Some 200 student artists will take part in the Students’ Biennale which will be held alongside the forthcoming edition of the Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB) beginning December 12.
Nearly 80 private and public arts schools from India and South Asia will be involved in more than 100 projects in individual or group-based formats in the Students’ Biennale. The selection for this was done from 1,500 applications that came in response to an open call the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) had made on July 2 seeking project proposals.
In an attempt to reach out to a larger pool of emerging artists, the Students’ Biennale, for the first time, will showcase works by students from SAARC countries.
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As many as 27 participants from Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will put up 10 projects in total. Launched in 2014, the Students’ Biennale is an educational initiative that provides a platform for BFA and MFA students to produce, exhibit and reflect on their works on an international platform, a media release said.
The 2018 edition of the Students’ Biennale will have a multi-pronged approach: it will feature an art exhibition, an expanded education forum and field-based research related to art education, according to organisers. “This year, the Students’ Biennale will have two components,” says Bose Krishnamachari, president of KBF.
“One is an exhibition by six curators who have mentored the projects of young artists, built their show, and helped them develop the project. At the same time, we have art educators who work with art schools, where students can engage with things that are not regularly part of the curriculum.”
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Under the Exhibition Platform, young artists will be mentored by six established curators such as Sanchayan Ghosh (Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan), Shukla Sawant (JNU, Delhi), independent curator Shruti Ramalingaiah and artists Krishnapriya C.P., K.P. Reji and M.P. Nishad.
Bigger mandate
Sawant, who has been involved with the initiative since its inception in 2014, says the Students’ Biennale had largely focused on government institutions. “This time, we have expanded the mandate to include other alternate institutions. The works of participating student artists are mostly informed by local concerns and quote physical sites through critical engagement with materials,” he says. “But they have a much broader meaning. For, these conversations will take place on an international platform (KMB).”
The Student’s Biennale is centred on the idea of Making as Thinking, says Faiza Hasan, Education Coordinator of the KBF.
Under this, participants will be encouraged to respond to how a studio can be situated in the framework of the institution, and how the notion of making can become a process of responding to their context and reflecting beyond.