: In an interview with The Hindu ahead of the ongoing Kochi-Muziris Biennale, veteran artist Gulam Mohammed Sheikh said he was not an activist to overtly respond to political developments and controversial issues.
His works, however, are noted for their strong political underpinnings. Like his ‘Kavaad’ (portable ‘shrine’ series) part of which is a work on the Babri Masjid demolition.
An installation by the artist, also a teacher and art historian, is drawing the crowds at the Biennale. The installation at Vasco Da Gama Square in Fort Kochi comprises a set of sculptures resembling national political personalities performing the tightrope walk — the rope tied across two trees at the square.
Even a child viewer would have a smile on his/her face, thinking of the comparison between street circus performer doing a balancing act and that performed by political figures.
So fascinating has the artwork been for people far and near Kochi that the well-known Gujarati artist’s ‘Balancing Act’ has grabbed the eyeballs of visitors making a beeline for Aspinwall House — the main venue of the biennale that is set to end on March 29.
Shiyaz M., an auto driver at the square, says visitors keep asking him about the work.
“We see visitors standing and watching the installation put up at this public space. Many of them decide to see the entire Biennale after watching it,” he says.
Meanwhile, the ‘arts and medicine’ programme of the Kochi Biennale Foundation on Wednesday witnessed a musical treat by singers of the Mariasadanam Kalasamithi, the cultural wing of the Mariasadanam Charitable Trust run by the Pala-based Santhosh Joseph and his wife Mini Santhosh, at Ernakulam General Hospital.
