Serendipity Arts Residency 2025
Residency Duration
May 12, 2025 – August 8, 2025
About
Serendipity Arts Foundation is delighted to announce the OPEN CALL for Serendipity Arts Residency 2025, an annual three-month artists residency based in New Delhi. Applications are invited from emerging artists working across disciplines, including a broad range of forms such as visual arts, movement-based practices, and artists engaged in installation, sound or other innovative media.
In its eighth edition, the residency seeks to provide its residents with space and resources to develop their practice, work on a new project and interact with the broader art community in New Delhi.
In the course of the three months, the five artists and one programmer selected for the programme will participate in a lineup of peer-to-peer conversations, critique sessions, artist talks and presentations, performances, masterclasses, workshops, gallery and studio visits. Alongside, they will be required to conceptualize and produce a new work. The residency will conclude with a showcase in an open studio format, while the show could include exhibitions, performances, explorations, and/or WIP presentations.
Intake
5 Artists-in-Residence and 1 Programmer-in-Residence
Timelines
Deadline to Apply: March 6 (11:59 PM IST)
Commencement of Residency: May 12, 2025
Open Studio: August 1, 2025
Facilities
Residents will be provided furnished accommodation and access to a studio space in New Delhi. All six participants will be entitled to an allowance (which will include any and all expenditure on meals) and the five Artists-in-Residence will receive a production grant to cover purchase of material, implements, additional technical support as well as support for hiring musician/script writer/costume/set, etc towards the outcome of the Residency. The programmer-in-residence will be entitled to a fee for their work towards the outcome of the Residency.
The Foundation will advise the residents on the implementation of their projects, provide technical infrastructure, and build publicity for events organized around the residency. It will also help residents contact curators, artists, critics, gallery owners, workshop facilitators, etc., they are keen to reach out to. The residency then becomes a platform for artists to build networks and interact with professional possibilities within the art world.
These programmes are designed to give the artists a greater awareness of their own art practice, as well as exposure to other mediums, and the wherewithal to make the connections and build the networks required for the expansion of their practice. Besides a focus on art practice and production, each artist will be encouraged to share their work with their peers, and the programmer-in-residence.
The programmer-in-residence documents and contextualizes the residency and helps put together a show for the Open Studio. The resident artists will have the opportunity to regularly engage with them to discuss their practice, conceptual ideas and specific details about their works for the residency.
Programmer-in-Residence
Selection Process:
Programmer-in-Residence will be selected by the Jury via an Open Call.
Scope
- The Programmer-in-Residence will act as the main point of contact between the Foundation and the artists-in-residence, for regular monitoring of their proposed project(s) – from conception to final realisation.
- They will coordinate all arts-related programmes and projects for Serendipity Arts Residency, including lead-up events, workshops, seminars, Festival, etc.
- They will programme the course of the residency in consultation with the Foundation team.
- They will schedule the outcome of the residency for the Open Studio.
- They will liaise with the operations team at the Foundation for production-related work related to the project(s), including technical detailing, spatial visualisation, and coordination of all operational aspects of the project for the Open Studio and the Festival in Panjim, Goa.
- They will assist the content team with writing for social media and digital promotion.
Eligibility
- The Programmer-in-Residence should be an Indian national residing in India.
- The applicants must not be more than 35 years of age.
- The applicant must have at least 3 years of practical experience in art curation, practice, research, and/or critical writing in the field of arts and culture.
- The applicant must not have been part of a residency in the last one year.
Application Process
A completed application form, which will include the following:
- A brief updated CV (not more than 2 pages long).
- Short bio (not more than 250 words).
- A written report of a project that you have programmed/assisted with programming (not more than 500 words). This can be supported with photos.
- A statement of purpose of not more than 500 words.
Artists-in-Residence
Selection Process:
Artists-in-Residence will be selected by the Jury via an Open Call.
Eligibility
- The residency is open to Indian nationals residing in India.
- Applicants must not be more than 35 years of age at the time of submission.
- The residency is open to artists from these disciplines: visual arts, performance art, and performing arts.
Application Process
Completed application form, which will include the following:
- A brief, updated CV (max. 2 pages) / Your bio in 250 words
- Educational qualifications
- Project Proposal and an essay explaining why the applicant would like to attend the Residency, what he/she would like to do while in attendance and how the experience is likely to contribute to their present practice and/or project (in not more than 800 words)
- A short portfolio of the applicant’s present practice. This may consist of:
- artwork
- videos, sound files (embedded as open links)
- photographs or other documentation of previous works
- a combination of the above where total no. of items submitted are no more than 5
jury
Born in 1977 in Amritsar (India), Astha Butail lives and works in Gurgaon (India). Her practice moves between textile and paper, painting, installation, brass, and glass. Butail draws upon references from literature, philosophy, nature, spirituality, history and more importantly orality.
She was the recipient of the 2017 BMW Discoveries Art Journey Award and Scholarship for the project In the Absence of Writing. Butail has had solo exhibitions at Cork Street London (2025), Kewenig Pied a Terre Berlin (2023), Gujral Foundation India (2019), among others. Some of her group exhibitions include PEAC Museum Germany (2024), Indian Ceramic Triennale (2024), Kunst Meran Merano Italy (2024), JSW Foundation India (2023), Tristan Hoare London (2023) and KNMA museum India (2023), National Craft Museum (2023), among others.
Sharbendu De is a contemporary lens-based artist, educator and a writer, deeply invested in the climate and ecological discourse, indigenous narratives as well multispecies ecologies. In 2023, he founded an online climate educational program titled Decoding Anthropocene: Tackling Climate Crisis for South Asian lens-based storytellers, supported by PhotoSouthAsia. De’s conceptual approach to photography has been called ‘cinematic stills’ and ‘tableaux’s’ for their emblematic style. He was a Visiting Artist Fellow at the Harvard University (2022), and an artist-in-residence at the Hampi Art Labs (2024). He has received grants from the National Geographic Society, KHOJ, Lucie Foundation, India Foundation for the Arts and MurthyNAYAK Foundation.
Over the last 14 years, De has taught photography and visual communications across universities and cultural institutions in India including AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi University, Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Visva Bharati University and Sri Aurobindo Center for Art & Communication.
Irawati Karnik is a writer, playwright, screenwriter, translator, dramaturg and actor based out of Mumbai. She writes in Marathi, Hindi and English. Irawati began her theatre journey in 2003 by working closely with the late Chetan Datar for the theatre group Awishkar, founded by the late Vijay Tendulkar. Since then, she has collaborated closely with several imminent theatre directors to create plays that have been performed nationally as well as internationally. A number of her translations, both fiction and non-fiction, have been published by Oxford University Press. Irawati has also written several award-winning films. An alumnus of Sir J.J. School of Fine Arts, Irawati has worked towards Research and Documentation of Indian contemporary art. Her writing and translation features in books published by Bodhana Arts & Research Foundation. She is currently the Academic Head of Drama School Mumbai.
Abeer is the curator at Arthshila and the Director of Achi Association India. His research focuses on the western Himalayas, particularly in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, where he explores oral histories, material cultures, and visual archives. His work spans curating art, education, and community media projects, as well as several documentary films and video installations. His academic expertise extends to teaching roles at institutions such as the National Institute of Design, Ambedkar University Delhi, and JNU. Abeer holds a Master’s Degree in Visual Anthropology from Goldsmiths College, London.
Anoushka Kurien is a dancer and choreographer based in Chennai. Her 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. Kurien’s choreographic works are ‘What Talk of Body’, ‘Notebooks from Alaiyathi’, ‘Workbook’, ‘To Be Danced’, ‘In Rooms’ and ‘Restricted View’. She writes to document and to work through her interest in the play of text, moving image and sound.
She trained with choreographer Padmini Chettur, performing in five group productions since 2003. Her work has been supported by Gender Bender 2020, SAF Commission 2018, Inlaks Foundation Facets 2012, JN Tata Endowment 2010 at Trinity-Laban and by her teaching practice with children. Kurien sometimes works with an artists’ collective, finding ways to engage as a contemporary art community in Chennai.
Image Courtesy: Kunal Daswani
Terms and Conditions
- Applicants must not be more than 35 years of age at the time of submission.
- The residency is open only to Indian Citizens residing in the country at least over the past 2 years.
- Applicants must not have attended a residency in the past 1 year.
- Selected residents will be announced by late April. Selections will be undertaken by an external panel of jury appointed by Serendipity Arts.
- Applications by immediate family members of Serendipity Arts employees will not be considered.
FAQs
Q1. Can I apply with a work-in-progress project?
A1. Yes, you can apply with a work-in-progress project or a new project that you would like to realise during the course of this residency.
Q2. I do not have a portfolio. What else can I share?
A2. You can share a set of samples of your work.
Q3. I live in New Delhi; can I still apply?
A3. Yes. Selected applicants are expected to stay in the accommodation provided by SAF for the course of the residency.
Q4. Will my travel from my hometown be covered by SAF?
A4. No. Selected applicants will have to travel to New Delhi at their own expense.
Q5. Can I bring collaborators on-board?
A5. Yes, however their fee would have to be covered by the artist-in-residence.
Q6. I will be available to stay in Delhi only for a few days. Can I still apply?
A6. No. The selected applicants need to be in Delhi for the entire duration.
Q7. I have a full-time job. Can I still apply?
A7. No. The selected applicants need to be involved in the residency full-time.
Q8. I am working on several other projects as a freelancer. Can I still apply?
A8. Yes. But the selected applicant needs to be involved in the residency full-time.
Q9. Can I apply for the role of Programmer-in-Residence without experience?
A9. No. The applicant must have at least 3 years of practical experience to apply for the same. Please refer to the eligibility criteria for more information.
Q10. I am a performance-based artist applying for the open call. Can you specify the dimensions of the rehearsal space provided?
A10. Unfortunately, due to constraints, the dimensions of the space you may use for your performance/rehearsals will be approximately 390 sq. ft. We encourage you to consider whether this will be adequate for your project before you apply.
For any enquiries, please contact [email protected] & [email protected]
*Applications are now closed for Serendipity Arts Residency 2025
SIGN IN WITH GOOGLE
