ARTIST OF ALL TRADES

LEAVE ALONE CURATOR AND CREATOR, BOSE KRISHNAMACHARI IS ALSO A TRAINED DANCER, THEATRE ARTIST AND A FORMER RESTAURANT SKETCH ARTIST! WHAT DOES HE ENJOY THE MOST?

- Ananya Ghosh

The studio is a huge, whitewashed, stark space, broken by huge wooden cartons marked for shipping. The furniture is sparse. It looks like a godown. But the color-smeared floor assures me I am at the right address.

We are at the studio of Bose Krishnamachari, the artist and curator of international repute, known for his bold abstract paintings, figurative drawings, and multimedia installations. He is also the founder of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. With just four editions since its inception in 2012, it has become India’s introduction point to contemporary art, especially installation art. Bose, named by his uncle after freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose, has indeed turned out to be a revolutionary, though of a different kind. But his basic mantra, like his namesake’s, is simple: involve general people in any endeavor.

THINK LOCAL, ACT GLOBAL

“When we were students, there was hardly any opportunity to see original contemporary artwork. There was a Triennale, in fact, India hosted the first Triennale in 1968, which was the first time we could see original contemporary works from across the world, but it was not a curated show and it eventually closed,” says Bose, who is in Mumbai for just a few days.

The Kochi-Muziris Biennale was conceived at an informal gathering at Bose’s house in Mumbai, which included the then culture minister of Kerala, M.A. Baby, Riyas Komu and a few of his artist friends like Jyothi Basu. Today, it is not only a talking point beyond the artist community, attracting people of all ages and from all walks of life but also one of the best-curated art exhibitions in the world.