KOCHI BIENNALE: CONVERGENCE OF WORLD ART

Kochi has a very symbolic and sophisticated history of trade and travelling; it was profoundly reflected all over the Biennale, through interactions of various artists, installations, spaces and people. The Biennale, as described by its curators, provided an occasion to explore the critical imagery as a mechanism to process, reflect, and rewrite history; thereby converging different histories, local heritages, individual art-efforts and collectivities with a creative space for expression within a contemporary context.

The old-world town of Fort Kochi changed into an art venue with the murmur of the word ‘Biennale’ being uttered on every lip. Kochi was transformed as the ‘Paris of the Poor’ by the Biennale, organized in the background of the Arabian Sea and the backwater. It was a strange sight, in which different lives and arts gathered together as if in a meditation.  The Biennale exhibited the works of 94 artists from 23 countries in spaces located across Fort Kochi – from old warehouses and yards, to the water-front and the old Durbar Hall.

Biennale gave a new experience of the modern art; apart from colours, sounds and smells also played a key role in the exhibition. Aspinwall House, a large sea-facing warehouse, was the main venue of the Biennale. It showcased the majority of the Biennale artworks. For the artists who created individual projects and works, there were separate spaces/ rooms inside Aspinwall House, ensuring space for the work and enticing response from the viewers. This was also the case in other venues spread over Fort Kochi.

The world of installations begins with an installation that captivates the typical laziness and slumber of middle class Malayali lives. It leads viewers to the everlasting possibilities of art. Both soul and eyes were washed by the various installations like that of Vivan Sundaram who arranged broken pieces of clay pots, Ernesto Nesto’s seductively spicy work titled ‘Life is like a river’ and Angelica Mesti’s Citizens Band; everywhere the silent sea breeze coming to the banquet of music, colors and smells prepared in newly furnished antique rooms.

In the Biennale, there was a different sense of aesthetics, conveyed itself within new parameters of artistic freedom contained by the framework of a biennale. The nature of the venues too was instrumental in furthering this aspect, where each artist’s works responded to specific elements co-related to history and space.

Anita Dube’s interactive installation at Pepper House involved climbing ladders around the room to view her work through floor windows into the attic from varied angles. There viewers could listen and different things. The works created for the Biennale varied from painting, sculpture, installations, film, and new media.

Kochi Muziris Biennale created a unique art culture in all aspects. Art is a strong weapon of spiritual manifestation, cultural response, and political protest. So, the Biennale made a space for Kochi again in history. Even though many criticisms emerged, it could give a new hope to the fading quality of Kerala Art. Moreover, Biennale was a platform of love, sharing and diverse possibilities of life. With the flow of different arts it takes us towards new horizon of a divine rejoice.