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Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012

Posted by Nozirake Friday, December 7, 2012 0 comments

On from 12 December 2012 till 13 March 2013

Time : All Day

Location : Fort Kochi, Kochi
Venue: Mattanchery Warehouses

Category(ies): Exhibition

About the Biennale:

The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is an international exhibition of contemporary art being held in Kochi, Kerala.

The exhibition will be set in spaces across Kochi, Muziris and surrounding islands. There will be shows in existing galleries and halls, and site-specific installations in public spaces, heritage buildings and disused structures.

Indian and international artists will exhibit artworks across a variety of mediums including film, installation, painting, sculpture, new media and performance art.

Through the celebration of contemporary art from around the world, The Kochi-Muziris Biennale seeks to invoke the historic cosmopolitan legacy of the modern metropolis of Kochi, and its mythical predecessor, the ancient port of Muziris.

Alongside the exhibition the Biennale will offer a rich programme of talks, seminars, screenings, music, workshops and educational activities for school children and students of all ages.

New art rescues 2,000-year-old Muziris-Kochi history in Kerala

Kochi, Dec 7 (IANS) Contemporary art is opening a new road to connect to the heritage of the ancient Kochi-Muziris region of Keralto carry it to the world through a series of reconnecting works in a variety of mediums, on display at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012.

The ancient port city of Muziris - now being excavated - was a key transit point on the Indo-Roman and the Indo-Greek trade route since 1st century BC while its twin city Kochi has been a cultural melting pot for the last six centuries.

The Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012 - India's first official biennale of contemporary art begnning Dec 12 - is being described as a cultural renaissance built around the holistic heritage conservation model of regenration, reuse and sustainability of archaeological relics, its organisers say.

It has drawn 88 artists from 24 countries and nearly 1,500 performers. Little wonder then that Kochi-Muziris is a flurry of actvity.

In a large dimly lit space at the Aspwinwall House in Mattancherry, the ancient spice trading quarters of Fort Kochi, a group of workmen is putting together what seems to be a strange installation. The workmen are assembling thousands of brown clay pottery shards, excavated from the ruins of Muziris in Pattanam, into an abstract miniature of the port city that was destroyed in a flood in the Periyar river in 1341 AD.

The installation by contemporary artist Vivan Sundaram is trying to connect the history of Muziris to contemporary abstraction - a realm that allows the viewer to re-imagine history in his own way with impressions of a reality no more there.

Next to Sundaram's heritage installation hangs a 60-ft long wooden trading boat, a realistic installation by artist Subodh Gupta. The boat, traditional in design, is a replica of the vessels used to ferry spices and goods on the high seas off the Mattancherry coast.

The installations meld into the history of the venue - the old Aspinwall & Company Ltd, a spice firm established 1867 by English trader John H. Aspinwall.

"The kind of material Vivan Sundaram uses in the installation touches upon a kind of hidden history using a high-end technology. It represents new knowledge and adds a cultural depth to the place and the art," says biennale co-curator Riyas Komu.

Gupta, who has been working with boats, calls his installation an extension of his ongoing practice but "one which takes on a new meaning in old Kochi, the boat city".

"I have been reconnecting to history with smaller boats for the last few years in my studio," Gupta says.

Kerala-based artist Valsom Koorma Koller is recycling the state's natural resources - coir, coconut husk, coir wool, rice husk, coconut fronds, pots, clay, textile and metal scrap - in a bunker-display space at the Aspwinwall House. "The act of recycling material signifies that nothing dies and all material has life if we put a little mind and art to it," Valsom says, explaining the nature of his work.

The materials are arranged in figurative and pyramidal forms on bunkers - piled in stories on each other. "What I am concerned about is that when somebody dies, we either burn or bury them. But we rarely donate their organs to live in the next generation... We sell our future to enjoy a joyful life today. I want to perpetuate life," the artist says.

The sea outside the historic Pepper House, another venue of the biennale that has been restored last week, flows into artist K.P. Regi's canvas. The imagery is a direct transposition of Regi's interpretation of the arrival of the Indian Navy aircraft carrier at Cochin harbour in a photo-realistic style. (As it happens, INS Virat is being refurbished at the Cochin Shipyard).

Regi says his work explores "the layers of Kochi's history - from its days of pastoral innocence to the years of Mahatma Gandhi, independence of India, the Left politics and weapons of war on the town's historic waters".

The Dutch-style waterfront Pepper House is a living heritage of change. Once consisting of two spice godowns with clay roofs and a central courtyard, the 16,000 sq ft building has been restored as a modern multi-use space to host art and culture.

Other historic venues have been resurrected from the rubble of neglect as well. The Durbar Hall, built in 1850 by the king of Cochin has been converted into a modern scientifically-planned art museum and gallery while the David Hall, a Dutch-style bungalow built in 1695 by the Dutch East India Company, has been restored to host art and performances.

One classic example of rebirth is Goturuth, a sliver of land that emerged out of the water after Muziris drowned in a deluge. Nearly 40 km from Fort Kochi, the 14th century landmass will support a public installation of Chinna Thambi Annavi, who is believed to have founded the Chavittu Nadakam, a Latin Christian performance art.

Kerala-based artist Anto George is working on the 11-foot statue of the cultural icon at a site where a Church overlooks a Shiva temple.

The biennale is paying its tribute to Ilango Adigal , the creator of Silappadikaram who wrote the epic story of divine princess Kannagi, by installing a Kannagi icon at Mathikalam, located in what was once Muziris.

Venue: Mattanchery Warehouses - Pepper House, Parade Ground, Cochin Club, Durbar hall, Aspinwall House

This area is the hub of the Kerala spice trade. Famous for tea, dried fruits, cashew nuts and rubber, it stretches from the Vypin Jetty along Calvathy Road and Bazaar Road to the Dutch Palace.

Since the formation of Cochin harbour following the floods of 1341 merchant ships have sailed to Kochi and dropped anchor at the mouth of the Calvathy river. The spices they sought were carried by boat from the inland waterways of Kerala and delivered to the docks at jetties which lined the harbour waterfront. The harbour became a hectic trading area where transactions were conducted and customs duties were levied. Eventually the Portuguese, Dutch and British came to this region one by one, laying the foundations for colonial rule.

There are numerous warehouses along this stretch of road, some are disused but many still function as spice ‘godowns’ or storage areas for antiques, food and other produce. The Kochi Biennale Foundation has secured over 100,000 sq feet of space for installation, projection and mixed media works. This would open a dialogue between “fine” art and urban decay as many of these structures are being reanimated from a severe state of disrepair.

Ref: http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/12/07/94--New-art-rescues-2-000-year-old-Muziris-Kochi-history-in-Kerala-With-Image-.html

Ref: http://kochimuzirisbiennale.org

Photos from Kochi-Muziris Biennale Location

Venues and Ancient Buildings for Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012 (pics from http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/kochi-muziris-biennale)

Durbar hall and its grounds, Built in the 1850s by the Maharaja of Cochin to host his Royal court, the Durbar Hall has had many incarnations over its 150 year history.