BIENNALE NARRATIVES EVOLVING WHILE ROOTED TO ITS BASICS: CURATORS

ANW I MD NICHE I DELHI I AUG 24, 2015 I 0730

The narrative and aesthetics of Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) may evolve but its core spirit of invoking Kochi’s latent cosmopolitan spirit and multicultural history will remain, said its curators.

Three weeks after the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) announced its curator for the upcoming (2016) edition of the KMB, speakers at a panel discussion in Mumbai shared their experience of conceiving the biennale—more so the challenges behind its organization.

Moderated by art historian, Prajna Desai, the discussion on Friday had KMB first edition’s co-curators Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu along with their 2014 and 2016 counterparts Jitish Kallat and Sudarshan Shetty highlighting how the biennale has retained its “quality of being in the opposition”.

The 80-minute interaction, which began with a short film that essayed the essence of the past two KMB editions, which had combined footfall of 9 lakh, began with Krishnamachari recalling the genesis of the biennale.

“Since then, the effort has been to strengthen contemporary art infrastructure and to broaden public access to art in India,” he told a packed gathering at the National Gallery of Modern Art. “We have also been engaged in exchange programmes and residencies by bringing many collaborations.”

Komu pointed out that the KMB has been a strong platform that introduces contemporary international visual art theory and practice to India, showcase and debate new Indian and international aesthetics besides art experiences so as to enable a dialogue among artists, curators and the public.

Reaffirming the KMB’s original mission as a "People's Biennale" to create a new language of cosmopolitanism and modernity rooted in the lived and living experience of Kochi as an old trading port, he noted that the coastal city has for more than six centuries been a crucible of numerous communal identities. “Kochi is among the few cities in India where pre-colonial traditions of cultural pluralism continue to flourish. These traditions pre-date the post-Enlightenment ideas of cultural pluralism, globalisation and multiculturalism,” he pointed out.

In fact, they can be traced to Muziris, the ancient city that was buried under layers of mud and mythology after a massive flood in the 14th century, he added.

Kallat said that the biennale has been a success story in India—more so considering that it is only two editions old. Kallat pointed out that the KMB’14 he curated was “not just about Kochi but from Kochi”, adding how he had included his deep interest in cosmology to the curatorial note. Indeed, “the biennale’s fragility has been its strength”.

Shetty, who has initiated conversation with potential artists at 2016 biennale, said that a detailed research and conversations are on with people from different disciplines in an attempt to bridge tradition and contemporaneity.