The art of survival

50 Best Things in the World by GQ India, December issue names Kochi - Muziris Biennale also. Because, despite all the controversies and sceptics, its organisers put together a world class art event on an unprecedented scale. Accessible to, and attended by common folk from around Kerala, and set in the space trading city of Kochi, the biennale helped draw the conversations surrounding art away from galleries and into the public sphere. 

Bose Krishnamachari, co-founder, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, recounts his experience of organising the Biennale.

When you and Riyas Komu took up this project, did you anticipate encountering so many hurdles?

No, but we were expecting responsible debates around art, politics and culture.

Both of us were born in Kerala and dislocated from our region in order to pursue further education in art.

We were really aware of the sensibilities, and the critically observing eyes of Malayalis.

I would like to say that I had landed in Mumbai with two possessions; Malayalam and hereditary genes of a carpenter father, in other words, craftsmanship.

At the cost of sounding egoistic, if I can survive successfully in this mega metropolis university, Mumbai the maximum city, then no one or nothing can defeat a Mumbaikar- Malayali like me! Yes, hurdles, troubles, demoralising and imagined criticism, irresponsible accusations and all kinds of defamations were what we faced.

But ignorance-charged and envious trouble makers failed to create any rift among our KBF trustees or the people of Kochi and Kerala. KMB truly survived and celebrated what turned out to be everyone's Biennale.

Funds were a problem, organising an event of this magnitude was a stiff challenge but criticism from fellow artists must have been the greatest emotional hurdle?

True.

When there were allegations that finances were misused/swindled, did you ever feel like giving up?

Never.

What were the biggest gains from Kochi-Muziris Biennale?

Kochi, The Biennale City, nurtured a sudden local pride and consciousness experienced by the region, talking about the new cultural wealth of the country.

KMB has been able to give a fresh awareness and confidence to the local artists and the connoisseurs.

The Biennale inspired many a creative project. For instance, Papaya Cafe in Kaloor, Springrs and Budha Gallery in Mattanchery, DYU in Bangalore ( which was also inspired by Kashi Art Cafe), ART*RY in Dubai took birth and shape, thanks to the ripple effect of the Biennale.

Google Art Institute collaborated with KMB to produce The Google Art Project, the only Biennale to do so till date. KPMG has taken up a cultural tourism study and is coming out with a report on the economic and social benefits of KMB which will be published soon.

How do you expect to capitalise on these gains and make Kochi an important hub in the art map of the world?

The first edition the Kochi-Muziris Biennale has already brought India on the International art map. It slowly and gradually proved the power of the people and the soft power of culture. 

Next: It redefined art for public and artists

It redefined art for public and artists

Upendranath T. R.

I believe that the Kochi-Muziris Biennale was a historic event. An event that truly transcended and overcame all obstacles and dirty politics solely on the strength of Bose’s and Riyas’ conviction and on the strength and purity of the concept.

An art exhibition is not new to Kerala, though they are few and far between. But an event that, from the beginning, always intended to bring the best of contemporary art to Kerala without any compromise in vision is a rare feat unlike an art fare. It is probably this conviction that translated into international success for the biennale.

I think it was the only event that managed to equally engage people from all sections of the society in our modern history. The biennale threw light on our own rich history, traditions, classical art forms and legends that we seemed to have forgotten.

                                         Upendranath T. R.

To share a hyphenated identity with Muziris, a city which is still only being excavated, threw open a world of possibilities. Even our own identities seem to have got a new possibility.

Combine that with the cosmopolitan and multi-cultural aspects of our society, which we seem too blind to notice, and you have a very potent force of reckoning. As a Malayalee I feel very proud when Chris Dercon, the director of Tate Modern Museum, said that we may have one of the best biennales in the world.

The biennale redefined the way we approach and think about art. And that is true for not just the public but also for the artists. It not only opened up new avenues of discourses and thinking but it also possibilities for new academic studies and practices.

To put it in context, a young kid now has the choice to be an artist, to walk in the society and not be looked on as a deviant even if you are not an engineer, doctor or a lawyer.

That hope, that possibility and that promise will build dreams and success stories and it was made possible only because two people had the guts to follow their dream and make the biennale possible.

I am incredibly lucky to have been part of the first biennale along with Malayali artists  Reghunadhan, Jyoti Basu, Valsan Koorma Kolleri, Sosa Joseph, Ciji Krishnan, Jalaja P. S., Anup Mathew Thomas, Zakkir Hussein, Vivek Vilasini etc, but to share the stage with some of the best Indian and international artists like Amar Kanwar, Vivan Sundaram, Paris Vishwanadhan, Santiago Sierra, Ernesto Neto, Angelica Mesiti, Subodh Gupta, Joseph Semah, etc is a dream made possible only by the Biennale.

(Author was a participant of Kochi-Muziris Biennale)