Kochi-Muziris Biennale opening postponed to December 23

"Organisational challenges, compounded by external factors," led to the rescheduling, the Kochi Biennale Foundation team announced on social media.

However, some of the associated events and discussions are still scheduled to take place and several of the satellite exhibitions across Fort Kochi and Mattancherry are also up. (Facebook)

A night before it could be thrown open to the public, the Kochi Biennale Foundation team made an announcement on social media that the much-awaited Kochi Muziris Biennale has been postponed “due to a variety of organisational challenges, compounded by external factors”. The main showcase will now begin on December 23.

However, some of the associated events and discussions are still scheduled to take place and several of the satellite exhibitions across Fort Kochi and Mattancherry are also up. Only the main venues of the Biennale exhibits, which include Aspinwall House, Anand Warehouse and Pepper House, will open later. Till Sunday evening, the artists were preparing for an opening on December 12.

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Several reasons are being cited for the delay, including the late possession of the main venue, Aspinwall House, which the Kerala government has been negotiating to acquire from the current private owner DLF Group. With the venue shut for almost three years now, as the last Biennale was held in 2018-19, the structural repair work required to showcase art is still incomplete. With the city experiencing heavy rain over the weekend, many works that were on the walls had to be wrapped in plastic or removed for safety. Much of the display is also still underway, as the shipments are still arriving.

Scheduled to originally open in 2020 and delayed twice due to the pandemic, the Biennale is in its fifth edition. Curated by Singapore-based Indian-origin artist Shubigi Rao, it will feature works of 90 artists from across the globe presented under the central exhibition titled “In Our Veins Flow Ink and Fire”.

Some of the prominent names include Vivan Sundaram, Amar Kanwar, Arpita Singh, Nasreen Mohamedi, Rita Khin from Myanmar, Haegue Yang from South Korea, Thao-Nguyen Phan from Vietnam, and Joan Jonas from the US.

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