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Art finds anchor

BEYOND THE METROPOLISES Riyaz Komu (left) and Bose Krishnamachari (extreme right) want to make the event a world class affair

As we celebrate India's official participation in the 54th edition of the prestigious Venice Biennale, Kochi and Muziris, the port towns in the country are gearing up to host a biennale of their own. With leading contemporary artists like Bose Krishnamachari and Riyaz Komu at the helm, Kochi Biennale Foundation will hold the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India's inaugural festival of international contemporary visual arts, in Kochi in December 2012. Kochi Biennale Foundation is a registered Trust established in 2010 by Krishnamachari and Komu. The festival organisers were recently in town to promote the Biennale. Multiple venues at Kochi and Muziris will house artworks and host exhibitions in public spaces, heritage buildings and other non-traditional venues during the course of the event. “Kochi-Muziris Biennale seeks to invoke the historical cosmopolitan legacy of the modern metropolis of Kochi, and its mythical predecessor of the ancient port Muziris,” says Krishnamachari shedding light on the grand project. Kerala-born artists Krishnamachari and Komu will model the grand exposition on international biennales and India Art Summit. The inclusion of Muziris in the whole affair is interesting. The land is an ancient Jewish settlement and there will be art exhibitions and pieces individually highlighting these deep linkages. Kochi too was once known for its spice trade and that's where the first Dutch settlers landed in southern India for the first time.

Partnering the Muziris Heritage Foundation that is part of UNESCO, the festival will bring together a raft of national and international artists — a few prominent names from Europe and Latin American countries — institutions, curators, critics and art-loving corporations on a single platform.

The venues will also witness seminars, workshops and a comprehensive and far reaching educational programme.

Komu, Artistic Director of the first edition of the Biennale and painter, said, “There will be simultaneous events such as workshops, music festivals and walk-throughs that can be associated with a brand.

It will strive to bring together more than 65 artists from more than 45 countries which calls for seamless energy, enthusiasm and support in all forms.”

Kochi-Muziris Biennale aims to be the largest contemporary public art event in the country.

To be held every year, the project will showcase artwork created by some of the world's most engaging artists, both established and emerging, from India and abroad.

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