Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018 to start from 12 Dec 2018

The fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) starts on December 12 features a dynamic range of artworks along with curated programmes in the fields of cinema, performance, as well as seminars and workshops.

Curated by eminent artist Anita Dube around the theme of 'Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life', the 108-day Biennale held across nine venues will feature a total of 95 artist projects. Slated to conclude on March 29 next year, the Biennale will be held across heritage venues in Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, as well as Durbar Hall in downtown Ernakulam. 

The core ideas of collaboration and the complementary exhibition are a result of Dube's year of curatorial travel, intense research, and diverse dialogues with artists and scholars across continents. Dube, who mastered in fine arts from the famed Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, says “We are working at full capacity to create the structures that I hope everyone can claim, by listening, sharing, and speaking.”

Anita Dube said the monsoon calamity in Kerala had prompted her to explore ways in which the Biennale could respond to the massive loss of lives and livelihoods. Given the severity of the catastrophe, Dube offered the chance for participating artists to alter their work in response to the tragedy. Dube, as the Biennale's first woman curator, notes that 'Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life' hopes to 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.” she says. The Pavilion is an interactive space where everybody potentially can be a curator. “Each visitor can enact or tell each other their ideas. It's going to be thoroughly interactive,” added Dube. 

 Another exciting aspect of the Biennale is the team of 20 dedicated Art Mediators that will be resident in Kochi through the span of the event. Especially trained by the Foundation, the Mediators will be giving guided tours of the exhibition at set times every day free of charge, in both English and Malayalam. Visitors can also purchase personal guided tours with a dedicated Mediator should they choose. The exhibition will be spread across nine Biennale venues Aspinwall House, Durbar Hall, Pepper House, Cabral Yard (Biennale Pavilion), David Hall, Kashi Town House, Uru Art Harbour, Dutch Warehouse and Anand Warehouse.

There will also be an exciting set of ancillary events during the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018. These include the Let's Talk series, of presentations and discussions by artists and thinkers, Artists' Cinema that presents curated packages of films, and the Music of Muziris concert series, showcasing a wide range of traditional and contemporary music acts, including the Three Seas Project, T M Krishna, Imphal Talkies, and Insurrections Ensemble, amongst many others. 

An ongoing two-month Graffiti Residency, running until December 15, is part of the Pepper House Residency, brings life to the public walls of Fort Kochi and Mattancherry. The many artists-in-residence from throughout this year will return to Kochi to re-install their work as part of a parallel residency exhibition not to be missed.

According to Bose Krishnamachari, founder-president of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, the Foundation felt an urgent need to contribute to relief and aid efforts after the August deluge and landslides that ravaged the state. So, the materials used for the Biennale Pavilion (Cabral Yard, Fort Kochi) will be subsequently repurposed to construct at least a dozen homes of 600 square feet each for the flood-affected in Kerala. 

The foundation is organising a major art auction to support state government's 'Rebuilding Kerala' mission. “Select paintings, sculptures and installations of more than 40 artists living in the country and abroad will go under the hammer at the event in Kochi on January 18, 2019, as part of the Foundation's ARK (Art Rises for Kerala) initiative in partnership with Saffron Art.' says Krishnamachari. 

For schedule of program and entry details visit www.kochimuzirisbiennale.org.