KOCHI:
The Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) is all geared up to conduct an art auction on Friday, the proceeds of which will go to the aid of the state’s people who suffered in the natural catastrophe five months ago.
Titled ‘Art Rises for Kerala’, the January 18 auction here in collaboration with Mumbai’s SaffronArt is putting up for sale the works of 41 artists. The exhibits had been on display at the Bastion Bungalow in Fort Kochi till today from January 5. The KBF informed that the proceeds from the evening auction at the Grand Hyatt in Bolgatty Island will go to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund that is working to rebuild the state’s infrastructure after the August floods and landslides.
“The Kerala government has been one of the biggest patrons of the Biennale since its debut in 2012,” said KBF president Bose Krishnamachari, noting that the festival has “It’s My Biennale” as the tag line. “It is our way of giving back to society that has supported us all the time.”
The sale, with no buyer’s premium (percentage additional charge on the hammer price), will be led by an untitled canvas and resin work from 2018 by leading contemporary artist Anish Kapoor. Other top artists who have donated works for the auction include Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, G R Iranna, Gigi Scaria, Sudhir Patwardhan and Vivan Sundaram besides two rare drawings by 20th-century pioneer Amrita Sher-Gil.
The auction prices, going by the initial estimations, range between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.75 crore for individual works. Biddings are expected to push the amounts up. The auction will be the first of its kind in the art world, where the fund raised will be donated to rebuild a post-calamity land and its people.
