ART FOR THE PEOPLE

Despite a few hiccups, the current edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale has managed to rekindle public interest in art events after the pandemic

- Elizabeth Eapen

THE FIFTH EDITION OF THE KOCHIMUZIRIS BIENNALE (opened on December 23 and concluding on April 10) has been a resurgence of sorts, coming to life in 14 venues in and around Fort Kochi after a three-and-a-half-year gap. The central exhibition titled In Our Veins Flow Ink and Fire, curated by Singaporean artist Shubigi Rao, runs in three locations. "This edition has been a recalibration of our lives post the Covid-19 pandemic," says artist and co-founder of the 10-year-old Kochi Biennale Foundation, Bose Krishnamachari, whom I met on a hot muggy morning in the cool deep interiors of Aspinwall House, the nerve centre of the Biennale.

Recalibration meant not just dealing with hiatus issues but other unexpected and long-standing ones as well. There was unseasonal, heavy rain three days before the opening. Financial issues have over the years dogged both the Foundation (delaying the opening last December by a couple of weeks, and getting the artist community up in arms) as well as various editions of the Biennale. However, the great success of Lokame Tharavadu (The World is One Family'), an exhibition curated by Bose and spread across seven venues in the port town of Alleppey towards the end of 2021, rekindled public interest and enthusiasm in art events that had virtually vanished since the beginning of the pandemic.