfronts. Curated by Diptej Vernekar, the large-scale installations reimagined Goa’s effigy-making traditions, inviting the public to encounter ritual memory through forms suspended between destruction, renewal, and contemporary urban life.

As the festival unfolds, exhibitions opening from December 14 will further expand this dialogue. These include Not a shore, neither a ship, but the sea itself at the Old GMC Complex, OTHERLAND at the Old GMC Building, and several immersive installations exploring systems, food memory, loss, movement, and sensory experience across multiple venues.

Day 1 of Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 set a compelling tone for the days ahead, weaving together local and global voices, traditional and contemporary practices, and transforming Panjim into a living, breathing canvas of artistic discovery.

Events in Goa

At Serendipity Arts Festival, a Goa Barge Transforms Into a Floating Exhibition

Tanisha Cardozo

Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral

At the 10th edition of the Serendipity Arts Festival, one of Goa’s iconic ore barges is set to take on an unexpected new role as a floating exhibition. Titled Barge, the installation will be anchored at the Captain of Ports Jetty in Old Goa from December 12, reimagining a vessel long associated with the state’s riverine economy as a space for artistic exploration. Curated by Mumbai-based writer and curator Veeranganakumari Solanki, the project transforms the familiar industrial structure into a participatory environment that listens as much as it speaks, inviting visitors to engage with ideas of presence, absence and sensory perception.

For decades, barges have been an essential part of Goa’s landscape—silently ferrying iron ore along its waterways and shaping the region’s industrial identity since the liberation era and the rise of mechanised mining. By bringing this utilitarian vessel into the realm of contemporary art, the exhibition bridges the gap between the everyday and the imaginative, framing the barge as a site of possibility rather than mere function. Solanki builds on ideas from three earlier Serendipity Arts Festival projects—Future Landing, Synaesthetic Notations and A Haptic Score—each of which explored the ways the human body interprets sensory information. These inquiries continue aboard the barge, where its cavernous architecture becomes a point of departure for artistic response.

Solanki describes the barge as a space defined by absence. Its hollow structure, she notes, creates a cavity where presence can form—whether through sound, memory or imagination. She reflects on how imagination emerges in the gaps between what we perceive and what remains unseen, and how this threshold becomes fertile ground for potentiality. The artists contributing to the exhibition—Prajakta Potnis, Hemant Sreekumar and Julien Segard—work directly with the vessel’s architecture, responding to the interplay of sound, space and material. Their works explore the fragile boundaries between the industrial and the imaginative, offering viewers a space to dwell in uncertainty rather than seek definitive answers.

A central element of Barge is an evolving sound work by artist Alan Rego, who has been studying the acoustic behaviour of the vessel. Rego collects sounds from within the barge and plans to submerge a microphone into the river during his performance, gathering underwater noise that will be processed in real time. Using a programme that breaks noise into frequencies and reshapes them into evolving patterns, he gradually transforms randomness into rhythm, noise into music. For Solanki, this transformation embodies the exhibition’s core idea that presence can emerge from absence and meaning can arise from what first appears incoherent.

Solanki’s curatorial practice has long explored the ways artistic forms converse across public and private spaces. Her experience as a Brooks International Research Fellow at Tate Modern, a resident at Delfina Foundation and her leadership roles at Space Studio and The Gujral Foundation reflects a deep engagement with art’s relationship to environment and community. She now co-directs the SqW:Lab Foundation and serves on the advisory committee of the Piramal Photography Gallery at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai.

Visitors to Serendipity Arts Festival can experience Barge throughout the event at the Captain of Ports Jetty in Old Goa. The installation stands as an evocative reminder of how imagination can transform the familiar, offering a rare opportunity to step inside a vessel that has shaped Goa’s industrial history and witness it reimagined through the lens of sound, space and sensory inquiry.

International

Autistic Scottish Artist Nnena Kalu Shatters Turner Prize ‘Glass Ceiling’ with Historic Win

Tanisha Cardozo

Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral International Desk

Scottish artist Nnena Kalu has achieved a landmark victory by winning the Turner Prize 2025, a moment widely described as historic for both contemporary art and the representation of neurodivergent artists. Born in Glasgow and now 59, Kalu has built a career centred on raw, expressive hanging sculptures constructed from wrapped materials such as fabric, tape, and rope. Her works, known for their bold physical presence and layered textures, have long been admired within specialist circles, but her Turner Prize win places her firmly on the global art stage.

The jury praised her practice as “bold and compelling,” emphasising the intensity and uniqueness of her artistic language. While Kalu’s neurodivergence has been part of her public narrative, jury chair Alex Farquharson made clear that the prize was awarded purely on the strength and distinctiveness of her work, noting that the quality of her practice is inseparable from who she is as an artist.

For years, Kalu has continued creating in the face of misunderstanding and discrimination, something her supporter Charlotte Hollinshead highlighted with emotion as she celebrated the win. She described the moment as “seismic,” saying it breaks a “very stubborn glass ceiling” that has kept many disabled and neurodivergent artists on the margins of mainstream recognition. The victory is also being hailed by disability charity Sense, which called her shortlisting alone “incredibly significant.”

This year’s Turner Prize finalists included Iraqi painter Mohammed Sami, British artist Rene Matic, and Canadian-Korean artist Zadie Xa, each known for exploring themes ranging from war trauma to race and folklore. Their works have been exhibited at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford since September. Still, Kalu’s deeply physical and emotionally resonant sculptures set her apart in the eyes of the jury.

The Turner Prize, established in 1984 and organised by Tate, has often sparked debate and occasionally controversy. It has also served as a launching pad for major artists including Gilbert & George, Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, and Steve McQueen. Kalu’s win continues this legacy of spotlighting groundbreaking artistic voices while expanding the conversation around who is seen, celebrated, and uplifted in the art world.

With £25,000 awarded to the winner and £10,000 to each shortlisted artist, the prize remains one of the most influential in the global art landscape. Kalu’s triumph is being recognised not only as a personal achievement but also as an important cultural moment — one that promises to open doors for future generations of disabled and neurodivergent artists. Her perseverance, creativity, and commitment to her vision have culminated in a victory that resonates far beyond the gallery walls.

Travel

A Treasury of Life: India’s Largest Exhibition of Company Paintings Opens in Goa

Tanisha Cardozo

Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral Travel Desk

DAG, in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Government of Goa, is presenting A Treasury of Life: Indian Company Paintings, c. 1790–1835, the most comprehensive exhibition of Company Paintings ever mounted in India. Opening on 1 December 2025 at the Aguad Port & Jail Complex and running until 14 January 2026, the exhibition brings together 200 extraordinary works created by Indian artists who worked for European patrons in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Company paintings have long occupied an ambiguous position in Indian art history, often viewed as too late for the classical court tradition yet too early for modernism. This exhibition challenges that notion by showing how these artists blended indigenous techniques with Western influences, responding creatively to new patrons and subjects. Their work spans natural history, architecture, and depictions of daily life—each rendered with a mix of accuracy, sensitivity, and innovation. These paintings not only document India’s flora, fauna, built heritage, and social customs but also preserve memories of worlds that have since transformed or disappeared.

Curated by Giles Tillotson, SVP at DAG, the exhibition includes works by celebrated artists such as Sita Ram, Sewak Ram, and Chuni Lal, alongside European references by artists like James Forbes and F.B. Solvyns that help illuminate the artistic dialogue of the time. The showcase highlights how Indian artists forged a new visual language, laying the groundwork for future developments in Indian modernism.

Leaders from DAG and Goa Tourism emphasise the significance of hosting this exhibition in a historic site like Aguad, reinforcing Goa’s commitment to heritage-centred cultural experiences. The accompanying publication deepens the exploration with essays by leading scholars in the field.

Presenting a vital and often overlooked part of India’s artistic legacy, A Treasury of Life invites audiences to rediscover the creativity, adaptability, and brilliance of the Indian artists who shaped this remarkable visual tradition.

EduConnect

St. Mary’s Convent High School, Mapusa Held School Exhibition 3.0: Igniting Young Minds Through Creativity & Innovation

Tanisha Cardozo

Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral

St. Mary’s Convent High School, Mapusa organised School Exhibition 3.0 on 21st and 22nd November 2025 in the school premises, bringing together creativity, innovation, and culture under one inspiring theme: “Igniting Young Minds Through Creativity & Innovation.” The exhibition showcased a wide range of student-created exhibits across Art, Science, and Social Science. Students from neighbouring schools visited the exhibition on 21st November 2025, while parents along with the students explored the displays on 22nd November 2025. Visitors were warmly welcomed with lively Goan folk dances that beautifully reflected the vibrant culture of Goa, accompanied by soothing Western musical pieces and classical Indian compositions. A counter presenting traditional Portuguese dishes added a distinctive and elegant cultural flavour, enriching the entire experience.

The entrance of the school was creatively decorated on the theme of Space, capturing the attention of visitors from the moment they arrived. Each floor featured colourful and thematic displays that added to the brilliance and beauty of the event. The Science section presented various working models and experiments that demonstrated scientific principles and innovations with clarity and enthusiasm. The Social Science exhibits explored historical discoveries, the prehistoric period, and key geographical ideas through charts and working models that were both educational and visually engaging. The Art displays featured paintings, newspaper art, and a variety of creative works that reflected the students’ artistic imagination, creativity, and dedication.

Visitors from other schools, as well as parents, expressed deep appreciation for the event. They praised the students’ creativity, innovation, and confidence, as well as the thoughtful planning and visually appealing presentations that made the exhibition informative, interactive, and inspiring. School Exhibition 3.0 once again reinforced the importance of fostering scientific thinking, encouraging artistic talent, and promoting historical and geographical understanding among students. By providing meaningful exposure to creative, cultural, and scientific pursuits, the event truly lived up to its theme, igniting young minds through creativity and innovation.