creative brands kochi muziris biennale special edition july - aug 2015
DESCRIPTION
ÂTRANSCRIPT
-
MAY-JUNE 2015 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 2 INR 100 AED15 USD 5
SPECIAL ISSUE-2
MEM RIESHISTORIES
INTIMATIONS
RNI/C-26/2014/DEL
-
Publisher
Ramji Ravindran
Knowledge Partner
Viinod Nair
Editor-in-Chief
K.G. Sreenivas
Art, Design & Photography
Prasanth Kumar
Rajeev M.S
Aneesh Raveendran
Registered Office
Creative Brands Asia Pacific-Middle East
B-62-B, Third Floor, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110019
www.creativebrandsmag.com
Printed by
Ramji Ravindran
Conceptual Pictures Worldwide Private Limited
#10-3-89, 3rd Floor, R-5 Chambers,
Humayun Nagar, Hyderabad 500028
Ph: +91.40.6720.6720
Editorial enquiries
Sales & Distribution
Enquiries: [email protected]
Subscribe at:
Subscription enquiries: +91-40-67206721
2013 Creative Brands. All rights reserved.
No part of this magazine may be reproduced in
whole or in part without written permission
from the Publisher.
Volume 3, Issue 2, may-june 2015
Printer
One of the central preoccupations of the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale 2014 was that of imagination: imagination as a function
of history, memory, and interpretation on one hand, and
imagination as a function of dialectical temporalism on the
other.
The dialectics of history and time was of the essence in the
excavation of memory and detritus that together became the
hyphen between Kochi and Muziris.
Riyas Komu, one of the founding thinkers of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Director
of Programmes of the Second Edition, says, It has brought back a strong historical
memory. It has also shown us how history can be built or looked at as a 'future' project. It was
the idea of the future of history that was part of the biennale's inception.
Komu succinctly denes one of its axioms that of reimagining the future, a future
predicated on the past. Muziris is that real imaginary what Picasso says of his art: 'everything
you can imagine is real'.
It is to social and political imagination that Bose Krishnamachari, President of the Kochi-
Muziris Biennale Foundation, appeals to, when he says: The KBF's mission is to draw from
the rich tradition of public action and public engagement in Kerala... and build a new
aesthetic that interrogates both the past and the present.
The Biennale, therefore, was an attempt at a re-imagination of life itself. 'Art is life', so
went one of its leitmotifs.
Robert Anson Heinlein (1907-1988), that great American novelist and science ction
writer, often called the dean of science ction writers, says: Anybody can look at a pretty
girl and see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will
become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl that she used to be.
But a great artist a master, and that was what Auguste Rodin was can look at an old
woman, portray her exactly as she is... and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be... and more than
that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo, or even you, see that this lovely young girl is still
alive, not old and ugly at all, but simply prisoned inside her ruined body. [Emphasis added]
The Biennale, as Jitish Kallat, Artistic Director & Curator, described it as not only an
observation deck but also a toolbox of self-reection. It was this self-reection that sought
to build a compelling vision and portray her exactly as she is... and force the viewer to see the pretty girl
she used to be amid the equally compelling images that make up the (her) present. This dialectic,
however, imprecise, dened the praxis of the Biennale.
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale raised important questions relating to the essential
human condition, the role of humanity, and the politics of what constitutes community and
cosmopolitanism.
In 1959, one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Robert Rauschenberg
(1925-2008), who straddled the intersections of painting and sculpture and who represented
the seminal transition from Abstract Expressionism to later modern movements, such as the
Neo-Dada movement, declared in a catalogue for the landmark exhibition 'Sixteen
Americans', organised by the Museum of Modern Art, New York: Painting relates to both
art and life. Neither can be made. (I try to act in that gap between the two.) [Emphasis added]
It led to a cataclysm of sorts in the art world of the 1950s, transforming the discourse on
that enigmatic question of all: what is art? Rauschenberg had compelled the focus of the art
world away from the ivory tower to the street and the gutter. His objects were everyday
detritus (though by the 1960s he moved away from this practice). The Biennale also did
detritus.
This second and nal Kochi Biennale edition of Creative Brands brings to you a rich
tapestry of conversations and stories, drawing on what Kallat calls a proliferation of
intuitions and prompts (that) become the tapestry which is the exhibition.
When the 108-day festival, showcasing 100 main artworks displayed by 94 artists from 30
countries in eight venues of the hoary port city of Kochi, ended on 29 March 2015, we recall
what Okwui Enwezor, Curator of the ongoing 56th edition of the Venice Biennale, the
world's oldest, said: The Kochi Muziris Biennale is the 21st-century Biennale.
K.G.Sreenivas
Editor-in-Chief
ablo Picasso, the great master, said: PEverything you can imagine is real.
-
Publisher
Ramji Ravindran
Knowledge Partner
Viinod Nair
Editor-in-Chief
K.G. Sreenivas
Art, Design & Photography
Prasanth Kumar
Rajeev M.S
Aneesh Raveendran
Registered Office
Creative Brands Asia Pacific-Middle East
B-62-B, Third Floor, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110019
www.creativebrandsmag.com
Printed by
Ramji Ravindran
Conceptual Pictures Worldwide Private Limited
#10-3-89, 3rd Floor, R-5 Chambers,
Humayun Nagar, Hyderabad 500028
Ph: +91.40.6720.6720
Editorial enquiries
Sales & Distribution
Enquiries: [email protected]
Subscribe at:
Subscription enquiries: +91-40-67206721
2013 Creative Brands. All rights reserved.
No part of this magazine may be reproduced in
whole or in part without written permission
from the Publisher.
Volume 3, Issue 2, may-june 2015
Printer
One of the central preoccupations of the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale 2014 was that of imagination: imagination as a function
of history, memory, and interpretation on one hand, and
imagination as a function of dialectical temporalism on the
other.
The dialectics of history and time was of the essence in the
excavation of memory and detritus that together became the
hyphen between Kochi and Muziris.
Riyas Komu, one of the founding thinkers of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Director
of Programmes of the Second Edition, says, It has brought back a strong historical
memory. It has also shown us how history can be built or looked at as a 'future' project. It was
the idea of the future of history that was part of the biennale's inception.
Komu succinctly denes one of its axioms that of reimagining the future, a future
predicated on the past. Muziris is that real imaginary what Picasso says of his art: 'everything
you can imagine is real'.
It is to social and political imagination that Bose Krishnamachari, President of the Kochi-
Muziris Biennale Foundation, appeals to, when he says: The KBF's mission is to draw from
the rich tradition of public action and public engagement in Kerala... and build a new
aesthetic that interrogates both the past and the present.
The Biennale, therefore, was an attempt at a re-imagination of life itself. 'Art is life', so
went one of its leitmotifs.
Robert Anson Heinlein (1907-1988), that great American novelist and science ction
writer, often called the dean of science ction writers, says: Anybody can look at a pretty
girl and see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will
become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl that she used to be.
But a great artist a master, and that was what Auguste Rodin was can look at an old
woman, portray her exactly as she is... and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be... and more than
that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo, or even you, see that this lovely young girl is still
alive, not old and ugly at all, but simply prisoned inside her ruined body. [Emphasis added]
The Biennale, as Jitish Kallat, Artistic Director & Curator, described it as not only an
observation deck but also a toolbox of self-reection. It was this self-reection that sought
to build a compelling vision and portray her exactly as she is... and force the viewer to see the pretty girl
she used to be amid the equally compelling images that make up the (her) present. This dialectic,
however, imprecise, dened the praxis of the Biennale.
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale raised important questions relating to the essential
human condition, the role of humanity, and the politics of what constitutes community and
cosmopolitanism.
In 1959, one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Robert Rauschenberg
(1925-2008), who straddled the intersections of painting and sculpture and who represented
the seminal transition from Abstract Expressionism to later modern movements, such as the
Neo-Dada movement, declared in a catalogue for the landmark exhibition 'Sixteen
Americans', organised by the Museum of Modern Art, New York: Painting relates to both
art and life. Neither can be made. (I try to act in that gap between the two.) [Emphasis added]
It led to a cataclysm of sorts in the art world of the 1950s, transforming the discourse on
that enigmatic question of all: what is art? Rauschenberg had compelled the focus of the art
world away from the ivory tower to the street and the gutter. His objects were everyday
detritus (though by the 1960s he moved away from this practice). The Biennale also did
detritus.
This second and nal Kochi Biennale edition of Creative Brands brings to you a rich
tapestry of conversations and stories, drawing on what Kallat calls a proliferation of
intuitions and prompts (that) become the tapestry which is the exhibition.
When the 108-day festival, showcasing 100 main artworks displayed by 94 artists from 30
countries in eight venues of the hoary port city of Kochi, ended on 29 March 2015, we recall
what Okwui Enwezor, Curator of the ongoing 56th edition of the Venice Biennale, the
world's oldest, said: The Kochi Muziris Biennale is the 21st-century Biennale.
K.G.Sreenivas
Editor-in-Chief
ablo Picasso, the great master, said: PEverything you can imagine is real.
-
Dear Readers,
WWe are delighted to feature the likes of leaders such as M.A. Baby, former
Education & Culture Minister of Kerala one of the founding forces behind
the biennale and Thomas Isaac former Finance Minister of Kerala; actor,
director, and artist Amol Palekar; entrepreneur Jose Dominic of the CGH Earth
Group; internationally acclaimed curator Yuko Hasegawa; artist Madhusudanan,
who after exhibiting at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale was chosen for the ongoing
Venice Biennale, and a host of other artists and thinkers, who, together, gave
shape to now the globally celebrated Kochi Biennale.
We, once again, extend our gratitude to Bose Krishnamachari, President,
Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation, Riyas Komu, Secretary, Kochi-Muziris
Biennale Foundation, and Curator of KMB-2014 Jitish Kallat for giving us this
opportunity to be part of this great event.
We would also like to congratulate Sudarshan Shetty, the newly appointed
curator of Kochi-Muziris Biennale for 2016. One of the most innovative
contemporary artists in India, Shetty has widely exhibited his works at home and
abroad. His work also encompasses three-dimensional work, such as sculptures
and installations. We wish him great success for KMB-2016.
Like the last edition, all our interviews of KMB-14 are available on our
website
www.creativebrandsmag.com
Starting the next edition, we would be doing a special series, focusing on
India's Maharatnas and the Navaratnas, the country's iconic Public Sector
Undertakings or PSUs as they are called.
Here's to some great reading!
Ramji Ravindran
Publisher
CONTENTS
COVER STORY06,PROMONTRY OF HISTORY: Jitish
Kallat, Bose Krishnamachari, and
Riyas Komu say how the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale has redened the dialectics of
art and history...
Dialectics of Art: 14,
People are getting an opportunity to open
up to philosophical questions and questions
relating to our very existence. The Kochi-
Muziris Biennale ushers in a new world of
ideas and aesthetics, says former
Education & Culture Minister of Kerala
M.A. BABY
Art for Art's Sake:16,
Rising economic prosperity has led to
increasing material consumption that
can be disastrous for any culture and
civilisation. Equally important is
spiritual consumption in terms of our
ability to appreciate art, music, cinema,
and aesthetics, says former Finance
Minister of Kerala Dr. Thomas Isaac
Art Central: 20,
I feel that unless we make art and culture
an essential, inevitable part of our lives,
we can't have a richer life... If we accept
that as a concept then we would know the
role of art and artist. And we would learn
to respect art, says Amol Palekar
Breaking Down Walls: 24,
The rst edition of the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale has been acknowledged and
recognised around the world and far
exceeded everyone's expectations. The
second one, I believe, has excelled the
rst one, says Jose Dominic, Head of
the CGH Group and one of the patrons of
the Biennale
Aesthetics of Politics:36,
The biennale is a political activity and I
don't think it's an innocent activity. But the
politics is also very different from that of
the West, says internationally acclaimed
lmmaker and artist Madhusudhanan
The Continuum of Art: 56,
Art probes, art objects. Art sees. Art
almost knows. Design takes this seeing
and knowing and makes into something
that is translatable and usable, and
almost becomes part of the fabric of
everyday l i fe , says Dr. Geetha
Narayanan, Founding Director of
Srishti School of Design
Art of Co-Creation:
48,
A cartoon is drawn in an atmosphere of
implied conict or actual conict. But the
issue is not even religion it is probably
the mobilisation of politics through religion
which is coming into conict with
cartooning. I have not seen any religious
person who has been anti-cartoon per se,
says E.P. Unny, Chief Political Cartoonist of
The Indian Express
Art of Partnership28,
Immanence, Incense44,
Portrait of the Artist52,
rawing Conceptualism32,
Telling Strokes
64,
Sounds, Resonances60,
Metaphor as Reality66,
elcome to Second Special Edition of Creative Brands dedicated
to the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014.
-
Dear Readers,
WWe are delighted to feature the likes of leaders such as M.A. Baby, former
Education & Culture Minister of Kerala one of the founding forces behind
the biennale and Thomas Isaac former Finance Minister of Kerala; actor,
director, and artist Amol Palekar; entrepreneur Jose Dominic of the CGH Earth
Group; internationally acclaimed curator Yuko Hasegawa; artist Madhusudanan,
who after exhibiting at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale was chosen for the ongoing
Venice Biennale, and a host of other artists and thinkers, who, together, gave
shape to now the globally celebrated Kochi Biennale.
We, once again, extend our gratitude to Bose Krishnamachari, President,
Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation, Riyas Komu, Secretary, Kochi-Muziris
Biennale Foundation, and Curator of KMB-2014 Jitish Kallat for giving us this
opportunity to be part of this great event.
We would also like to congratulate Sudarshan Shetty, the newly appointed
curator of Kochi-Muziris Biennale for 2016. One of the most innovative
contemporary artists in India, Shetty has widely exhibited his works at home and
abroad. His work also encompasses three-dimensional work, such as sculptures
and installations. We wish him great success for KMB-2016.
Like the last edition, all our interviews of KMB-14 are available on our
website
www.creativebrandsmag.com
Starting the next edition, we would be doing a special series, focusing on
India's Maharatnas and the Navaratnas, the country's iconic Public Sector
Undertakings or PSUs as they are called.
Here's to some great reading!
Ramji Ravindran
Publisher
CONTENTS
COVER STORY06,PROMONTRY OF HISTORY: Jitish
Kallat, Bose Krishnamachari, and
Riyas Komu say how the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale has redened the dialectics of
art and history...
Dialectics of Art: 14,
People are getting an opportunity to open
up to philosophical questions and questions
relating to our very existence. The Kochi-
Muziris Biennale ushers in a new world of
ideas and aesthetics, says former
Education & Culture Minister of Kerala
M.A. BABY
Art for Art's Sake:16,
Rising economic prosperity has led to
increasing material consumption that
can be disastrous for any culture and
civilisation. Equally important is
spiritual consumption in terms of our
ability to appreciate art, music, cinema,
and aesthetics, says former Finance
Minister of Kerala Dr. Thomas Isaac
Art Central: 20,
I feel that unless we make art and culture
an essential, inevitable part of our lives,
we can't have a richer life... If we accept
that as a concept then we would know the
role of art and artist. And we would learn
to respect art, says Amol Palekar
Breaking Down Walls: 24,
The rst edition of the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale has been acknowledged and
recognised around the world and far
exceeded everyone's expectations. The
second one, I believe, has excelled the
rst one, says Jose Dominic, Head of
the CGH Group and one of the patrons of
the Biennale
Aesthetics of Politics:36,
The biennale is a political activity and I
don't think it's an innocent activity. But the
politics is also very different from that of
the West, says internationally acclaimed
lmmaker and artist Madhusudhanan
The Continuum of Art: 56,
Art probes, art objects. Art sees. Art
almost knows. Design takes this seeing
and knowing and makes into something
that is translatable and usable, and
almost becomes part of the fabric of
everyday l i fe , says Dr. Geetha
Narayanan, Founding Director of
Srishti School of Design
Art of Co-Creation:
48,
A cartoon is drawn in an atmosphere of
implied conict or actual conict. But the
issue is not even religion it is probably
the mobilisation of politics through religion
which is coming into conict with
cartooning. I have not seen any religious
person who has been anti-cartoon per se,
says E.P. Unny, Chief Political Cartoonist of
The Indian Express
Art of Partnership28,
Immanence, Incense44,
Portrait of the Artist52,
rawing Conceptualism32,
Telling Strokes
64,
Sounds, Resonances60,
Metaphor as Reality66,
elcome to Second Special Edition of Creative Brands dedicated
to the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014.
-
COVER STORY.. . . . . .. . . . ..
CREATIVE BRANDS presents BOSE Krishnamachari,
President, Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation; JITISH Kallat,
Artistic Director & Curator, Kochi-Muziris Biennale; and,
RIYAS Komu, Director, Programmes, Kochi-Muziris
Biennale. Three men, one mission... Three artists, one vision...
Bose and Riyas among the founding visionaries of the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale, India's rst, and, today, among the world's best. Jitish among the
world's leading contemporary artists the helmsman of the Second Edition
of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Together, with a dedicated team at the Kochi-
Muziris Biennale Foundation, and government, artists & art lovers, a wide of
global cultural institutions, and legions of ordinary men and women from
around the world came together to build the Second Edition of the Kochi-
Muziris Biennale. Editor-in-Chief K.G. Sreenivas met Bose, Jitish, and Riyas at
the historic Pepper House at Fort Kochi for a conversation hedged by a
bustling Calvathy Street.
(EXCERPTS)
Jitish Kallat, Bose Krishnamachari, Riyas Komu, welcome to the nal episode of the
Creative Brands In-Conversation Series. You are at an important crossroads as it were. At
the end of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014, Jitish what are the impressions, images, and
imaginations that you bear with you as you walk out of Aspinwall House, one last time?
At a fundamental level, it's trying to map what one is seeing at the end of the
project on to what one saw at the beginning of the project. To me it is also an
exploration of the whole idea of enquiry as to how do you begin to ask
questions of yourself and where do you nd the answers. For me, it has been a
journey or a conversation one undertakes in an ever-shifting eld of bio-signs.
So you are trying to frame a word or a sentence in an emerging terrain and make
meaning of it. So at this point, it is extremely rewarding in terms of the wide
reviews I have received directly, via emails, online, and all the other sources
that people have found 'connections' because the exhibition was built with a
set of leitmotifs. And I hope the viewers would see the project coming
together as an after-image with the curatorial intentions taking residence in the
corridors of the artwork.
Bose, what would you reect back on? Of course, your work continues, it's neither a full-stop
nor a comma...
When Jitish was chosen by the eight-member committee, now I feel they made
the right choice and he has done an incredible job. Jitish has given us enormous
strength; in fact, Riyas would often say that his work has added another pillar to PROMONTRY Jitish Kallat, Bose Krishnamachari, and Riyas Komu say how the Kochi-Muziris Biennale has redened the
dialectics of history and art and the politics of cultural engagement and intellectual enquiry... To me it is also an
exploration of the whole idea of enquiry as to how do you begin to ask questions of yourself and where do you nd
the answers. For me, it has been a journey or a conversation one undertakes in an ever-shifting eld of
intuitions, says Jitish Kallat, Curator of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014.
OF HISTORY
In science, invention is all about knowledge and information, but the way they are consumed, speaks volumes about our ignorance. If you are ignorant about the effects, a single ignorant decision can usher in untold damage. This applies to any sphere of our everyday life. My project seeks to address these issues...
-
COVER STORY.. . . . . .. . . . ..
CREATIVE BRANDS presents BOSE Krishnamachari,
President, Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation; JITISH Kallat,
Artistic Director & Curator, Kochi-Muziris Biennale; and,
RIYAS Komu, Director, Programmes, Kochi-Muziris
Biennale. Three men, one mission... Three artists, one vision...
Bose and Riyas among the founding visionaries of the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale, India's rst, and, today, among the world's best. Jitish among the
world's leading contemporary artists the helmsman of the Second Edition
of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Together, with a dedicated team at the Kochi-
Muziris Biennale Foundation, and government, artists & art lovers, a wide of
global cultural institutions, and legions of ordinary men and women from
around the world came together to build the Second Edition of the Kochi-
Muziris Biennale. Editor-in-Chief K.G. Sreenivas met Bose, Jitish, and Riyas at
the historic Pepper House at Fort Kochi for a conversation hedged by a
bustling Calvathy Street.
(EXCERPTS)
Jitish Kallat, Bose Krishnamachari, Riyas Komu, welcome to the nal episode of the
Creative Brands In-Conversation Series. You are at an important crossroads as it were. At
the end of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014, Jitish what are the impressions, images, and
imaginations that you bear with you as you walk out of Aspinwall House, one last time?
At a fundamental level, it's trying to map what one is seeing at the end of the
project on to what one saw at the beginning of the project. To me it is also an
exploration of the whole idea of enquiry as to how do you begin to ask
questions of yourself and where do you nd the answers. For me, it has been a
journey or a conversation one undertakes in an ever-shifting eld of bio-signs.
So you are trying to frame a word or a sentence in an emerging terrain and make
meaning of it. So at this point, it is extremely rewarding in terms of the wide
reviews I have received directly, via emails, online, and all the other sources
that people have found 'connections' because the exhibition was built with a
set of leitmotifs. And I hope the viewers would see the project coming
together as an after-image with the curatorial intentions taking residence in the
corridors of the artwork.
Bose, what would you reect back on? Of course, your work continues, it's neither a full-stop
nor a comma...
When Jitish was chosen by the eight-member committee, now I feel they made
the right choice and he has done an incredible job. Jitish has given us enormous
strength; in fact, Riyas would often say that his work has added another pillar to PROMONTRY Jitish Kallat, Bose Krishnamachari, and Riyas Komu say how the Kochi-Muziris Biennale has redened the
dialectics of history and art and the politics of cultural engagement and intellectual enquiry... To me it is also an
exploration of the whole idea of enquiry as to how do you begin to ask questions of yourself and where do you nd
the answers. For me, it has been a journey or a conversation one undertakes in an ever-shifting eld of
intuitions, says Jitish Kallat, Curator of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014.
OF HISTORY
In science, invention is all about knowledge and information, but the way they are consumed, speaks volumes about our ignorance. If you are ignorant about the effects, a single ignorant decision can usher in untold damage. This applies to any sphere of our everyday life. My project seeks to address these issues...
-
art, history, and aesthetics.
Bose: The survey used to happen in Delhi
and Bombay, now I think many people are
doing the survey in Cochin to nd new
talent and new ideas...
Jitish, when you set about dening your vision, how
did you break free from received notions or received
constructs?
I actually at no point presented anything as
a resolved issue. In fact, for me the
perennial provisionality was extremely
essential. So even while some of the things
that I can see at the end are uncannily close
to what I set out to do in the beginning, the
recurring thought was for this biennale to
produce themes and not reproduce things.
So I did not want to set out with a goal-
oriented mission saying that this is the
vision that I would like to replicate in the
exhibition. But, in fact, it was through
exhibition making I found an ever-
evolving vision... I was looking for a self-
organising intelligence within the project
manifesting itself through participation
rather than administration.
Bose: Jitish, whenever you used to send
out letters to artists, you used to say how
they were like prompts... I like that idea. I
could never take a curated show with a
theme. You can have a theme and pick a
work maybe. But when you say prompts
there are possibilities, there is openness...
there is a possibility of dissatisfaction, you
know! I always liked the idea of non-
thematic projects.
Jitish: As prompts and intuitions inhabit
any form of intellectual or creative
practice, I was wondering if they could be
set asail to reach out and return with
in tu i t ions and p rompts. So th i s
proliferation of intuitions and prompts
becomes the tapestry which is the
exhibition.
In any enterprise, as is the wont, and particularly
in a creative enterprise, how did you perhaps
resolve any creative differences you may have had?
Rather did you have any creative differences at all
in putting together this enormous enterprise?
Jitish: Our roles were very different. Our
roles were dened, we overlapped may be
in terms of the occasional dialoguing...
But on the whole our work was pretty
much dened.
Riyas: This foundation has not reached a
stage where it has become an institution
with a two-year plan lead-out. At its
inception, what we were mainly targeting
to achieve was the exhibition. Once Jitish
came on board, he almost created a
platform to work on and we were only
supposed to support that. That decision
was internally very strong. So I was given a
completely different job that of
programming, which I felt should never
ever contradict Jitish's job in any manner...
Under the large umbrella of the project,
each one of us dreamt a bigger dream...
We could also discuss anything and
everything under the sky.
Bose: When we proposed Jitish's name we
our foundation and vision. We learnt a lot
from his curatorial practice. The city, too,
taught us a lot. Also Riyas's programming
has added a lot of strength to the project.
It has become more social, more political,
and more engaging. It is a beautiful
moment...
Riyas, it's too close to the event to be taking up a
historical or vantage point to evaluate the event, yet
the Kochi-Muziris Biennale sought to re-
historicize, if you will, not in a revisionist sense,
what you set out to do in the beginning. How do you
read what the biennale has achieved?
With the three of us sitting here, it's very
interesting to go back to our college days
where we studied and started out. What
that campus taught was the idea of doing
things rather than just discussing
possibilities. When Jitish came on board as
Curator, I could see his wit, intellectual
rigour and his understanding of time,
people, society and context. It took me
back to those days when all of us had a
sense of revolt; and today this project
embraces the possibility of re-reading
history or even contemporary art history.
The site and its history complement that
effort. As a four-year-old organisation, it's
some way or other achieving strength to
articulate what is necessary for the time. At
this biennale, Jitish has evoked, with a
completely different kind of rigour, the
history of a site with a uniquely distinct
power of perception. Jitish has invested a
lot in the possibilities of the power of
reimagining! There is a great tendency in
this project to re-evaluate what has been
said and what has been written, and revisit
the terminologies one used to talk about
voices or the underground. There has
always been a marked reluctance in society
to discuss immediate issues. Prof B. Iqbal,
former Vice-Chancellor of Kerala
University, who had come visiting, said
that Kerala society had been static for the
past 20 years and that the biennale had
come like a volcano! It has had its ripple
effect. So I think we need to understand
the historical depth of the impact of the
biennale that is I think the starting
point of any discourse.
Further, I would chart out certain
objectives that we achieved the rst
thing being nding infrastructure to
accommodate art. When we started out,
the amount of space Kochi had, to host an
exhibition, was 10,000 sqft! Today, thanks
to the biennale, we have 4,50,000 sqft
space to showcase art! One bigger
message I see that has gone out in a state
like Kerala, where literature has a pre-
eminent position, is that as artists we
always have a greater understanding of
space, a space that is physical and that
allows you to discuss your ideas and
ideologies. The argument of the biennale
has always been for that physical space to
exist because art needs that. I think that is
the rst intervention of the biennale. We
never understood some of our greatest
revolutionary artists Raja Ravi Varma
was one of those. He was somebody who
followed the best technology of his time
and he was somebody who also left the
state. No Malayali has ever answered that
question why did Raja Ravi Varma leave
had told the advisory committee that we
were looking to someone who would be an
artist himself and understood art and
theory. And everybody was happy with
Jitish's choice, for he is meticulous, well-
known, and well-connected... Everybody
felt that he would bring to our vision a new
direction.
Riyas, the other day you spoke about how the
biennale had exposed the city's vulnerabilities.
Obviously, there is a lot of pressure of
expectations from the three of you from the public,
a public which is perhaps disillusioned by the
traditional institutions of governance. Probably
they look up to you as an agent of change. Do you
think the Foundation can assume the role of an
activist or how do you think the Foundation can
possibly navigate this sea of expectations?
From its inception, this has been a
biennale of resistance or struggle. What
are the main reasons for that? One, I think
is ignorance. In such a context when you
are doing a project where the site has never
been exposed on a scale like this, the rst
impression one can get is that we are
'parachuting' something into a society that
doesn't have the capacity to understand or
respond to or read what has been placed in
front of them. We have been through that
crisis the rst edition itself was a crisis.
What the biennale has in general provoked
is a sort of understanding of one's history
and that's the larger reading that's
happening. In a cultural place like Kerala
the major appreciation for this project has
come from alternate spaces or alternate
At this biennale, Jitish has evoked, with a completely different kind of rigour, the history of a site with a uniquely distinct power of perception. Jitish has invested a lot in the possibilities of the power of reimagining! There is a great tendency in this project to re-evaluate what has been said and what has been written, and revisit the terminologies one used to talk about art, history, and aesthetics...
Riyas Komu, Director, Programmes, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014
There is an elitist connotation to art... People think the art world is elitist and is a white cubian sort of world. Here at the biennale it is open to all classes of life it has erased those borders and it has become a people's biennale. People have become more and more intellectually receptive. The biennale's ripples have spread far and wide...
Bose Krishnamachari, President, Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation
COVER STORY.. . . . . .. . . . ..
-
art, history, and aesthetics.
Bose: The survey used to happen in Delhi
and Bombay, now I think many people are
doing the survey in Cochin to nd new
talent and new ideas...
Jitish, when you set about dening your vision, how
did you break free from received notions or received
constructs?
I actually at no point presented anything as
a resolved issue. In fact, for me the
perennial provisionality was extremely
essential. So even while some of the things
that I can see at the end are uncannily close
to what I set out to do in the beginning, the
recurring thought was for this biennale to
produce themes and not reproduce things.
So I did not want to set out with a goal-
oriented mission saying that this is the
vision that I would like to replicate in the
exhibition. But, in fact, it was through
exhibition making I found an ever-
evolving vision... I was looking for a self-
organising intelligence within the project
manifesting itself through participation
rather than administration.
Bose: Jitish, whenever you used to send
out letters to artists, you used to say how
they were like prompts... I like that idea. I
could never take a curated show with a
theme. You can have a theme and pick a
work maybe. But when you say prompts
there are possibilities, there is openness...
there is a possibility of dissatisfaction, you
know! I always liked the idea of non-
thematic projects.
Jitish: As prompts and intuitions inhabit
any form of intellectual or creative
practice, I was wondering if they could be
set asail to reach out and return with
in tu i t ions and p rompts. So th i s
proliferation of intuitions and prompts
becomes the tapestry which is the
exhibition.
In any enterprise, as is the wont, and particularly
in a creative enterprise, how did you perhaps
resolve any creative differences you may have had?
Rather did you have any creative differences at all
in putting together this enormous enterprise?
Jitish: Our roles were very different. Our
roles were dened, we overlapped may be
in terms of the occasional dialoguing...
But on the whole our work was pretty
much dened.
Riyas: This foundation has not reached a
stage where it has become an institution
with a two-year plan lead-out. At its
inception, what we were mainly targeting
to achieve was the exhibition. Once Jitish
came on board, he almost created a
platform to work on and we were only
supposed to support that. That decision
was internally very strong. So I was given a
completely different job that of
programming, which I felt should never
ever contradict Jitish's job in any manner...
Under the large umbrella of the project,
each one of us dreamt a bigger dream...
We could also discuss anything and
everything under the sky.
Bose: When we proposed Jitish's name we
our foundation and vision. We learnt a lot
from his curatorial practice. The city, too,
taught us a lot. Also Riyas's programming
has added a lot of strength to the project.
It has become more social, more political,
and more engaging. It is a beautiful
moment...
Riyas, it's too close to the event to be taking up a
historical or vantage point to evaluate the event, yet
the Kochi-Muziris Biennale sought to re-
historicize, if you will, not in a revisionist sense,
what you set out to do in the beginning. How do you
read what the biennale has achieved?
With the three of us sitting here, it's very
interesting to go back to our college days
where we studied and started out. What
that campus taught was the idea of doing
things rather than just discussing
possibilities. When Jitish came on board as
Curator, I could see his wit, intellectual
rigour and his understanding of time,
people, society and context. It took me
back to those days when all of us had a
sense of revolt; and today this project
embraces the possibility of re-reading
history or even contemporary art history.
The site and its history complement that
effort. As a four-year-old organisation, it's
some way or other achieving strength to
articulate what is necessary for the time. At
this biennale, Jitish has evoked, with a
completely different kind of rigour, the
history of a site with a uniquely distinct
power of perception. Jitish has invested a
lot in the possibilities of the power of
reimagining! There is a great tendency in
this project to re-evaluate what has been
said and what has been written, and revisit
the terminologies one used to talk about
voices or the underground. There has
always been a marked reluctance in society
to discuss immediate issues. Prof B. Iqbal,
former Vice-Chancellor of Kerala
University, who had come visiting, said
that Kerala society had been static for the
past 20 years and that the biennale had
come like a volcano! It has had its ripple
effect. So I think we need to understand
the historical depth of the impact of the
biennale that is I think the starting
point of any discourse.
Further, I would chart out certain
objectives that we achieved the rst
thing being nding infrastructure to
accommodate art. When we started out,
the amount of space Kochi had, to host an
exhibition, was 10,000 sqft! Today, thanks
to the biennale, we have 4,50,000 sqft
space to showcase art! One bigger
message I see that has gone out in a state
like Kerala, where literature has a pre-
eminent position, is that as artists we
always have a greater understanding of
space, a space that is physical and that
allows you to discuss your ideas and
ideologies. The argument of the biennale
has always been for that physical space to
exist because art needs that. I think that is
the rst intervention of the biennale. We
never understood some of our greatest
revolutionary artists Raja Ravi Varma
was one of those. He was somebody who
followed the best technology of his time
and he was somebody who also left the
state. No Malayali has ever answered that
question why did Raja Ravi Varma leave
had told the advisory committee that we
were looking to someone who would be an
artist himself and understood art and
theory. And everybody was happy with
Jitish's choice, for he is meticulous, well-
known, and well-connected... Everybody
felt that he would bring to our vision a new
direction.
Riyas, the other day you spoke about how the
biennale had exposed the city's vulnerabilities.
Obviously, there is a lot of pressure of
expectations from the three of you from the public,
a public which is perhaps disillusioned by the
traditional institutions of governance. Probably
they look up to you as an agent of change. Do you
think the Foundation can assume the role of an
activist or how do you think the Foundation can
possibly navigate this sea of expectations?
From its inception, this has been a
biennale of resistance or struggle. What
are the main reasons for that? One, I think
is ignorance. In such a context when you
are doing a project where the site has never
been exposed on a scale like this, the rst
impression one can get is that we are
'parachuting' something into a society that
doesn't have the capacity to understand or
respond to or read what has been placed in
front of them. We have been through that
crisis the rst edition itself was a crisis.
What the biennale has in general provoked
is a sort of understanding of one's history
and that's the larger reading that's
happening. In a cultural place like Kerala
the major appreciation for this project has
come from alternate spaces or alternate
At this biennale, Jitish has evoked, with a completely different kind of rigour, the history of a site with a uniquely distinct power of perception. Jitish has invested a lot in the possibilities of the power of reimagining! There is a great tendency in this project to re-evaluate what has been said and what has been written, and revisit the terminologies one used to talk about art, history, and aesthetics...
Riyas Komu, Director, Programmes, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014
There is an elitist connotation to art... People think the art world is elitist and is a white cubian sort of world. Here at the biennale it is open to all classes of life it has erased those borders and it has become a people's biennale. People have become more and more intellectually receptive. The biennale's ripples have spread far and wide...
Bose Krishnamachari, President, Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation
COVER STORY.. . . . . .. . . . ..
-
To quickly pick up from there, Jitish, what has
changed in art school today since your time?
Not too much has changed in art
institutions, at least in the ones that we
went to. If anything, the distance that the
art school is from the reality of the present
lies in inverse proportion to the changes
outside. The distance seems even further
in terms of how the wider art world in
India has transitioned whereas the art
schools really haven't. That said, the point
Bose made about art schools in Kerala is a
very signicant one. My own experience at
the Thrissur College of Art's annual
exhibition we visited together was
incredible. I think just to see across
multiple batches and departments the way
they had let their art works mix was very
very interesting. In a city like Bombay
where we had our schooling, art schools
have a lot of catching-up to do.
Riyas, if you were to go back to art school today,
what would you revisit fundamentally?
Maybe it is the time we are living in... I
think I missed studying Indian art history
as part of our education system. That's
been one of my arguments when we were
putting together our plans as to why not
we reverse the process. Most of our art
institutions have been established by the
British. The diverse nature of our country
has produced a variety of art movements
I don't think we take that possibility
into account. I think such possibilities are a
big opportunity to understand our country
better. From my experience of interaction
with the Students' Biennale some of
the artists were curators as you walked
through the exhibition you saw the
experiences of various regions. If you
looked at the works of students from the
North-East, there was a huge concern
about identity. And students of Jammu &
Kashmir reected in their works their
angst about their own social and political
issues... and so on for students from
Orissa. I don't think this discourse is
accounted for in an art institution. I have
always felt that one needs to focus on the
First Year BFA students. The story
changes when you look at the work he or
she does in their Final Year. So institutions
are not multi-disciplinary at all teachers
follow 35-40 year old syllabi.
The best institutions in India that are
making inroads have developed new
programmes, such as visiting faculty
lectures, talks, interactive sessions,
learning outside classrooms, and travelling
this is becoming an integral part of art
education.
One of the chapters in a programme
catalogue I am putting together about the
biennale is on the Students' Biennale and is
titled 'Final Display'. For almost 75-80
percent of art students this would be their
nal display in their lives! Because they go
into different areas for there are no
incubation centres and there are no
systems in place to help students remain
and sustain themselves as artists. These
things are crucial and look at the economy
of that how many students take that
crucial decision to become an artist when
at the same age someone else chooses to
become a designer or doctor or an
engineer? This is also globally true only
5-6 percent of art students go on to
survive and become artists! I think we
should address this issue because we have
such diversity in this country.
Bose, to take on from where Riyas has left, what
should we do to help foster that creative economy
around art? Why wouldn't a student of art choose
art not only for aesthetic fullment, but also for
livelihood?
If I were to look at JJ School of Art, I
would change every available space into a
residency and also provide a production
centre. We need to have technical expertise
in different elds. Suppose an artist comes
to our city, he or she shouldn't have to go
to another part of the world to pick up
materials and essentials. We should have
craftsmen, carpenters, welders, and all
kinds of engineering stuff. We should have
a studio facility such as the Neibt Akademi
in Amsterdam. We have to start the
learning of aesthetics... it cannot be taught
in some ways. I think we need to start it in
school itself... more than talking, we
should be able to play and learn, make and
learn, create and learn, create and invent...
Jitish, as a curator, how did you mediate between
artwork and viewer at the Biennale?
Largely, an exhibition is successful unto
itself if it has within itself its own terms of
articulation, especially in an environment
such as this where people from diverse
demographies converge. Now one wasn't
trying to reach out to each and every
demography, or an imagined demography,
but one was hoping that the exhibition was
sufciently ventilated to have viewnders
from different perspectives. Hopefully,
people would have entered, in my absence,
those spaces, and my presence would have
been the textual citation that occurred
from time to time. But that said, my
dialogues were mostly about especially
when talking to students things we
didn't know, or things we might have
known but couldn't have experienced, and
consistently positioning notions about our
world within a space of incertitude. For
me it was important to have those kinds of
dialogues with young people, to actually
interrogate with them what it meant to
rethink everything we assume as known. It
was central to me in an exhibition of this
scale and reach, which was why I have
often described it as not only an
observation deck but equally a toolbox of
self-reection...
Riyas, in my conversation with Madhusudanan,
he said how the biennale was not an innocent
activity, it was a political activity. In conversations
with people outside, one question I would often eld
was 'what is it in there' (inside the connes of
Aspinwall House)? How do you communicate the
idea that the biennale was not an innocent activity
it's not recreation, it's recreation in some way
but a political activity affecting people's lives?
I strongly believe that nobody takes it as an
innocent activity. I feel that people have
had great respect for the project because it
is political. You can read into the context
and you can make different chapters on
the project. We can ponder the possibility
of how the biennale has made us think of
our future... that's one of the politics of
the project... as to how it retrieves the
better values of the past for the future.
Then it also articulates how art is to be
understood or imagined. I strongly believe
that this biennale has changed perceptions
about art. That can also be attributed to
the politics of the aesthetic re-reading or
intellectual interpretation of the project. I
don't think the word political only
complements a certain notion of revolt, a
certain notion of agitation, or even a
certain notion of alertness... So there are
people reading it in multiple ways.
Jitish: In fact, at a fundamental level, self-
reection is a political act. There couldn't
be a more political act than asking a
question to your own action. So that's
fundamentally where you might lodge
anything that you might call politics rather
than on a placard. In fact, for me it was
very very important that within 'Whorled
Explorations' there were multiple themes
and sub-themes which don't get rendered
on placards. Essentially, it has to mirror in
you as a viewer in your self-reection,
where you own the question, because you
created it.
From this point on, what is perhaps your collective
vision forward...?
Kerala? So, I think it is a kind of a re-
reading of our own vulnerabilities about
our understanding of visual art. The
biennale has exposed that...
Bose: May I add to R iyas. . . We
experienced it with the rst biennale too...
There is an elitist connotation to art...
People think the art world is elitist and is a
white cubian sort of world. Here at the
biennale it is open to all classes of life it
has erased those borders and it has
become a people's biennale. From the rst
edition I could see that there was another
sort of seriousness. People have become
more and more intellectually receptive.
Riyas mentioned Maharaja's College
where we held a literature seminar and
where, in fact, we didn't talk about art.
Every other college in the city has now
begun to talk about issues related to
education, women, and so on... College
campuses are thriving on a sort of urgency
drawn from the biennale. The biennale's
ripples have spread far and wide...
Artists such as you Bose and Riyas went
out of Kerala and have returned bringing to bear
on Kerala and Kerala society a very reinvigorating
perspective. Do you think there has been a certain
face-off between artists who have left Kerala for
Bombay or Delhi or Baroda, and artists who have
chosen to work in Kerala? Is there an ideological
divide there?
Bose: I have been hearing some of the
artists saying we can stay back in Kerala
and survive. But I think when we look at
their career, they live here, they work here,
but their work is almost always shown
outside or represented by a gallery. Again,
I think, we now have a certain kind of
possibility of developing residencies and
studio spaces. The biennale has brought
about that kind of a thing. There used to
be mediocre exhibition spaces in Kerala.
Today if you go to art colleges, you can see
there is a new kind of professionalism and
understanding may be they have
adopted it from the biennale... When we
were at Jehangir, we used to go out to the
masters and learn from them by working
with them, by collaborating with them. For
a lot of young artists those were incredible
moments...
For me the perennial provisionality was extremely essential... I did not want to set out with a goal-oriented mission saying that this is the vision that I would like to replicate in the exhibition. But, in fact, it was through exhibition making I found an ever-evolving vision... I was looking for a self-organising intelligence within the project manifesting itself through participation rather than administration...
Jitish Kallat, Curator, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014
Riyas: As a Foundation, we have a two-
year programme that will make a little
more disciplined from what we have learnt
this year. I would say that the message this
project also gives curatorially is a
statement against being static in your
thinking and your way of approaching
things and function well with some great
programming laid out for another two
years. This will keep evolving (with
residencies, interactions, seminars, and
talks) with more seriousness and a more
clinical approach. But we have to churn
out everything, with systematic disorder...
Maybe as artists, that's our thinking... we
expect chaos, we expect accidents... But it
will be a very interesting parallel journey
with our next curator too. CB
COVER STORY.. . . . . .. . . . ..
Creative Brands | MAY-JUNE 201510
-
To quickly pick up from there, Jitish, what has
changed in art school today since your time?
Not too much has changed in art
institutions, at least in the ones that we
went to. If anything, the distance that the
art school is from the reality of the present
lies in inverse proportion to the changes
outside. The distance seems even further
in terms of how the wider art world in
India has transitioned whereas the art
schools really haven't. That said, the point
Bose made about art schools in Kerala is a
very signicant one. My own experience at
the Thrissur College of Art's annual
exhibition we visited together was
incredible. I think just to see across
multiple batches and departments the way
they had let their art works mix was very
very interesting. In a city like Bombay
where we had our schooling, art schools
have a lot of catching-up to do.
Riyas, if you were to go back to art school today,
what would you revisit fundamentally?
Maybe it is the time we are living in... I
think I missed studying Indian art history
as part of our education system. That's
been one of my arguments when we were
putting together our plans as to why not
we reverse the process. Most of our art
institutions have been established by the
British. The diverse nature of our country
has produced a variety of art movements
I don't think we take that possibility
into account. I think such possibilities are a
big opportunity to understand our country
better. From my experience of interaction
with the Students' Biennale some of
the artists were curators as you walked
through the exhibition you saw the
experiences of various regions. If you
looked at the works of students from the
North-East, there was a huge concern
about identity. And students of Jammu &
Kashmir reected in their works their
angst about their own social and political
issues... and so on for students from
Orissa. I don't think this discourse is
accounted for in an art institution. I have
always felt that one needs to focus on the
First Year BFA students. The story
changes when you look at the work he or
she does in their Final Year. So institutions
are not multi-disciplinary at all teachers
follow 35-40 year old syllabi.
The best institutions in India that are
making inroads have developed new
programmes, such as visiting faculty
lectures, talks, interactive sessions,
learning outside classrooms, and travelling
this is becoming an integral part of art
education.
One of the chapters in a programme
catalogue I am putting together about the
biennale is on the Students' Biennale and is
titled 'Final Display'. For almost 75-80
percent of art students this would be their
nal display in their lives! Because they go
into different areas for there are no
incubation centres and there are no
systems in place to help students remain
and sustain themselves as artists. These
things are crucial and look at the economy
of that how many students take that
crucial decision to become an artist when
at the same age someone else chooses to
become a designer or doctor or an
engineer? This is also globally true only
5-6 percent of art students go on to
survive and become artists! I think we
should address this issue because we have
such diversity in this country.
Bose, to take on from where Riyas has left, what
should we do to help foster that creative economy
around art? Why wouldn't a student of art choose
art not only for aesthetic fullment, but also for
livelihood?
If I were to look at JJ School of Art, I
would change every available space into a
residency and also provide a production
centre. We need to have technical expertise
in different elds. Suppose an artist comes
to our city, he or she shouldn't have to go
to another part of the world to pick up
materials and essentials. We should have
craftsmen, carpenters, welders, and all
kinds of engineering stuff. We should have
a studio facility such as the Neibt Akademi
in Amsterdam. We have to start the
learning of aesthetics... it cannot be taught
in some ways. I think we need to start it in
school itself... more than talking, we
should be able to play and learn, make and
learn, create and learn, create and invent...
Jitish, as a curator, how did you mediate between
artwork and viewer at the Biennale?
Largely, an exhibition is successful unto
itself if it has within itself its own terms of
articulation, especially in an environment
such as this where people from diverse
demographies converge. Now one wasn't
trying to reach out to each and every
demography, or an imagined demography,
but one was hoping that the exhibition was
sufciently ventilated to have viewnders
from different perspectives. Hopefully,
people would have entered, in my absence,
those spaces, and my presence would have
been the textual citation that occurred
from time to time. But that said, my
dialogues were mostly about especially
when talking to students things we
didn't know, or things we might have
known but couldn't have experienced, and
consistently positioning notions about our
world within a space of incertitude. For
me it was important to have those kinds of
dialogues with young people, to actually
interrogate with them what it meant to
rethink everything we assume as known. It
was central to me in an exhibition of this
scale and reach, which was why I have
often described it as not only an
observation deck but equally a toolbox of
self-reection...
Riyas, in my conversation with Madhusudanan,
he said how the biennale was not an innocent
activity, it was a political activity. In conversations
with people outside, one question I would often eld
was 'what is it in there' (inside the connes of
Aspinwall House)? How do you communicate the
idea that the biennale was not an innocent activity
it's not recreation, it's recreation in some way
but a political activity affecting people's lives?
I strongly believe that nobody takes it as an
innocent activity. I feel that people have
had great respect for the project because it
is political. You can read into the context
and you can make different chapters on
the project. We can ponder the possibility
of how the biennale has made us think of
our future... that's one of the politics of
the project... as to how it retrieves the
better values of the past for the future.
Then it also articulates how art is to be
understood or imagined. I strongly believe
that this biennale has changed perceptions
about art. That can also be attributed to
the politics of the aesthetic re-reading or
intellectual interpretation of the project. I
don't think the word political only
complements a certain notion of revolt, a
certain notion of agitation, or even a
certain notion of alertness... So there are
people reading it in multiple ways.
Jitish: In fact, at a fundamental level, self-
reection is a political act. There couldn't
be a more political act than asking a
question to your own action. So that's
fundamentally where you might lodge
anything that you might call politics rather
than on a placard. In fact, for me it was
very very important that within 'Whorled
Explorations' there were multiple themes
and sub-themes which don't get rendered
on placards. Essentially, it has to mirror in
you as a viewer in your self-reection,
where you own the question, because you
created it.
From this point on, what is perhaps your collective
vision forward...?
Kerala? So, I think it is a kind of a re-
reading of our own vulnerabilities about
our understanding of visual art. The
biennale has exposed that...
Bose: May I add to R iyas. . . We
experienced it with the rst biennale too...
There is an elitist connotation to art...
People think the art world is elitist and is a
white cubian sort of world. Here at the
biennale it is open to all classes of life it
has erased those borders and it has
become a people's biennale. From the rst
edition I could see that there was another
sort of seriousness. People have become
more and more intellectually receptive.
Riyas mentioned Maharaja's College
where we held a literature seminar and
where, in fact, we didn't talk about art.
Every other college in the city has now
begun to talk about issues related to
education, women, and so on... College
campuses are thriving on a sort of urgency
drawn from the biennale. The biennale's
ripples have spread far and wide...
Artists such as you Bose and Riyas went
out of Kerala and have returned bringing to bear
on Kerala and Kerala society a very reinvigorating
perspective. Do you think there has been a certain
face-off between artists who have left Kerala for
Bombay or Delhi or Baroda, and artists who have
chosen to work in Kerala? Is there an ideological
divide there?
Bose: I have been hearing some of the
artists saying we can stay back in Kerala
and survive. But I think when we look at
their career, they live here, they work here,
but their work is almost always shown
outside or represented by a gallery. Again,
I think, we now have a certain kind of
possibility of developing residencies and
studio spaces. The biennale has brought
about that kind of a thing. There used to
be mediocre exhibition spaces in Kerala.
Today if you go to art colleges, you can see
there is a new kind of professionalism and
understanding may be they have
adopted it from the biennale... When we
were at Jehangir, we used to go out to the
masters and learn from them by working
with them, by collaborating with them. For
a lot of young artists those were incredible
moments...
For me the perennial provisionality was extremely essential... I did not want to set out with a goal-oriented mission saying that this is the vision that I would like to replicate in the exhibition. But, in fact, it was through exhibition making I found an ever-evolving vision... I was looking for a self-organising intelligence within the project manifesting itself through participation rather than administration...
Jitish Kallat, Curator, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014
Riyas: As a Foundation, we have a two-
year programme that will make a little
more disciplined from what we have learnt
this year. I would say that the message this
project also gives curatorially is a
statement against being static in your
thinking and your way of approaching
things and function well with some great
programming laid out for another two
years. This will keep evolving (with
residencies, interactions, seminars, and
talks) with more seriousness and a more
clinical approach. But we have to churn
out everything, with systematic disorder...
Maybe as artists, that's our thinking... we
expect chaos, we expect accidents... But it
will be a very interesting parallel journey
with our next curator too. CB
COVER STORY.. . . . . .. . . . ..
Creative Brands | MAY-JUNE 201510
-
K.G. SREENIVAS
INCLUSION.. . . . .. . . . .
Creative Brands | MAY-JUNE 2015
Marian Alexander Baby, Member of the
Kerala Legislative Assembly from
K u n d a r a , r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e
Communist Party of India (Marxist) is
a renaissance man. A visionary thinker
and reformer, Baby as Keralas Minister for Education &
Culture initiated far-reaching reforms of the state's
education system.
The most outstanding transformation he helped usher
in was aimed at making the teaching-learning process a
more balanced exercise by introducing a transparent
grading system in schools with internal assessments and
other modes of critical evaluation. Baby also brought in a
radical single-window admission process in Keralas
higher secondary educational institutions, particularly
those run by private managements and riven with the
politics and interests of caste, faith, and big business. It
brought in the much desired professionalism and
discipline in the admission process that had plagued the
system for decades.
Baby also introduced the countrys rst Higher
Education Scholarship Scheme in Kerala, which was
inaugurated by then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
He also helped set up the Higher Education Council,
widely regarded as a model for the countrys higher
education sector.
In the area of culture, too, Baby has made seminal
contributions having been the key proponent of the idea
of a biennale for Kerala that eventually took the form and
shape of India's rst and one of the world's most
acclaimed biennales the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. It was
at Baby's instance that noted artists Jyoti Basu,
Krishnamachari Bose, and Riyas Komu conceived of the
biennale. Baby, a passionate man of arts, spoke to K.G.
Sreenivas at Aspinwall House one stormy evening.
So, how would you locate the idea of Kochi Muziris Biennale in the
current cultural climate in the country today?
When you mention current cultural climate in the country
today, like a collage so many incidents and questions
ashed through my mind an artist of M. F. Hussains
stature being asked to leave our country and take shelter in
another part of the world; a writer like Perumal Murugan
having to announce on his Facebook page that the Author
Perumal Murugan is no more; Ghulam Ali, the great
singer from another part of our great sub-continent that
till 1947 was one, being stopped from coming to our
country; then, the demand that a lm like PK be not
shown! Numerous strands within our society exist where
intolerance is abundant. Artists, performers, writers, and
painters are either forced to leave the country or forced to
stop their work. In such times, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale
is a cultural, creative intervention. It is not only an occasion
for celebrating culture, it is also a time for struggle. It is a
cultural activity but there is a civilised political dimension
also. The ideas of syncretic assimilation are important. In
the context of Indian culture this Biennale has many
dimensions.
During this period of signicant cultural revisionism of which you
speak about, how, to your mind, one can institutionalise the
promotion of arts and culture on scale such as this?
I remember a get-together one evening at a friend and
artist Jyoti Boses at in Mumbai. Bose, Riyas, and many
other friends were there that day. I asked my friends that if
we wanted to do something meaningful in order to change
the cultural life of Kerala with regard to creative works like
painting, installations, and similar experiments in the eld
of art, what we should do. It is still a [valid] question. In
fact, in the year 2000, at the point of the transition in our
history from one millennium to another, we had similar
ideas. That time in 1999-2000 we had a different
government in Kerala. We had started a wonderful
programme called Manaveeyam. The idea was that all that
is associated with the human activity of creation should be
celebrated. That year we instituted an award in the name of
Manaveeyam and Raja Ravi Varma for meaningful
contribution to the eld of painting and the rst award was
given to K.G. Subramanyan. I was also a member of the
jury and the chairman was none other than A.
Ramachandran, the great artist. As a representative of the
Manaveeyam Cultural Mission I attended the meeting to
discuss whether the award should be given to Subramanian
or M.F. Husain. A few other names too were there, but the
rst name was that of K.G. Subramanyan. Ramachandran
said, I propose K.G. Subramanyan, and immediately we
Art necessarily means a liberal and accepting ecosystem, where contrarian views are accepted, where there is more transparency. Art will thrive in that brand of Kerala, where it is green egalitarian, participative, and argumentative The results thereof we shall see in the years to come not just in the world of art, but in the world of exploration and experimentation, says JOSE DOMINIC, head of the CGH Earth Group in a conversation with CREATIVE BRANDS.
DIALECTICS OFThe ideas and questions raised by the biennale will create ripples in the thought process of society At the biennale, artists from Kerala and India get to meet others from the world over and reect upon diverse human problems and see how we can build an egalitarian society People are getting an opportunity to open up to philosophical questions and questions relating to our very existence. This biennale ushers in a new world of ideas and aesthetics, says M.A. Baby, Former Education and Culture Minister of Kerala in a conversation with CREATIVE BRANDS.ART
13
-
K.G. SREENIVAS
INCLUSION.. . . . .. . . . .
Creative Brands | MAY-JUNE 2015
Marian Alexander Baby, Member of the
Kerala Legislative Assembly from
K u n d a r a , r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e
Communist Party of India (Marxist) is
a renaissance man. A visionary thinker
and reformer, Baby as Keralas Minister for Education &
Culture initiated far-reaching reforms of the state's
education system.
The most outstanding transformation he helped usher
in was aimed at making the teaching-learning process a
more balanced exercise by introducing a transparent
grading system in schools with internal assessments and
other modes of critical evaluation. Baby also brought in a
radical single-window admission process in Keralas
higher secondary educational institutions, particularly
those run by private managements and riven with the
politics and interests of caste, faith, and big business. It
brought in the much desired professionalism and
discipline in the admission process that had plagued the
system for decades.
Baby also introduced the countrys rst Higher
Education Scholarship Scheme in Kerala, which was
inaugurated by then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
He also helped set up the Higher Education Council,
widely regarded as a model for the countrys higher
education sector.
In the area of culture, too, Baby has made seminal
contributions having been the key proponent of the idea
of a biennale for Kerala that eventually took the form and
shape of India's rst and one of the world's most
acclaimed biennales the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. It was
at Baby's instance that noted artists Jyoti Basu,
Krishnamachari Bose, and Riyas Komu conceived of the
biennale. Baby, a passionate man of arts, spoke to K.G.
Sreenivas at Aspinwall House one stormy evening.
So, how would you locate the idea of Kochi Muziris Biennale in the
current cultural climate in the country today?
When you mention current cultural climate in the country
today, like a collage so many incidents and questions
ashed through my mind an artist of M. F. Hussains
stature being asked to leave our country and take shelter in
another part of the world; a writer like Perumal Murugan
having to announce on his Facebook page that the Author
Perumal Murugan is no more; Ghulam Ali, the great
singer from another part of our great sub-continent that
till 1947 was one, being stopped from coming to our
country; then, the demand that a lm like PK be not
shown! Numerous strands within our society exist where
intolerance is abundant. Artists, performers, writers, and
painters are either forced to leave the country or forced to
stop their work. In such times, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale
is a cultural, creative intervention. It is not only an occasion
for celebrating culture, it is also a time for struggle. It is a
cultural activity but there is a civilised political dimension
also. The ideas of syncretic assimilation are important. In
the context of Indian culture this Biennale has many
dimensions.
During this period of signicant cultural revisionism of which you
speak about, how, to your mind, one can institutionalise the
promotion of arts and culture on scale such as this?
I remember a get-together one evening at a friend and
artist Jyoti Boses at in Mumbai. Bose, Riyas, and many
other friends were there that day. I asked my friends that if
we wanted to do something meaningful in order to change
the cultural life of Kerala with regard to creative works like
painting, installations, and similar experiments in the eld
of art, what we should do. It is still a [valid] question. In
fact, in the year 2000, at the point of the transition in our
history from one millennium to another, we had similar
ideas. That time in 1999-2000 we had a different
government in Kerala. We had started a wonderful
programme called Manaveeyam. The idea was that all that
is associated with the human activity of creation should be
celebrated. That year we instituted an award in the name of
Manaveeyam and Raja Ravi Varma for meaningful
contribution to the eld of painting and the rst award was
given to K.G. Subramanyan. I was also a member of the
jury and the chairman was none other than A.
Ramachandran, the great artist. As a representative of the
Manaveeyam Cultural Mission I attended the meeting to
discuss whether the award should be given to Subramanian
or M.F. Husain. A few other names too were there, but the
rst name was that of K.G. Subramanyan. Ramachandran
said, I propose K.G. Subramanyan, and immediately we
Art necessarily means a liberal and accepting ecosystem, where contrarian views are accepted, where there is more transparency. Art will thrive in that brand of Kerala, where it is green egalitarian, participative, and argumentative The results thereof we shall see in the years to come not just in the world of art, but in the world of exploration and experimentation, says JOSE DOMINIC, head of the CGH Earth Group in a conversation with CREATIVE BRANDS.
DIALECTICS OFThe ideas and questions raised by the biennale will create ripples in the thought process of society At the biennale, artists from Kerala and India get to meet others from the world over and reect upon diverse human problems and see how we can build an egalitarian society People are getting an opportunity to open up to philosophical questions and questions relating to our very existence. This biennale ushers in a new world of ideas and aesthetics, says M.A. Baby, Former Education and Culture Minister of Kerala in a conversation with CREATIVE BRANDS.ART
13
-
said yes. We thought that that would
make some impact, but, at that point in
time I realised that though we have had
great artists like Raja Ravi Varma, K.C.S
Panicker, and so on, and despite Kerala
being the state with the highest literacy
rate, we were still far behind in literacy in
arts! In the eld of arts we, including me,
are almost illiterate. So, we thought that
this award to K.G. Subramanyan would
inculcate some literacy in Kerala.
However, to our surprise some people
asked, you are giving this award to
S u b r a m a n y a n , b u t , w h a t i s h i s
cont r ibut ion? That means K.G.
Subramanyan was not known sufciently.
This was a fact! Then I thought to myself
what we should do to help eradicate
cultural illiteracy. We have only been able
to eradicate linguistic illiteracy so far. So,
this was the question that I asked my
friends. They proposed the idea of a
biennale, and we accepted the proposal.
We requested Dr. Venu, an IAS ofcer, to
discuss this proposal with the artists. So,
this was how the entire project began.
Most importantly, we wanted to insulate it
from political differences, because
ideologically Kerala has a new political
dispensation every ve years. We didn't
want the idea of the biennale being
discarded by the new government. The
political component was taken care of by
us while the artistic success of this
biennale was solely the work of Bose
Krishnamachari, Riyas, Jitish Kallat, and
so many others. We had suggested [the
idea] to the local MP, K.V. Thomas, who
was a member of the Union Council of
Ministers then, with whom we held the
rst meeting in Delhi, where Prime
Ministers personal secretary T.K.A. Nair,
Amitabh Kant, another IAS ofcer.
Thomas, a Congress leader, had said
Communist-Congress differences should
not affect the project. As a team our effort
was also to ensure that budget should not
be a constraint. Though we did encounter
difculties in nding the nances, the
enormous energy of Bose, Riyas, and
other supporters has made sure that the
biennale is here to exist as a fact.
To add to this and you were in government as
Minister for Education & Culture from the
governments perspective, which controls signicant
resources, what is it that they could do to bring
about a paradigm shift in mechanisms, in terms of
funding and encouraging events of such scale that
require immense resources?
This is a crucial question, especially, when
we plan events of this nature. There again,
we need to have mutual trust and cultural
literacy among various stakeholders. The
political society is hugely ignorant about
what is involved in organising a Biennale
such as this. When we rst spoke about
organising various such an exhibition (the
rst biennale), we found how difcult it
was to mobilise the necessary resources
we had then mooted a sum of Rs. 5 crore
(and that was insurance alone for original
works) for the event. So we went to the
government. A shocked government
asked us, what is this!!! So people, unless
they have tried to understand the arts, nd
it very difcult to relate to an art event. I
remember, when this le came to the
Cabinet and the said amount was put up
for discussion, most of our colleagues
said, what is this, we have lot of pro-
people activities to be undertaken, and
these are paintingscanvasses why do
you need so much money, what is this.
Coming back to your question as to
how you can mobilise th