JOIN USThe Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012 will be remembered for a long time for its significant impact on the contemporary Indian art scene, writes Giridhar Khasnis.
By all accounts, the three-month long Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012 (KMB), which began on the magical date 12/12/12, and is scheduled to close on 13/03/13, is one of the most important and exciting art events organised in the country in recent times.
Curated by Kerala-born artists Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu, KMB has been able to offer a wide variety of art works from the sub-continent and beyond. Set up at multiple venues like Aspinwall House, David Hall, Pepper House, Moidu’s Heritage and Durbar Hall, the Biennale has successfully engaged itself with thousands of art lovers. The large and admiring audience has been particularly impressed by the way KMB has creatively transformed some of the old and dilapidated warehouses, godowns and waterfront buildings into scintillating art venues in and around Fort Kochi.
According to official figures, the Biennale has presented the work of more than 90 artists from 23 countries in 60+ spaces across 14 sites. The curatorial objective was to “invite artists from India (50) and abroad (44) to instigate a gathering of emerging ideas and ideologies; provide the occasion to explore critical imagery as a mechanism to process, reflect and rewrite history; and to make different histories — local, individual and collective — converge at Kochi — a space for expression created and leveraged by social activist movements.”
It is interesting to see how several of the invited artists have used the venues as well as the local environment itself to fashion their works. Even the ones who have sent in their existing works have significantly enhanced the overall artistic milieu, thanks to the intensity of the works and their skillful display.
As the visitor hops from one room to another, one building to another, and one venue to another, there are a number of truly absorbing works to delight and provoke him/her. Large scale photographs, videos, installations and multimedia involvement by both local and foreign artists seem to hold sway in the overall scheme of things.
If one were to climb the rickety stairs of Moidu’s Heritage building and enter a dark room with four large screens, s/he would be welcomed by Australian artist Angelica Mesiti’s ‘Citizens Band’ (Four channel video installation/High definition video, 16:9, PAL, surround sound/duration: 21 min 25 sec).
The work features four ordinary people captured in public places while being involved in unusual musical performances: Geraldine Zongo stands waist-deep in a swimming pool and drums up a complex rhythm using nothing but the water which surrounds her; Algerian singer Mohammed Lamourie croons and simultaneously plays his keyboard on a moving Parisian train; Mongolian musician Bukhchuluun Ganburged plays a long horse-head fiddle to accompany some extraordinary notes emerging from his throat; Sudanese taxi driver Asim Goreshi sits inside his car and poignantly whistles nostalgic tunes.
All in all, ‘Citizens Band’ offers many power-packed yet lyrical moments to leave the audience spellbound.
Among the other highlights at Moidu’s Heritage is ‘Desert of Pharan/Adam’ (2012, large-Scale photography and video) by Saudi artist Ahmed Mater (b.1979) whose stunning visuals follow the complex movements of millions of pilgrims at the Haj.
Nerve centre
Aspinwall House, the nerve centre of KMB, is teeming with works of nearly 50 artists. Among the must-see exhibits are ‘Cloud for Kochi’ (2012, Neon, water, wooden walkway, dimensions variable) by New York-based artist, architect and filmmaker Alfredo Jaar; Amar Kanwar’s ‘The Sovereign Forest’, an intriguing space filled with films, books and multiple media of variable dimensions; and Mumbai-based Anant Joshi’s captivating installation ‘Three Simple Steps’ (2012), made out of melted plastic toys, perfume, brick construction, mosquito repellent machine and wood.
In one of the expansive halls, Atul Dodiya has put together an elaborate photo-installation to celebrate some of the major contributors to Indian modern and contemporary art. Not far from it is ‘Five Rooms of Clouds’ — a politically charged installation — set up in five rooms by Clifford Charles, who incidentally, was the first black student to graduate with a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Witwatersrand, during apartheid South Africa.
The one artist who probably makes the strongest impression is Sun Xun from China; his astonishing animation piece titled ‘Shock of Time’ shows his mastery in blending ideas, skill and labour to execute a truly rigorous and challenging artwork.
Ranbir Kaleka’s ‘House of Opaque Water’ (Three Projections of 213.4 cm x 149.6 cm each); Subodh Gupta’s massive work made of wood and found objects, and K P Reji’s painting ‘Thoombinkal Chathan’ (300 cm x 450 cm/ oil on canvas) are among the many striking exhibits at Aspinwall.
In Pepper House, Iran-born, Adelaide-based Hossein Valamanesh (b.1949) has created a haunting environment using columns of light and darkness; while Pakistani artist Bani Abidi’s double channel video installation is an inquisitive take on Ram Sutar, an octogenarian sculptor known in India for large statues of politicians and national heroes.
There are many other attractions at KMB for the brave visitor who, along with an appetite for art, can also bear Kochi’s hot and sultry weather. It is not that all the works are uniformly attractive and thought-provoking. Some of them do look presumptuous, unnecessarily complicated/tiresome, and uninspiring. But when all is said and done, KMB is an art lover’s delight and will be remembered for a long, long time for its impact on contemporary Indian art.
Collateral
There were several collateral events organised alongside KMB. One of them titled ‘HAIL’, set up at the MNF Museum for Art and History, Ernakulam (Feb 5 - 28) was curated by Madhu V and comprised an array of paintings, sculpture, videos and installation by nearly three dozen artists.
Among the noticeable exhibits were Archana Hande’s energetic watercolour based animation piece (‘Of Panorama’ /10 min); Gigi Scaria’s video titled ‘Political Realism’; Priti Vadakkath’s large watercolour works, Murali Cheeroth’s ‘Treachery of Images’ (oil on canvas /48 x 60 inches) and Birendra Pani’s acrylic painting ‘History, Memory and Culture’, which drew inspiration from the rich legacy of diverse visual culture and the sensibility of Odisha.
A very interesting exhibit showed Bhuvanesh Gowda’s salvaged wooden sculptures titled ‘Amendments’. “The two wooden objects in Amendments II & III were earlier allocated as meat chopping blocks, and had been subjected to the harsh activity which also contributed in shaping their form,” explained Gowda. “Digging beneath their violently textured surface or by shaving off their past, I look into the emancipation of those blocks as art objects.”