The weekend at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale is going to be exciting with historian Ramachandra Guha speaking on the eight threats to free expression in India at a Let’s Talk event at Cabral Yard on Saturday at 6 p.m.
On Sunday, there will be an innovative collaboration between Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna and Kattaikuttu artist P. Rajagopal – a confluence of classical music and rural Tamil theatre – at Cabral Yard in the evening.
“The production strives to meld the aesthetics of the two arts that have seldom had interaction in their native Dravidian motherland or elsewhere.
While Kattaikuttu has men sing, dance and act highlighting the form’s inherent capacity for satirical, comedic and sharp commentary, Carnatic has largely enjoyed the image of being ‘devotional’, ‘ancient’ and ‘elevating’,” a media note in this regard said.
Musician Sangeetha Sivakumar and performing arts scholar Hanne De Bruin, who is the programmes director at the Kattaikkuttu Sangam in Kanchipuram of northern Tamil Nadu, will assist the duo. The biennale show is being brought in by First Edition Arts (FEA), a performing arts company in Mumbai.