A biennial event unlike any other

About the Kochi-Muziris Biennale which is being held throughout the Indian city of Kochi until 10 April.

The teeming Kochi Biennale is unlike any other. And it feels good to get some fresh air. Beaux Arts Magazine's special envoy to India has clearly enjoyed this unique art market event, which is held every two years in the state of Kerala. An international contemporary art exhibition, the Kochi (or Cochin) Biennale is indeed distinguished by its artistic rather than mercantile spirit. More pleasing for the contemporary art world than for the contemporary art market. Of course, this is refreshing. Works of art for sale are certainly everywhere, but their creators have been chosen by artists. According to Fabrice Bousteau, "apart from the unique atmosphere of the city and its architecture, the originality of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) lies first of all in the fact that it is the only one in the world whose president is an artist (Bose Krishnamachari, the founder along with another Kerala-born artist, Riyas Komu) and whose curator is also, at each edition, an Indian artist. This year it is Shubigi Rao. A contemporary artist and writer born in India and living in Singapore, she is known for her long-term multidisciplinary projects and installation works that often use books, prints, drawings, videos and archives.

Shubigi Rao has chosen to title "In Our Veins Flow Ink and Fire" this 5th edition of the biennial, which was born in 2012 and has become one of the most important contemporary art exhibitions in Asia. "In Our Veins Flow Ink and Fire": a title to express the deep commitment of the artists to the world's environmental and societal disorders. There are 88 invited artists of 24 different nationalities, exhibited in 14 historic buildings in Kochi. "And this edition, like the four previous ones that I have also had the chance to visit," the special envoy points out, "demonstrates the freedom of a curatorial artist in his or her choices, compared to that of a museum curator or art critic. In fact, in Kochi, amidst the scent of spices, there are few stars of the art market or contemporary artists who have already been seen over and over again in art galleries, institutions, biennials or other foundations around the world. It is therefore a precious opportunity to take a fresh look. To be surprised.

The exhibition was organised in 2012 by the Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation, a non-profit organisation, to showcase artists from different countries and cultures, presenting their artworks in exhibition spaces located throughout the city, including historic buildings, abandoned buildings and industrial sites. The Kochi Biennale has since become known for its commitment to sustainability, community participation and social inclusion. It also hosts various educational programmes and art-related events such as lectures, film screenings and children's workshops. Having become an essential platform for the presentation and discussion of contemporary art in India in particular, and Asia in general, the Kochi Biennale is considered a must-see cultural experience for visitors interested in art and culture.

Yes, strolling through the BKM is an experience. Not an imposed exercise. Not even a blasé visit. It is a real time of feeling, a whirlwind of sensations. It is impossible to imagine in advance what you will discover when you walk through the alleys of the vast Aspinwall, for example. This former spice exchange, the main exhibition space, has five huge buildings, some of which face the sea. When the door finally opened on 23 December, ten days late, Fabrice Bousteau was literally amazed to find himself in front of the gigantic installation by Asim Waqif. The artist born in India in 1978 and based in New Delhi, whose work is influenced by the interdisciplinary fields of art, architecture, ecology and design, is exhibiting a bamboo architecture specifically designed for the biennial. Like a nest protected from the hustle and bustle of the outside world, entirely designed with environmentally friendly construction techniques and materials in a bid to reduce its biological footprint as much as possible, Improvise is an in situ installation wrapped around several trees, in which percussion instruments placed all over the place allow visitors to play and be actors in the work.

For this is one of the other specificities of this Kochi Biennale, and not the least: even at the inauguration, absolutely everyone is invited. From the student to the fisherman, including the rickshaw driver who accompanied the Beaux Arts Magazine journalist on his visit after driving him to the site. The journalist is well placed to testify that this is a unique case in contemporary art biennials, which usually handpick their guests. "Our biennial is a biennial for the people," writes Bose Krishnamachari in the catalogue. In fact, thousands of Indians flock to it every year, "so much so that the thirst for art is growing here and so much is done - particularly in terms of mediation - to attract the most diverse audiences," notes Fabrice Bousteau. "There is a festive atmosphere among the visitors (rather young and almost exclusively Indian due to the postponement of the date), the artists and the many volunteers from all over India.

Nevertheless, the editor-in-chief of Beaux Arts Magazine believes that this edition "disappoints in comparison with previous editions, with fewer striking and spectacular works, especially in Aspinwall, with too many videos (for reasons of budget and Covid, according to the organisers) and perhaps also with the weakness of the curatorial proposal". However, it does speak about the world today and our lifestyles, in artistic language. "In the film First Rain, Brise Soleil, Thao Nguyen Phan (Vietnam) shows how the Mekong River has produced folklore and culture in Vietnam for centuries, but also how it has been decimated by the extraction of its sand for concrete construction. As for the work of Zhanna Kadyrova (Ukraine), she subtly plunges the visitor into the midst of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict with Palianytsia, presenting on a table as if for a Christic banquet large river stones that she has collected in a Ukrainian village before polishing and slicing them, giving them the appearance of "palianytsia", the traditional bread. And showing both the difficulty of subsisting during the war and a subtle form of resistance. With Brothers, Fathers and Uncles, a splendid and monumental oil on canvas depicting silhouettes wearing the "mundu", a traditional garment trimmed in gold, the Indian artist Devi Seetharam is interested in the socialisation of men in the public space, in what it says about patriarchy. And what about the hallucinating surrealism of Smitha GS, "an artist from Kerala who paints large landscapes with improbable colours populated by microbes and other unheard-of creatures"! But for the special envoy, there is no doubt: "the absolute masterpiece of this biennial comes from the Indian artist and filmmaker Amar Kanwar, who is, on the other hand, known worldwide. Such a Morning is an 85-minute film whose images, music and sounds so fascinate the visitor that he cannot leave the room before the end!