Art has changed. It is no more a work sitting in a gallery or a museum. This biennale is also a reflection of this fact,” says Riyas Komu, co-curator of the ongoing Kochi-Muziris Biennale in the port city of Kochi, Kerala.

Across mediums ranging from installation art, painting and sculpture to videos and films, the country’s first-ever biennale brims with the works of more than 80 contemporary artists from India and abroad, .

Globally, the biennale history dates back to 1895 in the Italian city of Venice. It has since spawned more than 150 editions across the globe.

The Indian event has been put together by the Kochi Biennial Foundation led by two Kerala-born artists, Bose Krishnamachari and Komu, who are the curators.

“Quite a few biennales across the world have the same set of artists. The Kochi edition is introducing some new faces,” says Komu.

The venues include the newly refurbished Durbar Hall in Kochi and a renovated British-era warehouse, the Aspinwall House in Fort Kochi, besides Muziris — the lost seaport township, which was a gateway of commerce in ancient times until it was devastated by a flood in 1341. A number of installations have been mounted in public spaces and heritage buildings such as Pepper House in Fort Kochi. Cochin Club, David Hall, Moidu’s Heritage and Parade Ground are the other scenes of artistic activity in this region rich with history, culture and heritage.

“We are putting a seed in a very fertile land. This seed is going to grow. The local and Indian art communities will get a space every two years, like a pilgrimage, to get engaged in cultural discourse,” says Komu.

Visitors can immerse themselves in a string of performance arts that have origins in an ancient cultural belt stretching from Cherthala in present-day Alappuzha district to Chettuva, near Guruvayur, off Thrissur.

Traditional (folk and classical) art forms from the coastal region, cutting across religions, find representation. As many as 22 Kerala artists are present at the event, according to Bose Krishnamachari.

Kerala-born painter Paris Viswanathan returns home to recreate a nearly four-decade-old masterpiece showing the essence of human life through grains of sand.

K.P. Reji, Sosa Joseph and P.S. Jalaja are some of the other names from Kerala.

The foreign artists at the event include Ariel Hassan (Argentina), Amanullah Mojadidi (Afghanistan), Rigo 23 (Portugal), Joseph Semah (Israeli based in Amsterdam), Ernesto Neto (Brazil) and Jonas Staal (the Netherlands).

Highlighting the event’s inclusion of feature film screenings and performance arts, cartoonist Bonny Thomas, who is a research coordinator for the biennale, says, “This is something which is unprecedented in the 117 years of the world’s biennale history.”

Again, the inclusion of street art graffiti is a first for an Indian art event, manifesting itself through shimmering frescos on the walls and fences of several buildings in the city.

The biennale is expected to generate awareness among policymakers on the need for quality art infrastructure in the country.

According to the organisers, initial hiccups apart, support has been pouring in for the biennale. While Kochi’s annual cultural and entertainment events such as H. Mehaboob Memorial Ghazal evenings and Cochin Carnival have tied up, the Better Kochi Response Group, and Kerala Homestay and Tourism Society are also on board.

Going by biennales elsewhere, the Kochi event too is expected to give a fillip to the local economy, tourism in particular. Over 8 lakh visitors, including a large number of foreigners, are expected during this season.

The organisers are projecting huge revenues for the Kerala government through sales tax, service tax and luxury tax.

Naturally, the Kochi Corporation is enthused. “We will be extending cooperation to the coming editions of the event every two years,” promises the City Mayor, Tony Chammany.

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