: An inviting segment of the forthcoming Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB) will be a four-month-long festival of performing arts featuring some 650 artistes, involving 25 cultural groups.
Curated by Keli Ramachandran, the fest taking place in Ernakulam and Thrissur will cover a range of heritage art forms from different parts of India, belonging to different periods.
Traditional art events were a huge draw in the maiden Biennale held in 2012.
The cultural programmes of the forthcoming Biennale would also provide space for literary events, seminars and ‘meet-the-artist’ sessions in a bid to probe the essence of such traditions in the context of contemporary practice, Mr. Ramachandran told the media here on Saturday.
The inaugural of the cultural fete at Changampuzha Park in Edappally on November 29 will have an innovative thayambaka ensemble, featuring traditional and novel kooru rhythmic passages in a triple thayambaka recital by percussionists Panamanna Sasi, Sukapuram Dileep and Udayan Namboodiri.
A Kathakali fest presenting four ‘Kottayam plays’ known for their rigid choreography will take place at the same venue between December 8 and 11, the eve of the Biennale opening when thespian Kalamandalam Gopi will take to the kaliyarangu as Arjunan of Kalakeyavadham.
A ‘Day with the Artist’ featuring veteran performers and prodigies such as Kalamandalam Gopi (Kathakali), Peruvanam Kuttan Marar (percussion ensemble), Sarojini Nangiaramma and Usha Nangiar(Nangiarkoothu), Thampi Payyappilly (Chavittu Natakam), Sanjana Kapoor (contemporary theatre), V.K.K Hariharan (mizhavu drum) Payyannur Ramachandran (Theyyam) and Kalamandalam Rammohan (Kathakali makeup and costume) besides promising budding artistes promises to be a special treat.
Jitish Kallat, curator of the biennale, said the idea of the cultural fest was to have a reinterpretation of traditional arts by the finest voices in these traditions from a contemporary perspective.
Riyas Komu, KMB’s Director of Programmes, said the cultural segment with its research-oriented approach would hold a mirror to traditional art forms and their roots.
A five-day Chuvati festival will get under way at Gothuruthu Island near Paravur from December 26.
A Women’s Classical Theatre Fest of Nangiarkoothu featuring names such as Usha Nangiar (Draupadi), Indu G (Gandhari) and Kalamandalam Sangeetha (Subhadra) will come alive at RLV College, Tripunithura from January 27.
South Canara’s pre-classical Yakshagana will find stage in February, courtesy an Udupi-based troupe that will present ‘Chakravyuha’ with Abhimanyu (of the Mahabharata) as the protagonist.
On March 1 will be a show of tribal martial dance Chhau in the Saraikela style by Gopal Dube and team. A week later in the first week of March, KMB will have a Mappila Festival.
‘Goshree Peruma’, a permanent feature of the biennale exploring the cultural anthropology of Kochi, will focus on the literary possibilities of the region. The event, from March 13 to 15, will have Chavittu Natakam, Band of Kochi and Ghazals besides seminars and open interviews.
A theatre festival on veteran Thuppettan (Subrahmanian Namboothiri) will be punctuated with symposia on the contributions of the Malayalam playwright, staging of his plays, screening of a documentary on him besides a face-to-face with the octogenarian on March 21 and 22.
Maestro Kuttan Marar will lead a 300-member percussion ensemble at Fort Kochi parade ground on the opening day of the biennale, December 12.
