KOCHI:
The Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) is organising an auction of select artworks, the proceeds of which will go to the Kerala government in rebuilding the state after the August floods and landslides.
Paintings, sculptures and installations of more than 40 artists living in the country and abroad will go under the hammer at the event in this city on January 18 next year amid the fourth edition of the Foundation’s Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB). Named ARK, as the acronym for Art Rises for Kerala, the auction will feature modern and contemporary works by reputed artists such as Dayanita Singh, Subodh Gupta and Anish Kapoor, organisers said.
By bringing together the Indian and global art communities to help rebuild Kerala, the auction will have its proceeds directed to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund meant to benefit those affected by the region’s worst calamity in a century, KBF founder-president Bose Krishnamachari said. “The power of art in disaster recovery is significant,” noted Bose, who was the co-curator of the first KMB. “Our endeavour reinforces the fact that art goes a long way in re-laying the foundations for a state in its troubled times.”
The CM’s relief fund is being used for distribution of essential commodities as well as reconstruct and improve the state’s infrastructure that suffered damage in the floods and landslides that ravaged Kerala this monsoon. The fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale will begin on December 12 and conclude on March 29 next year.
