Serendipity Arts is pleased to announce the selected participants for the ongoing eighth edition of the Serendipity Arts Residency, which began on 12 May 2025. The annual three-month residency, held at the Serendipity Arts Foundation in New Delhi, continues its commitment to nurturing
emerging voices across disciplines and geographies. This year’s edition brings together five Artists-in-Residence and one Programmer-in-Residence from across the country and abroad, whose practices span visual arts, movement-based performance, new media, theatre, sound, and text.
The 2025 cohort was selected by a diverse jury of distinguished practitioners across creative fields such as:
● Sharbendu De, a contemporary lens-based artist, educator and a writer, deeply invested in the climate and ecological discourse, indigenous narratives as well multispecies ecologies.
● Abeer Gupta, the curator at Arthshila and the Director of Achi Association India, his research focuses on the western Himalayas,where he explores oral histories, material cultures, and visual archives.
● Irawati Karnik, a writer, playwright, screenwriter, translator, dramaturg, and actor based out of Mumbai with expertise in Marathi, Hindi and English.
● Anoushka Kurien, a dancer and choreographer based in Chennai, whose contemporary dance practice looks at framing ideas and experiences of physicality, perception and the quality of attention and experience proposed by live performance and video.
● Astha Butail, a Gurugram-based artist, whose practice moves between textile and paper, painting, installation, brass, and glass.
These experts will continue to mentor the residents at various points during the residency, offering insight, feedback, and contextual engagement.
The selected residents for the Serendipity Arts Residency 2025 are:
● Anishaa Tavag, a Bangalore-based dancer, writer, and editor whose cross-disciplinary work explores psychophysical unity, non-dualism, and the role of sustained practice in reshaping how we relate to ourselves, others, and the natural world.
● Ningkhan Keishing, a ceramic sculptor from Manipur known for fusing traditional indigenous forms with contemporary abstraction in large-scale public installations.
● Anshumaan Sathe, a Mumbai-based illustrator and graphic artist whose humorous and deeply personal visual narratives navigate gender, sexuality, and queerness.
● Malavika Bhatia, whose alter ego MycoDyke bridges field mycology and artistic practice, creating immersive installations that examine queerness, ecology, and decomposition.
● Valia Russo, a Paris-based artist (Villa Swagatam resident) working at the intersection of photography, video, and installation, whose research focuses on image hybridity and magic in the digital age.
● Harshada Vijay, the Programmer-in-Residence, who brings expertise in architecture and contemporary art to contextualize the residency and curate the final showcase.
The residents have received studio space, accommodation, a monthly allowance, and production support as part of the Residency. Over the course of three months, they will engage in critique sessions, workshops, gallery visits, and artist talks, while developing original projects in dialogue
with peers and mentors. The residency will culminate in an Open Studio showcase from 1 to 8 August 2025, offering audiences a window into the artists’ evolving practices through installations, performances, and work-in-progress presentations. Speaking about the residency, Smriti Rajgarhia, Director, Serendipity Arts Foundation and Festival, said, “The residency has grown into a space that encourages experimentation and risk-
taking. We are delighted to welcome a cohort that brings critical inquiry, cross-cultural engagement, and new material practices to the programme.”
As part of its broader mission, the residency also seeks to expand networks within South Asia’s contemporary art landscape by supporting voices that reimagine culture, identity, and belonging through the lens of the personal and political. The works developed during the residency will be considered for presentation at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 in Goa, offering residents an opportunity to connect with larger publics and international collaborators.
About Serendipity Arts Festival
Serendipity Arts Festival, the Foundation’s primary initiative and largest outreach project, is a multi- disciplinary arts event held annually across multiple venues in Panjim, Goa. Curated by a panel of eminent artists and institutional figures, the festival is part of a long-term cultural project that hopes to catalyse positive change in the arts landscape of India on a scale that transcends geographical, linguistic, and ideological boundaries. Now in its tenth edition, the Festival stands as a testament to the transformative power of the arts. Over the years, the Festival has addressed crucial issues such as arts education, patronage culture, transdisciplinary discourse, inclusivity, and accessibility, striving to bridge the gap between the aesthetic realm and real social impact by creating a sustainable ecosystem for the arts to thrive.
The tenth edition of Serendipity Arts Festival is set to take place in Panjim, Goa, from 12th-21stDecember, 2025.
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