Vocalist T.M. Krishna on Sunday regaled the audience at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale with his evocative rendition of classical ragas and his own genre-defying, multi-dimensional compositions such as the Poramboke Padal.
Later, he said the ongoing edition of the Biennale had challenged compartmentalisation and hierarchy in the world of art.
“The fact is that the art world is a divided one. Each artist has a territory or form inside which they work and so tend to protect that territory. Sudarshan’s vision has smudged those boundaries by bringing sound, music, visuals, movement and dance, under one platform. That is a very important message for artists. It questions both artistic territorialism and hierarchy,” said Mr. Krishna, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee .
Describing the Biennale as a “powerful, disturbing and passionate experience”, he said, “Any art with its own form or its own way of communication has to unsettle. Being disturbed is beautiful. The Biennale puts you in a position to see, hear and feel something that might not comfort you: like looking into a mirror. It urges you to get out from inside your skin and see the world in other angles.”
“If more people can do that, the world would be a more beautiful place. The Biennale certainly has opened that window to new possibilities,” added Mr. Krishna, known for taking Carnatic music – once considered an inaccessible musical form – to the common public.
