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Serendipity Arts Festival 2018 will start from 15th December and will continue till 22nd December.  It is a multi-disciplinary arts festival which combines visual, performance, and culinary arts.  Ten venues in the capital city of Goa, Panaji, will turn into cultural spaces. Those at the festival will get to enjoy exhibitions and other artistic performances and experiences.  Smriti Rajgarhia, Director of the Serendipity Arts Festival says: “The festival truly celebrates our rich artistic heritage, and we hope that this will foster cultural growth and energize contemporary practice not just in Goa but across the country.” It is a great way for emerging artists to showcase their talent.  2018 will see 1500 artists lighting up the festival.   There will also be more international participants to further global dialogues with Indian culture.   Amenities available during the festival: Free shuttle services from all the venues Environmentally friendly e-bikes -25 covering the sum of venues Free ferry services from Captain of Ports Jetty to Ribandar Jetty 350+ Volunteers to guide and help visitors with queries regarding the festival and registration requirements Special accessibility volunteers for the differently abled Emergency medical services available on site

As a part of the Semana da Cultura Indo Portuguesa (Goa) festival, there is a photography exhibition which is currently being displayed at Institute Menezes Braganza Hall. The photos are from Pantaleao Fernandes’ coffee table book ‘Goa: Rare Portraits’.  This book shows another side of Goa. The photos provide a glimpse into the lives of the people from rural areas.  It shows the stark contrast between the rural and urban areas of Goa. The simplicity of these people’s lives is highlighted in the photos.  These lifestyle portraits on canvases were elegantly displayed on easels. Visitors got to see different activities of these tribal people such as broom making, masala grinding, tree climbing, garland making, etc.  In the middle of the hall, there were objects put on display which were shown in some of the photos. These included a basket which a village man used for shelter and a cloth for their coverage on cold days. (The exhibition will be open for public viewing till 7th December 2018)

Every year on 3rd December, people flock to Old Goa for the feast of St Francis Xavier- the patron saint of Goa.  He was a God-fearing man who spread the Gospel and served the sick and poor. He is dotingly hailed as ‘Goencho Saib’ as his life story inspires people even today. His relics are in the Basilica of Bom Jesus. This year, the theme of the feast is to live life according to the Beatitudes which Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount. Living according to the beatitudes means always longing to know more about God, being merciful, bringing peace wherever you go, etc.  ‘Like St Francis Xavier, let us live the Beatitudes and be Holy’- those at the feast were taught that it’s not enough to just follow certain religious duties, but you have to have a loving relationship with God and obey His commandments.  There were masses in Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, French, Italian, Portuguese, Marathi, Telugu, and Spanish. The feast fair was buzzing with activity and sold items like sweets, accessories, toys, etc. The  St Francis Xavier 2018 feast also had a 3D stage which made the people feel like they were in an indoor cathedral […]

Museum of Goa will be having the second edition of its Goa Affordable Art Fest (GAAF) from 8th December 2018 to 31st January 2019. It will be inaugurated by Ashok Vajpeyi which will be followed by live performances by Damini Parashar and Sound Club. While addressing a gathering, Subodh Kerkar (MOG founder), stated: “India doesn’t have a good platform for young artists. So GAAF provides a platform for young artists to show their work. Last year 30 lakh worth of art was sold.” The artworks that will be displayed have gone through a selection process by the jury- Peter Muller and Erica Plate- who are experienced curators and gallerists. There will be all kinds of media presented- paintings, drawings, photography, collages, etc. Subodh Kerkar feels that art has given tremendous impetus for tourism and therefore it is important for Goa which is a tourist destination. “Our efforts are that Goa should become an art hub,” Kerkar says. He also revealed that this year the artworks are of a much better quality. Last year, there were 700 entries while 2018 saw 800 entries. Around 400 artworks made it through the selection process to be shown at GAAF. “Contemporary art is very little […]