BySukant Deepak

October 30, 2020 (IANSlife) Serendipity Arles Grant (SAG) 2020 has closed in on 10 shortlisted grantees, as the first stage of selection in South Asia’s largest grant for lens-based practitioners from countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Initiated through an open call earlier in the year by the Serendipity Arts Foundation and Les Rencontres d’Arles, supported by the French Institute in India, the grant Jury has shortlisted 10 applications from hundreds of applications received, bringing a close to the first stage of the grants.  

Each of the shortlisted grantees will receive a grant of 70,000 rupees (approximately 800 euros). Along with receiving a part of the grant, these ten (10) shortlisted candidates will also be given the opportunity to showcase their work at the next edition of the Serendipity Arts Festival. The 10 shortlisted grantees include Adira Thekkuveettil (India), Alisha Sett & Jaisingh Nageswaran ( India ), Ishan Tankha (India), Nida Mehboob (Pakistan), Sathish Kumar (India), Sadia Marium (Bangladesh), Sanna Irshad Mattoo (India), Tenzing Dakpa (India), Vinayak Suresh (India) and Yu Yu Myint Than (Myanmar). 

The largest of its kind, the SAG was established this year with the aim of empowering artists from the region, as well as extending a spirit of regional cooperation and representation by promoting cultural practices in South Asia. The jury panel for SAG 2020 comprises Ravi Agarwal, Artist, Environmental Campaigner, Writer and Curator, Dayanita Singh, Photographer and Author, Tanzim Wahab curator and teacher, Devika Singh, Curator, International Art at Tate Modern, Christoph Wiesner, Director, Rencontres d’Arles and Smriti Rajgarhia, Director Serendipity Arts Foundation & Festival, representing different sections of the arts ecosystem, reviewing applications from around South Asia.   

At the next edition of Serendipity Arts Festival, the same jury will unanimously declare the finalist, from amongst the ten previously shortlisted artists, who would then receive a grant of 12 lakh rupees (approximately 15,000 euros) to develop the project and show the final presentation at Rencontres d'Arles, France, in 2022. 

Smriti Rajgarhia, Director, Serendipity Arts Foundation & Festival, said, "Serendipity Arts Foundation is happy to announce the ten shortlisted grantees for the SAG2020. We look forward to seeing their final work and to showcase their projects at the next edition of Serendipity Arts Festival. We are pleased about our collaboration with Rencontres d’Arles, an association which will help us, support artists, from the South Asian region, and promote their work on a global platform.” 

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Sukant Deepak can be contacted at sukant.d@ians.in