The country’s biggest contemporary art festival came to a close late this evening amid a last—day surge in visitors to its eight venues, as the second edition of Kochi—Muziris Biennale (KMB) reinforced India’s reputation in the global cultural circuit and bolstered this coastal city’s potential as a tourism destination.
The KMB’14 flag went down at Fort Kochi’s main Aspinwall House venue where it was foisted 108 days ago, symbolically concluding the show that marked an overall attendance of 5,00,000, which is one lakh more than the footfalls the event registered in its debut 2012 edition.
A steady turn—up of enthusiasts since morning livened up the key KMB locales till the final minutes of the exhibition that essentially reinvented cultural practices.
In a release, Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), which organised KMB’14 that began on December 12 last year with 100 artworks by 94 artists from 30 countries, thanked the Kerala government in particular for its support.
“We could explore not just the operational and intellectual dimensions of art, but could directly engage people through a wide range of cultural activities,” said KBF founder president Bose Krishnamachari about KMB’14 curated by Mumbai—based artist Jitish Kallat.