Biennale celebrates diversity in artistic expression

As the third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) opens on Monday, the narrative discourse of the popular contemporary art festival could be defined by a coming-together of diverse artistic expressions in a space of synergy.

Eminent contemporary artist Sudarshan Shetty, the curator of KMB 2016, says the third edition–titled Forming in the pupil of an eye– will showcase diverse approaches to art, its sensibilities and practices.

“Selecting from and bringing together a multiplicity of disparate sources of material, the artists gather and layer all the complexity of the world into their representations of it. Forming in the pupil of an eye is an assembly and layering of multiple realities,” says his curatorial statement.

The Biennale will run for 108 days (till March 29, 2017) and feature performances and production of 97 artists from 36 countries. The final list of artists, across disciplines, released by the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) includes writers, dancers, poets, musicians, theatre practitioners and visual artists.

The event will be spread across 12 venues in Fort Kochi-Mattanchery, Ernakulam and Kodungallur. The KBF uses restored heritage properties, defunct warehouses, public spaces and galleries as venues for the event.

The main exhibition will be complemented with programmes including the Students’ Biennale featuring works of over 470 students from 55 art schools across India. The daily tickets priced at Rs 100 each (Rs 50 for students) provide access to all venues.

Most of the works on display will be new, some of them shipped in, some done on site and some, including an expansive mural coming up at the Aspinwall House, to be completed during the course of the event.

Sophie Dejode and Bertrand Lacombe (installation, France), Daniele Galliano (painting, Italy), Pedro Gomez-Egana (installation, Colombia/Norway), Sergio Chefjec (text installation, Argentina/ USA), Mikhail Karikis (video, Greece/ UK), Desmond Lazaro (installation, UK/India) and Gary Hill (video, sculpture and installation, USA) are among artists showcased at KMB 2016.

Bonny Thomas, KBF Trustee and research coordinator, says the Biennale is evolving with time and the vision brought in by its successive curators. “This edition is also pegged to diversity in art and features litterateurs and artists who practise in unconventional forms and styles,” he says.

Acclaimed Chilean poet-revolutionary Raul Zurita will be the Biennale’s “first artist”. The KBF states that the decision to host Zurita is a nod to Kerala’s “intimate relation” with Latin American art and culture.

 It also reflects a continuing effort to expand the scope of the Biennale by featuring talents outside of the conventional painting-and-sculpture spaces. Chinese poet Ouyang Jianghe, painter-poet from Mexico Valerie Mejer Casoand Slovenian poet-novelist Ales Steger are among artists featured in this edition.

KMB 2016 (www.kochimuzirisbiennale.org ) will feature works of 36 Indian artists, among them acclaimed cartoonist E P Unny,  eminent Malayalam  writer  Anand and graphic artist Orijit Sen. Stage performances by Anamika Haksar and Kalakshetra Manipur, Sangam poetry recitals, dance performances and print-making are among the events.

Bengaluru-based Avinash Veeraraghavan, who works on graphic books, digital photo-montage and multi-channel video installations, will display works in embroidery and video at the Biennale. The 12 venues are Aspinwall House, Pepper House, Kashi Art Cafe, Cabral Yard, David Hall, Durbar Hall, MAP Project Space, Anand Warehouse, TKM Warehouse, Kashi Art Gallery, Cochin Club and Kottapuram Fort in Kodungallur.

The KBF had, in November, appointed Manju Sara Rajan as its CEO. Even as the foundation oversees last-lap arrangements ahead of India’s only biennale, it’s hard to miss the impact demonetisation of high-value currency notes has had on the event.

“Some of the installations have not been completed because there were issues related to payment to workers on the site. We hope that they are completed by the time the Biennale picks pace,” says a member of the organising team.

The 2012 and 2014 editions of the Biennale had about three lakh and five lakh visitors respectively; the organisers hope to see a rise in footfall despite the demonetisation’s reported effect on tourism sector. “The tourist numbers are also crucial. The Biennale, while showcasing art, is also pegged to the idea of culture tourism,” says the member.

 The KBF has entered into an agreement with headload workers’ unions which effects a 30% reduction from the 2014 edition in rates for installing and unloading artworks. In April last year, Waswo X Waswo, a US-born Rajasthan-based photographer-writer had posted a video on YouTube in which he was seen destroying articles from his installation exhibited in KMB 2014, in a protest against unreasonable demands by headload workers.

KMB 2016 will feature seminars, talks, workshops, film screenings and music sessions. Under the segment Artists’ Cinema, narrative, documentary and experimental films curated by filmmakers and film scholars will be screened. The 2016 edition will have nine curators in the segment.

Cinema Travellers, a Cannesprize-winning Marathi-Hindi documentary feature by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya, will be the opening film. The KBF also runs Art by Children, an art education initiative covering 100 schools across the state’s 14 districts.