Serendipity Arts launches a London programme in June 2026 with immersive performance and a giant puppet parade, pairing South Asian sound and public art in the Science Museum and on Exhibition Road.
About the London programme
Serendipity Arts will present two public projects in London in June 2026 in partnership with the Science Museum and the Great Exhibition Road Festival. The programme marks the organisation’s first large-scale public presentation in the city and commemorates 175 years since the Great Exhibition of 1851. It follows Serendipity Arts’ growing international activity after a milestone 10th anniversary festival in Panjim, Goa, in December 2025.
Eyes Shall Deceive — immersive audiovisual performance at the Science Museum
On 5 June 2026 Serendipity Arts premieres Eyes Shall Deceive (ननै न की ठगी) at Innovation Lates, the Science Museum’s after-hours programme. The work, commissioned and produced by Serendipity Arts, pairs composer Sneha Khanwalkar with contemporary artist Sudarshan Shetty. It is conceived as an immersive multidisciplinary performance that blends live music, sound, visual storytelling, and live performance. Drawn from informal musical folklore and street performance traditions in contemporary Indian cities, the piece probes memory, illusion, and collective experience inside an evocative audiovisual environment.
Artist practice and collaboration
Sneha Khanwalkar is known for experimental sound and field-driven musical projects. Sudarshan Shetty works across sculpture, film, and installation, often exploring memory and storytelling. Together they construct an experience that turns the museum into an instrument, inviting visitors to listen and move through layered sound and image. The collaboration highlights Serendipity Arts’ curator-led approach and its interest in projects rooted in inquiry, experimentation and cross-disciplinary practice.
Giants on the Move — puppet procession on Exhibition Road
From 6–7 June 2026 Serendipity Arts will stage Giants on the Move as part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival. Directed by Dadi Pudumjee, founder of The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust, the project animates Exhibition Road with a large-scale procession of giant puppets, moving sculpture and live percussion. Drawing on India’s artisanal puppet-making traditions, the event reimagines the street as a civic stage and invites public participation and spontaneous gathering.
Curatorial vision and public engagement
Both projects extend Serendipity Arts’ work beyond gallery walls, placing performance and ritual in public and institutional spaces. The organisation says these commissions bring South Asian practices into new international contexts and foster cross-cultural exchange. They also reflect a nomadic spirit that links Serendipity Arts’ international grants, residencies, its flagship festival in Goa, and its participation in the Venice Biennale to a broader global programme.
Highlights and programme intent
- Science Museum takeover: An after-hours presentation on 5 June 2026 that transforms the museum into an immersive sound and visual environment.
- Street activation: A large-scale puppet procession on Exhibition Road from 6–7 June 2026, where audiences join a public celebration of movement and craft.
- Artistic leadership: Sneha Khanwalkar and Sudarshan Shetty in the museum project; Dadi Pudumjee leading the street parade.
- Cross-cultural dialogue: Projects designed to place South Asian contemporary and traditional practices before London audiences in accessible, participatory formats.
Context: Serendipity Arts’ international growth
The London programme follows a landmark year for Serendipity Arts. The organisation’s Serendipity Arts Festival in Panjim, Goa, celebrated its 10th anniversary in December 2025. The festival, free and open to the public, has grown into South Asia’s largest multidisciplinary arts festival, attracting more than one million visitors and participants from over 50 countries across its first decade. Serendipity Arts also presented India’s contribution to the 61st Venice Biennale, carrying its curatorial approach into new institutional contexts.
Why this matters
These London projects place sound, performance and public art at the heart of shared civic spaces. By bringing large-scale puppetry and immersive music to the Science Museum and Exhibition Road, Serendipity Arts aims to create moments of public gathering that invite participation, memory and collective imagination.
Exhibition details
Eyes Shall Deceive (ननै न की ठगी), Sneha Khanwalkar and Sudarshan Shetty.
- Venue: Science Museum, Innovation Lates.
- Date: 5 June 2026.
Giants on the Move, directed by Dadi Pudumjee (The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust).
- Venue: Exhibition Road, part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival.
- Dates: 6–7 June 2026.
Partners: Science Museum; Great Exhibition Road Festival; Serendipity Arts.
This article has been created from the press kit shared with Abir Pothi. For press releases and related queries, write to editor@abirpothi.com.
Cover Image:Giants on the Move – A Puppet Street | Image Credit: Serendipity Arts
Akanksha is an Associate Editor at Abir Pothi, writing on contemporary art and creating engaging videos that highlight artists and make art accessible to wider audiences.
