Serendipity Grants

Serendipity Arts Virtual Grant

About

Serendipity Arts {Virtual} Grant is back for the second edition, inviting applications for digital projects across all disciplines responding to the interweb as a site. 
 
The Grant would be awarded to one collectives, group, duo, or collaborations to develop a project adapted to the digital space with funding up to INR 1 lakh. Projects have to be interdisciplinary in nature, inviting collaborative projects, and will be hosted on the Serendipity Arts website.

OPEN CALL

10th April

APPLICATION DEADLINE

22nd May

Grantee Announcement

12th June

Application Guidelines

  • Project must be a new media project. 
  • Project proposals not limited in scope, and can cross disciplines in science, art and literature or others.
  • The Grant is only open to collaborations, collectives, duos etc. 
  • Project proposal must be adapted to the digital/virtual space, developing a project responding to the internet as a site.
  • The project proposal must be interdisciplinary in nature.
  • Project proposal not be more that 1000 words, submitting details explaining the concept and story board of the production, along with a statement of relevance/justification of the grant, and nature of collaboration. 
  • A detailed budget must be submitted along with the application.
  • Applicants must submit examples of past work, as well as an execution plan for the project proposal.
  • Complete Application Form must be submitted in order for proposal to qualify for shortlisting.

Terms and Conditions

  • No Age Limit for applications.
  • The project will be hosted on Serendipity Arts domain only. Compliance for the same mentioned below (Specifications). 
  • The Grant is open to practitioners in India only.
  • Applicants must be emerging/mid-career practitioners, having about 2-10 years of experience in their discipline.
  • This grant is applicable only for developing a new project. An idea for the project could have been showcased before as a work in progress sharing, however not as a complete project. The documentation of the work in progress is to be submitted as part of the application.
  • Applicants who have received a grant in the past 1 year (from the day of the open call) for the same proposed project, from the date of announcement of the Serendipity Arts {Virtual} Grant are ineligible to apply.  (change language to project shouldn’t have been showcased in any digital form previously).  
  • The Grant shall be availed within 6 months of receiving it. 
  • The Applicant must submit server specifications for the project to be hosted on the Serendipity Arts domain.
  • The server space provided by Serendipity Arts to host the selected projects would be limited to 100GB each.
  • After the selection, the grantees shall sign a contract with Serendipity Arts to complete the selection process.
  • Due credits to be given to Serendipity Arts, wherever the Grant Project is mentioned or showcased. 
  • Reports/WIP to be submitted every fortnight, after receiving the grant. 
  • Selection would be done through an internal committee.

Deliverables

  • The awardees on the completion of the project must submit a Project Report.
  • Audited fund utilization certificate as per format provided for the total fund granted must be submitted by the Grantees to Serendipity Arts.
  • Serendipity Arts shall connect the grantee to field experts, mentors, practitioners, and other professionals from the SAF universe, to aid in expanding the scope of the chosen project based on its requirement.

Selection Conditions

  • Degree of interdisciplinarity 
  • Integration of technology/new media/code
  • Nature of collaboration

FAQS

  • What is a new media project?
    New Media projects are creative ideas arising from technology that includes digital interfaces, computer generated animations, gaming, human-computer interface, interactive virtual installations, websites, virtual worlds – AI or VR etc. 

  • What are interdisciplinary projects?
    Interdisciplinary projects are proposals which go beyond a single area of practice and inquiry in Art, Literature, Science etc. An example of an interdisciplinary projects are Future Landing, SUNO, Homemakers .

  • Can I render a pre-existing physical project in a virtual space for the grant?
    Yes, an existing project can be executed digitally for the grant.

  • I am a Visual Art practitioner, can I apply by myself?
    No, the grant is only open to collaborative projects, collectives or duos. 

  • My project has received a seed funding, can I still apply for the grant?
    Yes, you can apply if your project has already received another grant.

  • What should the budget include?
    The budget must include the heads of expenditure associated to developing a digital project like web design, web development, artists fee, coding fee, etc.

  • I am a coder, can I collaborate with a Chef or Performer for the a project pitched for the Grant? 
    Yes, all collaborative projects across disciplines are eligible for the Grant.

  • Do I need to purchase a domain?
    No, the grant project would be hosted on the Serendipity Arts {Virtual} domain within its servers.
 

Grantees

Abhiraj Mengade

Abhiraj Mengade is a young Computer Science Engineering student with a strong problem-solving passion, pursuing his Bachelor’s from NITK and IIT, Madras. His creative side resonates with his skill of leveraging new technology to bring out unique results. His projects have been awarded at International hackathons like Polkadot Sociathon, Paris and ETHIndia ‘22. 

Akshika Goel

Akshika Goel is a multi-disciplinary writer and researcher who completed her Bachelor’s in literature from Miranda House, University of Delhi and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at IIT Bombay. She aspires to interrogate living traditions, sounds, and images, in addition to written texts, by weaving together diverse media and technology in her critical practice.  


Sudeshna Rana

Sudeshna Rana is a writer, poet, and editor with an interest in gender, culture, ecology. Her works appear in Paper Planes, Polyester Zine, Smash board, Feminism in India, Cocoa & Jasmine Magazine and Red River Publishing. Her piece on female friendship will appear in an anthology published by Yoda Press. A recipient of South Asia Speaks 2022 fellowship, she is currently writing an ecofeminist account of Dhanbad, the coal capital of India. Her writings focus on female friendships, gender representations in media and the relationship between culture and climate crisis.

Akash Bharadwaj

Akash Bharadwaj studied Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He is presently a research scholar in the history department at Shiv Nadar University, Dadri, Uttar Pradesh. He is interested in the histories and technologies of museum-making and the discourse around decolonisation and social justice in Modern South Asia and the world. He also runs a digital project, Bihar Visual, which acts as a place for creating local yet cosmopolitan narratives on a region’s art, culture and heritage.

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