Biennale Venues Turn Into a Learning Ground For University Students

KOCHI:

The upcoming sixth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB-6) is proving to be a fresh learning ground for youngsters from cities as distant as Gujarat, as students from a leading university in the western state are among those assisting the artists in the run-up to the 110-day cultural festival starting next month.

Around 15 BFA undergraduates from Anant National University in Ahmedabad have enrolled as interns in various venues of KMB-6, gaining firsthand experience in working with participant artists at the mega event, which begins on December 12. Organised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), the biennale features artworks curated by Nikhil Chopra with HH Art Spaces, Goa. The show will run until March 31, 2026.

The interns from Anant University, in addition to students from across Kerala, are volunteering in various capacities at KMB-6. A few of them have even taken a break from their jobs to delve into the aesthetics of installation art and the practicalities of the festival. It is hands-on learning for them in art, architecture, designing, production, product designing and administration.

Ankit Kumar, who is a BFA student from Anant University, notes that the volunteering has been giving him new exposure to diverse mediums, different concepts and perspectives of art. “It’s wonderful to work with masters from across the world. It is a practical experience, we learn a lot,” he says, amid a daily schedule defined by helping an artist working at a KMB-6 site. “This is my first visit to Kochi. I love the place, people, food and the weather.”

Currently, the number of volunteers and interns at KMB-6 totals around 50. They are busy setting the stage in the 22 venues for what is billed as South Asia’s largest new-art festival. In full swing are background works, such as supervising and preparing the space, storing plants, carpentry, and sketching, as well as taking measurements and performing related calculations. The team is slated to return to Ahmedabad on December 15. Both interns and volunteers are provided a stipend.

KBF, as a 2010-registered non-profit charitable trust, has always considered art education as part of its biennales, points out the Foundation’s Chairperson, Dr Venu V. “This is besides what we conduct as Students Biennale and Art By Children,” he reveals. “Applications for the post of volunteers and interns are flooding in; we are still shortlisting. Many requests are coming through word of mouth as well.”

Visual artist Bose Krishnamachari, who is the president of KMB, reiterates that the biennale has been a learning platform for students since its inaugural chapter in 2012. “We expect more volunteers and interns to join the team in the days to come,” he reveals. “We’ve had students from abroad, including France and nations from beyond Europe.

The KBF production wing is happy with the volunteers. Its head, Shyam Patel, notes that the youngsters are “talented and quite quick at learning and application”. Also, “they check preparations at venues to the needs of the artists. They organise the resources, do product designing and whatnot…”

Trisha Pazhayapuravil, who is in her fourth year of BFA at Anant, says the internship has provided the volunteers with the opportunity to explore art from different perspectives. “We get to mingle with fellow volunteers, know their mindsets and interpretations too,” she says, incidentally recalling her earlier internship at the Museum of Goa. “I follow KMB closely on Instagram.”

Among other interns is IT professional Steve Bryane, who is on a break from work. He now stays in Fort Kochi, which is a key pocket for biennale venues. “Each day we learn something new,” says the youth, noting that his current stay will last till the end of KMB-6.

For Vijayan M.V., a mechanic, the Biennale is a learning platform to learn “all kinds of work”, including art, about which he is passionate. Another intern, Anjali Krishnakumar, who is pursuing a design career after studying at St. Teresa’s College in downtown Ernakulam, says her current engagement “gives me a range of opportunities to work in fields of my interest.”