SR December-15 issue pdf

Clockwise from above: Francesco Clemente
inside his installation, 'Pepper Tent', at
Aspinwall House in 2014; In 2012, artist
LN Tallur took advantage of the biennale’s
huge venues to create this inverted roof
installation with Mangalore tiles, some of
which had tiny figures in hatha yoga poses;
Visitors viewing Marie Velardi's 'Future
Perfect, 21st Century'
THE VENUES’ GLORIOUS PAST
David Hall, a whitewashed long
bungalow with blue windowpanes, was
erected in 1695 opposite the parade
ground in Fort Kochi. Built by the Dutch,
it was once home to the Dutch military.
Till half a decade ago, Fort Kochi was
known for such dilapidated colonial
structures, which cached history of this
port town’s lost glory. Aspinwall House,
another imposing structure built in 1867
by an English trader, was once a
storehouse for pepper, turmeric,
cardamom, timber and
all that this rich town
had on offer. And,
Pepper House, a gigantic
16,000 sqft warehouse
with two historic
dockside godowns, is
where these goods and
spices were loaded onto
ships. What remained of
these buildings were
crumbling walls, mossy
roofs and termiteinfested
doors and
windows that creaked
threateningly. India’s
first art biennale, named
after the lost port of
Muziris, helped restore
14 such rundown
KOCHI-MUZIRIS
BIENNALE 2016
DECEMBER 12, 2016 -
MARCH 29, 2017
This year, the biennale has
outdone itself by choosing
to bridge the divide in
artistic categories by
bringing in 97 artists from
across the fields of art and
culture. Curated by eminent
artist Sudarshan Shetty,
and titled ‘Forming in the
Pupil of an Eye’, the third
edition of the biennale
will also feature poets,
musicians, performance
artists and movies. The
main exhibition is spread
across 11 venues between
Fort Kochi, Mattancherry
and Ernakulam.
buildings and made them the venue for
art exhibits and installations.
Furthermore, what began as a partially
government-funded enterprise later
garnered the support of patrons,
businessmen and artists from across the
world. Five years after the first edition of
the biennale, art is not restricted to
galleries or museums. It has crawled out
of rooms and into open spaces, where it is
on display for one and all.
ART ON THE STREETS
Chinese fishing nets introduced by
Chinese-Canadian artist Zhang He,
against the dramatic skyline, is the
opening image of Fort Kochi. From here,
a mesh of parallel roads takes you to airy
cafes and timeworn stores that sell
jewellery and spices. As
you walk past, you find
faces on the wall. Here,
the walls talk and even
boulders take on the role
of canvasses. In black
and white and bursting
pop colours, a lot of the
graffiti took shape
during the first edition
of the biennale. The
graffiti has made art
accessible and is an
apparatus to reclaim the
charm of a forgotten
city. Early in 2014, a
series of anonymous
graffiti speckled Fort
Kochi walls overnight.
The ‘Guess Who’ series,
122 ||||| DECEMBER 2016