“We are successful because we take risks. Kochi is all about taking risks. We took huge risks, hit several hurdles, in the run up to this edition as well but stayed unfazed. As Gandhi said, it is a land of adventurers,” smiles Riyas Komu, co-founder of the Kochi Muziris Biennale [KMB] .
Only liberal space
“In the past three editions, we have been consistently talking about diversity, multiculturalism. It’s [KMB] becoming a healer, doing the much-needed cultural acupuncture for the country. These things are well recognised now. It is the only liberal space where people come and happily celebrate their own autonomy,” he says.
Mr. Komu is certain that the coming editions of the show will be even more structured, with a voice relevant to the country’s political climate.
As an organisation, in the meantime, the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) will continue to engage in what it is best at. “That’s art production. As an organisation, we are capable of handling any kind of art today, art of any scale.”
Once the government acquires Aspinwall House as a permanent venue, it will host ongoing programmes. “Maybe we could have a design biennale there during the non-KMB time.”
Mr. Komu maintains that the foundation is committed to the people of the city for rallying behind it, which has helped the cultural economy thrive. That’s why the State government has recognised the need to sustain the project. It is a key cultural investment that the government is making, he maintains.
Pepper House Residency
The KBF, in the meantime, plans to mount the Pepper House Residency programme on a larger scale. On the cards is a bilateral residency programme which will see our artists going to other regions to work and explore.
“We are also going to do the Art By Children project a little bit more actively, with opportunity for artists to work in the educating system. There will also be summer camps at Pepper House. Educative projects are going to be one of our mainstays especially during non-Biennale time.”
Takeaways
“Sudarshan’s edition has actually changed the perception a little further of what art is. That’s a great contribution by Sudarshan’s curatorial project because it is multi-disciplinary, multi-layered with a host of artists, filmmakers, architects, muralists, writers, all kinds of people coming together. If the previous editions had broken the public outlook of contemporary art, the present edition furthers the process. And, the biennale is cultivating a whole new generation. A six-year boy at the inception of the KMB is 12 years now and has already seen three biennales. It’s an educational process that’s organically happening and we feel it will be mutually beneficial. It’s a great model in art education.”
Notably, for the first time, the State government, the Tourism Department in particular, has shown a sense of ownership of the biennale. It’s something that the Malayalis can be proud of and demonstrates the government’s commitment to art and culture, the autonomy of artists and a means to carry on the State’s social action. It also shows their willingness to unlearn many things, he maintains.
The department, specifically, has campaigned for the biennale. It’s a great step, as you are not just promoting the land by showing the backwaters or the tea estates. The invitation is on cultural terms, offering to showcase the multi-cultural site where people live harmoniously.
But the biggest dividend of the edition has been the arrival of international curators, museum directors, and important artists from around the world. “It only indicates that Kochi is becoming a prime decision-maker in contemporary art, given the quantum of work it produced over the past six years. Thanks to the KMB, India is now an active participant in the contemporary discourse of the larger art world. Say, for instances, I don’t think any biennale has produced what Raul Zurita [In the Sea of Pain] or Ales Steger [The Pyramid] has done here. And what P.K. Sadanandan has done in that closely-interlinked narrative of one’s own indigenous art form converting it into a contemporary art practice and standing by the course of the time. It’s as if he’s making a strong political statement using it.”
Focus on local artists
The KBF is going to focus more on local artists [the present edition has seven Malayali artists] over the next two years and “hopefully the next edition of the biennale will have it reflected on the curatorial premise itself.”
