Serendipity Grants

Food Matters Grant, 2026

About

Food Matters Grant was established by Serendipity Arts to create a knowledge network and support inquiry of food practices across India. This interdisciplinary grant approaches food not merely as a subject matter but as a way of knowing—a method for understanding history, community, ecology, and identity.

The grant invites researchers, artists, writers, practitioners, and collectives to pursue projects that explore culinary practices at the intersections of literature, politics, technology, and culture. Food, beyond sustaining our bodies, reveals a great deal about the diverse world that shapes us. We seek projects that reflect this curiosity, using food as a way to explore and understand the textures of everyday life in visual, performative or textual formats.

Projects based on/around but not limited to the following are welcome:

  • Oral histories around food
  • Documentation and archiving 
  • Cultural memory
  • Food politics
  • Food in literature
  • Sustainable practices in food 
  • Storytelling around food
  • Food and art
  • Food and technology

Intake

2

Duration

12 months

Grant Amount

Up to 1 Lakh, which will be released in two tranches (70%, 30%). The grant amount can be used for travel for research, accommodation and per-diem, research cost (books, subscriptions, tuition fee), cost of outcome, etc.

Eligibility

  1. Applicants can be individuals or collectives.
  2. Applicant must be an Indian National in possession of an Indian bank account.
  3. Applicant with academic or artistic experience in the field of food practice is preferred but not compulsory.

Application requirements

  1. Completed application form with basic contact information.
  2. Project proposal of not more than 300 words.
  3. Detailed budget break up and timeline of the project.
  4. A brief bio and professional CV – not more than 200 words.
  5. Portfolio/Statement of Purpose

The proposal shall include details about why this project is significant, what you think it will add to the food discourse in India and South Asia. It should also include a clear description of the outcome and a short outline of the resources i.e. libraries, institutions, or experts the applicant wishes to engage with in the course of their project. The timeline should give an outline of the course this project is likely to take. The budget will be required to mark out how the grant will be used over the stated timeline of the project.

Applicants to submit a budget break-up for up to 1 lakh to cover the following: 

  1. Travel (bus, train, and economy class)
  2. Accommodation.
  3. Living expenses (i.e. local transportation, per diem payments etc.).
  4. Funds for buying materials, books and making copies of relevant literature, and subscriptions.
  5. Tuition fees towards an institution.
  6. Cost of documenting outcome.
  7. Resources that the applicant deems necessary for the project.

Selection Procedure

The grantees will be selected by a Jury panel in conversation with the Serendipity Arts team.

Outcomes & Deliverables

Each grant project is expected to produce at least one tangible, public-facing outcome. We actively encourage projects that produce across multiple forms — a research essay that also becomes a festival programme, an archive that also becomes an exhibition.

Written & Research Outcomes

  • Long-form research essays, academic articles, or narrative non-fiction
  • Published or publishable investigations into food practice and culture
  • Annotated recipes with historical or ethnographic framing

Artistic & Performative Outcomes

  • Visual art, photography, or film emerging from food research
  • Performance, theatre, or durational work engaging food themes
  • Sound and music works rooted in the sonic world of food
  • Sensory or participatory installations

Archival & Documentary Outcomes

  • Oral history collections with community consent and archival rigour
  • Photographic or video documentation of endangered food practices
  • Annotated community recipe archives or ingredient catalogues

Festival Presence

Grantees across all cohorts will be invited to present their work — in whatever form is most appropriate — at the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa. This is not a requirement, but an opportunity. SAF will offer platform, curatorial support, and where needed, production assistance for grantees whose work is suited to live or public presentation. Over time, this creates a growing, living archive of food knowledge in India — presented not in academic journals or government reports, but in one of the region’s most vital public cultural spaces.

Additional Support

Serendipity Arts shall connect the grantee to field experts, mentors, practitioners, and other professionals to aid in expanding the scope of the chosen project based on requirement.

Terms and Conditions

  1. The grants must be utilized within one year of the date of award.
  2. The grantees will be required to submit a quarterly progress report via email. Upon completion of the project, the grantees will be required to submit a final project report. 
  3. The grantees will be required to submit audited Fund Utilisation Certificates (format to be shared by Serendipity Arts) and supporting bills for the grant amount, to Serendipity Arts.
  4. Recipients will be required to sign and submit a statement of truth pledging, that the grant has been used for its proper purpose. 
  5. **Copies of materials collected by the selected candidates (books, copies, instruments etc.) could be contributed to SAF’s library for wider use by future scholars. 
  6. Every time the outcome is presented it needs to include a statement crediting the support received from Serendipity Arts.
  7. Additional expenses, over and above the grant amount would be borne by the awardee.
  8. In the case of a showcase only one individual from the collective will be invited to the festival.

Jury

  • Anuradha Kapur
  • Geeta Chandran
  • Surjit Nongmeikapam

FAQS

Q1. What is food practice?
A1. Food practice includes anything from the way food is cooked in a particular region to environmental factors that contribute to the cultivation and cooking of food, the relationship of food with cultural practices, the role that food has played in the evolution of humankind as well as the evolution of food over centuries, why and how people eat, with whom they eat, as well as the ways people obtain, store, use, and discard food. Individual, social, cultural, religious, economic, environmental, and political factors all influence food practices.

Q2. Can the outcome be an essay?
A2. Yes, the outcome of the project can be an essay.

Q3. Can this be an ongoing project?
A3. Yes, this can be an ongoing project.

Q4. Is this an additional grant?
A4. Yes, this can be an additional grant. The project could have received funding previously.

Q5. I work with a friend as a collective. Can I still apply?
A5. Yes, a collective can apply for the grant, provided that the collective has an Indian bank account. Alternatively, a member of the collective holding an Indian bank account can sign the contract on behalf of the collective.

Q6. What is a portfolio?
A6. A portfolio is a thoughtfully designed visual selection and presentation of your projects, skills, work process, and ideas.

Q7. I don’t have a portfolio. What else can I send as part of my application?
A7. You can send samples of the work done in the field including but not limited to essays, photographs, videos. An Instagram handle could also be your portfolio.

Q8. What do you mean by a tangible outcome?
A8. A tangible outcome can be anything from an essay to a dinner to an exhibition. We encourage you to think of the process as a part of the outcome which can be documented. We welcome essays, blogs, websites, curated dinners, performances, experiences that you would like to create on ground for an audience, or a work-in-progress project which may continue to grow.

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