Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025 – friendly, calming, inspiring (guide and wrap)
Interested in going? What of the art we found there? Our final piece on our travels …
THERE continue to be launches and events to mark the 110-day art show that continues until March 31…
This was our second in person Kochi Muziris Biennale visit – our only previous trip was in 2018 and it is what led us back to Kochi with video… (see link below; we also covered the last edition and in 2018*)…
Several locations were stunning and with art seeing is believing or enjoying…
We have produced seven independent videos in all this time – the most recent are our recaps and wrap videos (the final shorts to follow); three interviews were conducted in Willingdon Island Warehouse – one of KMB’s largest venues and a space to behold just for its size and location – across the water and on an island; here we were able to catch Bose Krishnamachari, one of the co-founders and the president of the Kochi Muziris Biennale Foundation – he spoke eloquently and persuasively about what KMB is and how different it might be to other shows with the same moniker – friendship, collaboration and learning are all clearly part of a distinct KMB vocabulary and ethos. The Student Biennale is not something we were able to get to, in our three full days there.
In a similar vein, Nikhil Chopra, lead curator along with colleagues from Goa-based HH Art Spaces, defused the potential frustration that might come with things not quite ready…
In our interviews, he commendably deals with such potential criticism charmingly and convincingly – it is India and KMB lasts for four months – that not everything appears as it should – shouldn’t be a case for anger or disappointment.
Acceptance and patience are something India has always taught – ask the millions who travel there…something too about the pace of life and the natural beauty of the landscape gets under your skin too – it’s pretty warm and humid, without getting all hot and bothered about stuff over which you have no control. Accept. Believe in a better tomorrow. The world is a brighter place, if you open your mind to its infinite possibilities…
Chopra and co-curator Joe Halflong (Madhuryja Dey) echoed these sentiments and helped to position this Biennale as yes, the People’s Biennale – by artists and for people – friendly and mostly unpretentious – not everyone might see it like that, art being art, but many of the venues are open to the public and free and make of it what you will – no one is forcing you to be impressed or convinced…
Dineo Seshee Bopape’s ‘Mme Mmu Bhumi Bhumi’ is a stunning work in scope and vision – it reorders time in a way that we should all be open to – imagine a world as it was, natural substances and the stars – and us.
Her interview was informative and graceful and Chopra also invited us to view the work with curiosity and wonder.
The Willingdon Island Warehouse is a first as a venue for KMB – don’t miss it!
Aspinwall House, which is effectively in Fort Kochi, remains a focal point and most visitors will not miss it. But take an auto ride or walk to the correct ferry terminal and get a hitch across the water to Willingdon Island.
There were a couple of aborted trips – one where I managed to get on the wrong ferry; and another with video colleagues Nat and Anuj and no sign of anything around (on December 12/13)… it wasn’t open anyway, so we can excuse ourselves.
That Sunday December 14 was its official Opening – and as Chopra says in the interview – it was a bit touch and go…
We were delighted, not just because it gave us the opportunity to talk to Bose and Chopra but also exchange with with an artist – Bopape – whose work is somewhat emblematic of KMB as a whole – her engagement with local craftspeople and her decision to connect her work to the culture of the land are powerful reminders of what KMB is trying to do: dialogue, connectivity, joy, curiosity and friendship.
At SMS Hall in Mattancherry, which is a bit further along the same road from Aspinwall House, you will find an intriguing line up again.
It was there that we talked to Niroj Satpathy about his ‘Dhalan’ – a former refuse manager, he became fascinated by the objects and detritus at landfill sites; he collected them, collates them and has put them together in a strange, beguiling and sometime humorous juxtaposition of objects, people have discarded. It asks questions and his analysis of ‘power’ or ‘pawar’ (see our video interview) as some Indians pronounce it, is provocative and perhaps subversive – and in a state ruled by Communists (more left wing and social democratic than the description suggests really), does pose questions about the economic system and how we value or throw stuff away that once may have induced pleasure or have been useful and/or important to us.
Do we throw away people – in the same way, if not economically useful?
There too in SMS Hall – we found the work of Mandeep Raikhy, a choreographer and dancer – his trio of performers (including himself) were limbering up for ‘Hallucinations of an Artifact’ – the demarcation line between performance and preparation not really obvious to the casual observer, as we were – knowing nothing about the work. Jonathan O’Hear’s AI generated accompanying video does something too – if you are familiar with the ‘Dancing Girl’ – a 4,500 year old, 10.5cm figurine found during excavations for the Indus Valley Civilisation in 1926 – it will turn your head almost full circle… It’s a work that will stay with us – even if we didn’t witness the performance of Raikhy proper.
You will see from that video how narrow the streets are – and the architecture in several places has more of a European, than Indian quality to it.
Fort Kochi is a place of history – the stamp of the British Empire is all over – with many significant place names remaining in English…
Not part of the festival itself but well worth exploring and often mentioned in guide books is the Jewish part of Fort Kochi.
King Charles has visited Jewish sites in Fort Kochi, among them – Koder House – a charming boutique hotel now with a popular eatery and drink spot that has photographs from the 2013 visit.
We can’t finish without saying something more about ‘Edam’ (‘Place‘) (see the link below for the page). We attended the opening of the platform which showcases work by artists from Kerala or those whose roots are from the soil of this state.
The response to Indu Antony’s ‘Iver’ (‘Them’) Instagram interview continues to be a highlight – more than 40K+ views now and still drawing comments and huge admiration and love. We also appear to have gained a lot of followers on Instagram from it! Welcome and stay on The Bird’s Wings!
Don’t miss the work itself, which is in Armaan Collective & Café in Mattancherry and is one of three venues that house ‘Edam’ – the other two being, Garden Convention Centre and Cube Arts Space (which we were not able to see).
And so, what of the Opening? (December 12). The traditional drummers went on far longer than expected but kept the gathering crowd entertained and enthralled. The lead drummer was a female – that is not common in my experience.
It wasn’t overwhelming – thankfully – crowds in India can be an issue – but there was indeed a sense of occasion and excitement. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly.
The same could be said of the more sober formalities at the Parade Ground in Fort Kochi later that early evening, when Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, declared KMB Open, alongside many donors and supporters. Retail supermarket magnate and self-made Middle East Millionaire Yusuff Ali (of the Lulu Group) among them. He is a much-admired figure in Kerala generally and well-known in the Middle East, where he started his Lulu supermarkets.
Thanks Kochi!
Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025-26 (December 12) – March 31 2026 – see Kochi Muziris Biennale – KMB
‘Edam’ (Kerala showcase at KMB) – Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025 – ‘Edam’ (Place) Kerala artists showcase… – asianculturevulture.com
Previously
*2018 Kochi-Muziris Biennale appears to have dropped off the site since we moved site hosts – we will be looking to restore asap.
We will be back… And connect with us, if you are interested in attending 2027 with us as your guides in a special group!*
Sailesh Ram
All pictures ©BigTalentMedia (ACV)
Sailesh Ram is editor and founder of www.asianculturevulture.com and his family is originally from Malabar (North Kerala); he is British-born and raised but understands Malayalam (to an extent…) his colleagues are sceptical…after his dealings with auto and taxi drivers in Kochi
You can also read the real time dailies Ram wrote during the three full days there were in Kochi…
Kochi Biennale 2025 Day 2 – update… pictures – asianculturevulture.com
Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025 – update, more to follow soon – asianculturevulture.com
*We are looking at the feasibility of taking a group on tour to KMB 2027 (the next edition)… You can sign up here to our newsletters and another link that will be contained therein…
Fly High with The Bird!
