Serendipity Arts Foundation and Les Rencontres d’Arles have announced the second edition of the Serendipity Arles Grant, the largest grant of its kind for lens-based practitioners in South Asia. This initiative is aimed at strengthening regional cooperation through cultural exchange and promoting cultural practices in South Asia. The grant amount for the winner this year will be 15,000 euros, which includes travel, production, accommodation, and other direct costs related to all representations. The grant is open to lens-based practitioners from South Asian countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The open call for entries has begun on the 30th of January 2023 and will be shared through the social media handles and websites of the Serendipity Arts, Les Rencontres d’Arles, and the French Institute in India/Embassy of France in India. The process of receiving applications will close on the 15th of March 2023. A distinguished jury will review the valid applications received within this deadline.
The grant will be awarded in two stages. The first stage will recognize and support five artists with a grant of 70,000 rupees and an opportunity to showcase their work at the upcoming edition of the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa, India. From among the shortlisted candidates, the same jury will unanimously declare the finalist at the 2023 festival. The finalist will receive a grant of 15,000 euros to develop the project and showcase the final presentation at Rencontres d’Arles, France, in 2024.
SERENDIPITY ARTS
Serendipity Arts, a Munjal initiative for creativity, is a not-for-profit arts and cultural development foundation that fosters cultural development and supports emerging artists across South Asia. It aims to promote new creative strategies, artistic interventions, and cultural partnerships that are responsive, addressing the social, cultural and environmental milieus of South Asia. The Foundation’s programmes are designed and initiated through innovative collaborations with partners across a multitude of fields, impacting education, promoting social growth via community development programmes, and exploring inter-disciplinarity across the arts.
ARLES, CAPITAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
For over 50 years, the annual Rencontres d’Arles photography festival has participated in transforming and disseminating the medium alongside great names in the field. Year after year, the festival tries to make sense of a changing world. During the summer, visitors can see nearly 40 exhibitions in historic, contemporary and unexpected places and meet artists and curators on the program. At night, Arles continues to pulsate with festive events revolving around photography. All year, the Rencontres d’Arles offers courses in photography, visual education and reading images. Since 2016, the Grand Arles Express and its 15 exhibitions have showcased the vibrancy and diversity of photography in the South of France. The Rencontres d’Arles also has an international presence with the Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival in Xiamen, China. You can learn more about the festival at www.rencontres-arles.com.
FRENCH INSTITUTE IN INDIA
The French Institute in India (IFI) is the Education, Science and Culture service of the Embassy of France in India. It facilitates academic and scientific exchange between higher institutes of learning and research, enables student mobility, and promotes the French language, and artistic and cultural partnerships. Cooperation between India and France takes place through a number of sectors: Arts & Culture, Books & Ideas, French Language & Education, Study in France programme, Academic Partnerships, Science and Technology, as well as Innovation and Multimedia. To know more, visit www.ifindia.in.
All information about the grant, eligibility, and application process is available on the Serendipity Arts website. The grant aims to empower artists from the region and further a spirit of regional cooperation and representation.
