As South Asia’s most premiere and celebrated Arts Festival – Serendipity Arts Festival turns a decade, it is all set to leave its footprints beyond South Asia and take the talents all across the globe. With a plan of hosting mini –edition in ten different cities, it is all set to take place in Birmingham city in collaboration with the Birmingham City University (BCU) from May 23, 2025. Named, The serendipity Arts Festival Mini Edition, it will feature, engaging talks, interactive workshops, pop-up libraries, masterclasses, unforgettable progams and much more highlight the diverse South Asian tradition on the Birmingham stage.
What to look forward to the Serendipity arts Festival Mini Edition in Birmingham?
Several exhibitions, installations, talks, performances and more have been curated to keep one busy during the entire duration of the Festival. The Zakir Hussain Maquette by Dayanita Singh is a photographic tribute to the late maestro; Eternal Echoes curated by Helen Acharya is a record of archival images of Indian instruments from the collection of Sunil Kant Munjal and Pop-up Library features books on the musical history of India curated by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Remembering Zakir Hussain is a talk by Sumantra Ghosal while Scoring to Picture Masterclass by Zubin Balaporia and Sameer Patwardhan is an interesting session on composing music for film. The Art of Taal is a confluence of Drum and Tabla, a workshop by Ginko Banks, Zubin Balaporia and Ojas Adhiya.
Film screenings like Sumantra Ghosal’s The Speaking Hand, a documentary on Zakir Hussain and Indian Music on Film curated by Dharmesh Rajput an ensemble of films which showcase soundscapes more than dialogues will also give you new perspective to visuals.
Bookmarks your days for the unmissable performances
Listen to an evening of Portuguese – goan music called Sempre Fado, performed by Zubin Balaporia, and Nadia Rebelo or Across Oceans, a cross cultural collaboration between Indian and American Jazz traditions. Banda Brasileira reflects the musical traditions of Brazil presented by Shanti Jayasinha along with Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC). An evening of Ghazals and Old bollywood Classics by Priyanka Barve, Sarang Kulkarni and others. The RBC Folk Ensemble which will be mix of jazz, rock, global and contemporary styles and the closing act which is also the showstopper of the Festival, the Thumri in the Chamber concert by Vijay Prakash, Priyanka Barve and string quartet.
This four-day mini edition in Birmingham is a precursor to the tenth edition of the Serendipity Arts Festival which will take place in Panjim, Goa between December 12 – 21, 2025.