Words: Susmitha Suresh   Images: Various Sources

What the Kochi-Muziris Biennale brought to Kochi was a reawakening of culture, art and enthusiasm in the field. When it first opened its doors to public in 2012, it was the first of its kind to be held in India. The exhibition takes place in spaces across Kochi and surrounding areas. The third and latest edition of the KMB came to a conclusion on 29th March 2017.

In 2010, the then culture minister of Kerala M.A Baby approached Bose Krishnamachari and Riyaz Komu, two Mumbai based contemporary artists of Kerala origin, with an idea to start an art project of international standards in the state. And thus was born a legacy that has reached its fourth edition now.

FWD Life made a list of all the curators who brought their unique views to the KMB to make it one of the best biennales in Asia.

Bose Krishnamachari and Riyaz Komu

Bose: Born in 1963, at a village near Angamaly in Kerala, Bose Krishnamachari is an acclaimed painter and curator based out of Mumbai. Having graduated out of the Sir JJ School of Art, he has exhibited his work across the world and won numerous awards. His work comprises of abstract paintings, figurative drawings, sculpture, photography, multimedia installations and architecture. He is the founding member and President of the Kochi Biennale Foundation.

Riyaz: Riyas Komu was born in 1971 near Thrissur in Kerala. He moved to Mumbai to study literature but dropped out to pursue an education in Fine Arts from the Sir JJ School of Art in 1999. As an artist, Riyas’ work spans different mediums and genres and is noted for his political overtones, as a symbol of protest. He is the current Director of Programmes of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.

Jitish Kallat:

Jitish Kallat was born 1974 is an Indian contemporary artist.He currently lives and works in Mumbai, India.Kallat’s work includes painting, photography, collage, sculptures, installations and multimedia works. He was the artistic director of the second edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, held in Fort Kochi in 2014. Kallat is currently represented by Nature Morte -New Delhi, Chemould Prescott Road- Mumbai, ARNDT – Berlin and Galerie Daniel Templon in France and Belgium and he currently sits on the Board of Trustees of the India Foundation for the Arts.

Sudarshan Shetty:

Sudarshan Shetty, born in 1961, is a contemporary Indian artist who has worked in painting, sculpture, installation, video, sound and performance. He has exhibited widely in India and more recently he has become increasingly visible on the international stage as an important voice in contemporary art. His work has been exhibited at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, and the Tate Modern, London, England.[citation needed] The artist has been a resident at the Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, United States, and was a Ford Foundation Fellow at the New School for General Studies, New York.

Anita Dube:

Queer, feminist, radical, dauntless, evocative and provocative, she may be all of 4 ft 10 inches in height, but her ideals, her opinions, her muses and most of all, her conceptually rich politically charged oeuvre stands tall and towering, all cloaked in their skins of velvet. Anita Dube, the Biennale’s first woman curator has already got the art world biting their nails in excitement as they wait to see what she has in store for the next edition, waiting to get the slightest clue of the direction in which her curatorial vision is heading and hastily marking their calendars for December 12, 2018.

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