The second edition of the Chennai Photo Biennale (CPB), the international festival of photography, will be held from February 22 to March 24, 2019.
Synchronised with the art calender of Asia, the 30-day long festival would be held at 30 venues with 150 plus artists, 300 hours of programming and have 45 print exhibitions.
Speaking about the event, Varun Gupta, managing trustee, CPB Foundation and co-founder, CPB, said the festival organised by the foundation in cooperation with the Goethe -Institut would be held at several locations across the city.
The Muziris Biennale in Kochi supported by the Kerala government put that city on the international map and transformed it. The CPB is aiming to do the same for Chennai and make it home for photography in India, he said.
Especial tie-up
Mr. Gupta also announced the CPB’s association with The Hindu that will institute a Photo Journalism award for photographers from India and international photographers, who are resident Indians. The CPB will also work with The Hindu’s 140-year-old archive for the festival.
Well-known photo and video artist N. Pushpamala, who will curate the festival, said she had decided not to have a single overarching theme but themes for each venue.
‘Fauna of Mirrors’
“My larger curatorial concept is to ruminate on the nature of photography in a poetic and philosophical way. The provisional title of the Biennale - Fauna of Mirrors - is an old Chinese myth that talks about an alternative universe that exists behind the mirror. I will argue around that myth to see the practice of photography as a mirror reflection of modern life, creating a parallel world of images - familiar yet strange, perhaps friendly and intimate, sometimes mysterious and hostile - but always magical,” she said.
Helmut Schippert, director, Goethe Institut, said the Biennale was founded in 2016 and hoped that the Tamil Nadu government would extend support to the event.
Crowd-funding
“What is needed is a public-private partnership to carry the festival forward. Talks are on with other cultural institutions including the Alliance Francaise, British Council and the US Consulate to help with the festival,” he said.
The CPB has recently launched its crowd funding campaign and 40 of its dedicated campaigners would help raise funds.
The organisers called upon city residents to help with the month-long festival by offering space for artists to stay and cars and drivers apart from funds.
