Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025 – ‘Edam’ (Place) Kerala artists showcase…
‘Edam’ showcases contemporary art practice in Kerala….seen our video interviews?
REMARKABLE is the only word you can use for the response to our short Instagram video interview of artist Indu Antony at this year’s Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB).
It has crossed 35K+ views, far surpassing our pinned Cannes Film Festival post-awards press conference, when we asked the first question of director Payal Kapadia after she won The Grand Prix and became the first Indian ever to be awarded a prize in the main section of Cannes since 1946.
Antony has three works displayed at Armaan Collective & Café in Mattancherry, which is close to Fort Kochi itself.
The work she spoke about ‘Ivar’ (‘Them’) is a collection of discarded photographs of women she has lovingly and painstakingly ‘restored’.
She has put her own personal stamp on these photographs with strands of her own hair. It’s a powerful and moving work and you really do wonder what sort of lives these women led…
Antony wasn’t the only artist we met there at the opening of ‘Edam’ (Place) at Armaan Collective & Café in Mattancherry that day.
As well as talking and interviewing Antony that day – we also caught a few words in Malayalam (the state language of Kerala) with mostly self taught artist Devu Nenmara.
Her paintings of the Kodungalloor Devi (goddess) are striking and vivid.
There is an ancient temple in Kodungalloor which is part of Thrissur town and the temple is a focus for a major festival dedicated to this goddess – Nenmara describes how she paints what she sees during the Kodungalloor Bharani (another name for Devi) Festival which takes place some time between March and April and is governed by the constellation of stars.
We were also struck greatly by the paintings of Sreeju Radhakrishnan (pictured at top) – again there are vivid colours and the painting depicting a white colonial man and a native – give some sensation of the encounter between East and West – and which can be seen almost everywhere in a place like Fort Kochi.
As the centre of the spice trade and on the coast, the settlement that became Fort Kochi and Mattancherry attracted Europeans from far and wide – the Portuguese, Dutch and then finally the British – who through the Empire and control of India as a whole stamped their authority and culture on the region. Muziris refer to the native trading community who welcomed trade from foreign parts.
Many places still have well-known British names – Willingdon Island and its warehouse is another major venue of KMB 2025; Apsinwall House was once owned by a Brit of that name…
‘Edam’ is curated by artists Aishwarya Suresh and KM Madhusudhanan and platforms the work of 36 Kerala artists who all have roots in the state – some like Antony are based outside – she lives in Bengaluru.
The initiative to showcase Kerala artists began in 2022 at that Kochi Biennale.
“We wanted to present a survey of contemporary art and ideas from across the state and its diaspora and spur conceptual thought and writing around it,” explained Madhusudhanan.
They took the idea of the showcase across the state, encouraging art and creativity in villages, schools, kitchens and farms, he added.
“We want to approach the exhibition as an intergenerational dialogue that thrives in dialogue across time and medium.”
We will publish the list of artists featuring in ‘Edam‘ soon…
Videos
Devu Nenmara
https://www.instagram.com/p/DSnkEHBjmfx/
Indu Antony
https://www.instagram.com/p/DSPnM2Zk8lo/
Shadiya CK
https://www.instagram.com/p/DSPd-YOgmFM/
