We are very excited to be participating in the 2016 edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.
AES+F, Inverso Mundus, Still #1-20, 2015. Chromogenic print on fine barite paper, 32 x 57 cm, edition of 10.
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is pleased to announce the curatorial vision for its third edition, entitled forming in the pupil of an eye, and names further participating artists. The Biennale, opening on December 12 and running for 108 days, closing March 29, is the largest contemporary art biennial in South Asia.
The main exhibition and an ancillary programme of talks, seminars, workshops, film screenings, and music will take place across a range of venues in Kochi, Kerala, India.
The third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale is curated by acclaimed Indian artist Sudarshan Shetty. Long recognized as one of his generation’s most innovative artists, and best known for his enigmatic sculptural installations, the Biennale will be Shetty’s first curatorial project.
Shetty’s vision for the 2016 Biennale draws from mythical accounts of India as the “land of seven rivers.” The idea of streams flowing, converging and diverging underlies the curatorial questions which KMB 2016 will raise and the knowledge explored through the display and performance of the selected artworks. Looking at motifs such as tradition and community, the central question asks: what does it mean to be together in time—to be contemporary?
Curator Sudarshan Shetty explains, “My curatorial approach started as a conversation between different forms and approaches to art practice. I see the Biennale as existing in process, something which flows, and I wanted to engage artists whose practices will create works that exist not only for the duration of the Biennale, but into the time beyond.
“My core curatorial question explores what tradition means, tradition being a motif I specifically wanted to explore in this edition of the Biennale. We often talk about ‘tradition’ or ‘traditions,’ and through my curation I have aimed to address it from a fresh perspective—not as a stagnant or historical thought, but as an active concept integrated within contemporary reality. Tradition cannot be pinned down to a single set of actions or ideas, and I have enjoyed the challenge of bringing this multiplicity of perspectives to light, developing a Biennale which will be engaging to its visitors without becoming simplistic or reductive.
“Traditions develop over time within the context of a changing yet continuous community, and as Kochi-Muziris is first and foremost a ‘People’s Biennale,’ the idea of community and social engagement is also deeply embedded within the curation, with many of the participating artists presenting works motivated by political undertones.”
www.kochimuzirisbiennale.org