2016 Kochi-Muziris Biennale to be a ‘people’s biennale’

KOCHI: India’s only biennale looks set to turn a new leaf with the 2016 curator of the global contemporary art festival currently exploring the prospect of blending literary and performing arts sensibilities into its upcoming edition in a big way.

Even as the aesthetics of Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) are in a nascent stage now when its third chapter is 15 months away, Sudarshan Shetty, 54, the curator, is busy meeting musicians and dancers besides artists around the globe in his bid to shape up the concept of the grand Kerala event that has already gained international repute.

“I won’t make a mission statement at this stage, but I can tell you that it will be even more a ‘people’s biennale’ this time,” the Mumbaikar said about his perception about KMB-3, slated to begin on December 12 next year.

The Mangalore-born contemporary artist, famously known for his enigmatic sculptural installations, has been touring the world as the artistic director of the third KMB. “I just am back from travels across Europe,” he revealed. “Shortly, I will be leaving for the East…to China and Japan.”

Pertinently, Shetty, had himself been a participant in the debut KMB of 2012—thus having known the pulse and seen the growth of the pioneering festival since its start.

While the over three-month-long first edition had 80 artists from 23 countries, the second, which concluded in March this year, featured 100 main installations by 94 artists from 34 countries on display for 108 days.

So, will there be a striking rise in the number of artists for the 2016 KMB? “See, there won’t be a huge rise in the venues at the biennale. Nor can a notable jump in the number of artists be counted as a defining scale of eminence. I can still say that street art and students’ participation would be one of the focal features of the upcoming edition,” pointed out the alumnus of Mumbai’s prestigious Sir JJ School of Art.