Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025 – update…
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Kochi 11am IST (5.30am GMT) our latest video (see below or YouTube link at bottom of the site) and what’s to come from here…
JUST as we breezed into the Kochi like the wind around these exposed parts, we fly out today.
Our trip here to Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB) 2025 was always intended as a taste and see – and we liked what we saw, very much.
The interviews too have been generous and full of warmth and friendship and insight.
Last night, we attended the opening of the Warehouse space on Willingdon Island, (these names a reminder of the deep British colonial legacy here) and were among the first to see huge scale work by Dineo Seshee Bopape (‘Mme Mmu Bhumi Bhumi‘) and previous work by Marina Abramovic, one of the best known global artists of today. Her work, ‘Waterfall’ consumes the whole back space of the warehouse and is a large three channel video projection and there are deck chairs to sit and view – in fact, the whole back space has a beachy feel with sand, a boat and artwork which speaks of the environment just beyond.
We spoke to South African Bopape about what inspired her to create these sculptures, which connect us to the earth and have a womb-like quality. Termite mounds also played a role and are sacred in some parts of Africa and are also about growth and fertility.
Nikhil Chopra, the main curator of KMB 2025 with his artists’ collective, the Goa-based HH Art Spaces, also talked to us about Bopape’s work and was joined in the interview by another member of HH Art Spaces, Jo Halflong to talk about the fest and the experience just three days in…
We also caught up with one of the co-founders and President of the Kochi Muziris Biennale Foundation, Bose Krishnamachari. Look out for these interviews dropping on our YouTube Channel – subscribe and click the bell button so you are alerted to when they drop.
This warehouse is a vast space – some three or four football pitches – and contains work by a variety of voices – among the striking are Lakshmi Nivas Collective; and there is work too by India-born London based Sayan Chanda.
Willingdon Island feels like an abandoned island – parts of it anyway, with old empty buildings and rotting cars and lorries – but this is another tremendous venue that is well worth of your time, if you visit.
The island is over the other side of Fort Kochi and Mattancherry – where a lot of the other venues are located.
One of the other main ones is Pepper House, which was still under construction somewhat, but there is powerful work there and it is another gorgeous location and building. See the video below…
Just a little further along is SMS Hall, and we and will look to drop our interview there on Saturday (December 13) with Niroj Satpathy, who makes work from discarded objects and materials.
, we were there to cover the launch of ‘Edam’ (‘Seat’) which showcases art from Kerala – there are short Instagram interviews with artists Indu Antony and Shadiya CK; we also spoke to Aishwarya Suresh, one of the curators of this part of Kochi Muziris Biennale – however the audio failed us.
Nevertheless, there was tremendous energy and excitement and the launch drew a fair crowd, and while the venue of Armaan Cafe (in Mattancherry) looked a little rough and incomplete, we were told it was deliberate at the launch.
It is a lovely space and the whole block which backs out onto the sea is being redeveloped.
Here, we spoke to artists Indu Antony and Shadiya CK, one of the youngest exhibitors here and not long out of college – see below…
https://www.instagram.com/p/DSPnM2Zk8lo/?hl=en
