Journalism of Courage
Postponed twice due to the pandemic, as the fifth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale opens on December 12, it will have on display the works of over 90 artists from across the globe in varied media. In its tenth year, curated by Singapore-based Indian-origin artist Shubigi Rao, the central exhibition of the showcase will centre on the theme “In Our Views Flow Ink and Fire”.
Spread across multiple venues in Kochi, the four-month-long celebration of art is expected to attract tourists from the world over, and is scheduled to see several discussions, performances and film screenings. As it opens its doors, we look at the history of art Biennales and their significance.
An international large-scale showcase of art that takes place every two years at a particular site, biennales are usually non-commercial enterprises – unlike art fairs – that centre around a curatorial theme.
One of the most prestigious and oldest biennales in the world, the Venice Biennale was established through a resolution by the city council in 1893 to celebrate national artistic talent. Coinciding with the silver anniversary of King Umberto and Margherita of Savoy, it had in attendance artists, critics, curators and patrons. With its rising popularity, the 1900s saw the emergence of Biennales across the world, with Bienal de São Paulo being instituted as the first non-European biennial in 1951.
In 2009, a global Biennale Foundation was established with an “aim to create a platform for dialogue, networking, and knowledge sharing among contemporary art biennials around the world”. It lists a directory of over 200 biennales that are held at present.
Though most biennales do not allow for direct purchase of art, an invitation and participation in the global showcase is often viewed as a validation of an artist’s work, and an assertion that they are being noticed. Frequented by the powerful and important in art, a Biennale participation can open opportunities for future museum exhibitions, gallery representation and acquisitions.
Additionally, biennales, often named after the host city, become a reason for local pride, promoting cultural tourism and generating revenue through visitors.
An artist-led endeavour, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale was founded in 2011 by Kerala-born, Mumbai-based artists Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu with an aim to “create a platform that will introduce contemporary, global visual art theory and practice to India.”
Borrowing from the location, it sought to “create a new language of cosmopolitanism and modernity that is rooted in the lived and living experience of this old trading port, which, for more than six centuries, has been a crucible of numerous communal identities. Kochi is among the few cities in India where pre-colonial traditions of cultural pluralism continue to flourish.”
While the first edition, which took place in 2012, was curated by its founding members, the subsequent editions had as its curators Jitish Kallat, Sudarshan Shetty and Anita Dube.
