Kochi-Muziris Biennale: All You Need To Know About The Largest Art Festival in India

The Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which is the largest art exhibition in India, will feature a dynamic range of artwork, along with curated programming in cinema, performances, seminars and workshops, the organisers revealed on Sunday. The 108-day-long contemporary art festival, organised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation with support from the Government of Kerala is scheduled to start on December 12, 2018, and is slated to conclude on March 29 2019. 

The event will be curated by eminent artist Anita Dube around the theme of 'Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life'. Dube, who mastered in fine arts from the famed Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, is the Biennale's first woman curator. She hopes that 'Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life' will be a space of openness and celebration.

"It will be so not only through the fantastic range of artworks on display but through the varied programmes as well as the Biennale Pavilion as a knowledge laboratory," PTI quoted her as saying.

Talking about the major art event, Dube said, "While preparation has been key, my vision for the Biennale can only be actualised with the active participation of the public,"

"We are working at full capacity to create the structures that I hope everyone can claim, by listening, sharing, and speaking," she further stated.

Bose Krishnamachari, the co-founder of KBF and the president of the Biennale Foundation, describes Dube as a mindful artist with a profound sensitivity towards materials. According to him, she is the one who incorporates everyday objects derived from informal, craft and, industrial sources and spaces to create amazing artworks.

Talking about Dube, Krishnamachari, who was a co-curator of the first Biennale in 2012, says, "Her oeuvre features both knowledgeable consideration and skilful melding of the sensibilities and styles of abstractions with real, contemporary concerns. This will without a doubt be reflected in her curation." 

The international exhibition is reportedly the biggest contemporary art festival in Asia and will be held across nine venues featuring 95 artist projects. Works in the exhibition will be contributed by eminent artists including Dayanita Singh, Subodh Gupta and Anish Kapoor among others. It will be organised in several heritage venues including Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, and Durbar Hall in downtown Ernakulam.

As per media reports, a team of 20 trained Art Mediators will be residing in Kochi through the span of the event. They will hold guided tours for the visitors, free, and will communicate with them in both English and Malayalam. Visitors will also have the provision of buying personal guided tours with a Mediator. 

The major art event comes just four months after Kerala suffered a disastrous flood, that caused huge damage to the state. However, the state is reportedly undergoing a fast recovery as several non-profit organizations have joined hands with the government for the cause.