The Island That Never Gets Flooded 2023

Artists can contribute to the public realm in many ways, the outcomes of which may not always be readily defined as art. Public art projects may aesthetically enhance an environment; be utilitarian; respond to a particular site through material, form and concept; educate and comment on issues and events; commemorate the past; and much more.  It can become a familiar feature in the fabric of the city that generates a sense of ownership, a sense of place, and help in cultivating community identity. It can offer insights into issues through the research and expression of artists and deliver a range of outcomes through community involvement.

For the Public Art Grant 2023, titled ‘The Island That Never Gets Flooded’, Serendipity Arts invited nominations for artists based in Goa to create new interventions and immersions using sites, localities and technology through interdisciplinary practices in the city of Panjim. 

Studio Matter’s proposal – The Children’s Pavilion – was one of the grantees.

Designed as a juxtaposition of a square and a circle, the pavilion engages with the notion of indiscipline, asymmetry and play with a meandering wall and a frame that lends itself to a multitude of programmatic engagements: theatre, workshops, story-telling sessions etc. A porous public container, the architecture of the space breaks away from the monotony of a white-box / black-box spatial constructs that enable display and performance. The structure attempts to dissolve the rigid boundaries between inside and outside; between architecture and landscape. 

More at serendipityartsfestival.com