Curtains Down on KMB 2016 Tomorrow

KOCHI:
The third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) will come to a close tomorrow with a ceremony at Durbar Hall, Ernakulam, where chief guest Kerala Culture Minister A.K. Balan will address the gathering before fusion rock band Thaikkudam Bridge takes the stage.
The evening function will also see the Kochi Biennale Foundation announce the curator for the fourth edition of the Biennale, beginning December 2018.
Prior to the finale, visitors have six hours – from 10 am to 4 pm – on Wednesday to view the more than 100 artworks on display at the Biennale’s 12 venues, which have received more than six lakh footfalls since KMB 2016 got underway 108 days ago on 12/12/16.
The biggest celebration of contemporary art in South Asia, which featured 97 artists from 31 countries, winds up at 4 pm when the Biennale pennant at main venue Aspinwall in Fort Kochi will be ceremonially brought down in the presence of the KMB 2016 curator Sudarshan Shetty, Biennale co-founders Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu, among others.
The function at Durbar Hall, which starts at 5.30 pm, will see Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran deliver the presidential address. It will see a number of dignitaries in attendance including Ernakulam MP Prof K.V. Thomas, Ramesh Chennithala, Leader of the Opposition, Kochi Mayor Soumini Jain, MLAs Hibi Eden and K.J. Maxi, M.A. Baby, former education and cultural minister and former MP P. Rajeev.
Also attending will be Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism, Dr Venu V., Ernakulam Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirualla, Ernakulam Sub-Collector Dr. Adeela Abdulla and former Kochi mayor K.J. Sohan.
The function will also hear from Shetty on his experience curating India’s only Biennale. Komu will deliver the welcome address while Krishnamachari will propose thanks. The event
will also honour former KBF Trustees Subhas Chandran and Hormis Tharakan.
Following the tributes, Thaikkudam Bridge will bring their unique genre-bending rock stylings after an opening set by Suraj Mani and The Tattva Trip. The concert will close out a nearly four-month line-up of music, dance and other performances.
On the Biennale’s sidelines, the KBF had organised a string of programmes, including a near-100 day film festival featuring a series of specially curated cinema packages under the ‘Artists’ Cinema’ banner. There have also been residency exhibitions, well-received ‘Let’s Talk’ lectures, ‘Art by Children’ workshops as well as mini-literature festivals and scholarly conclaves.
Running parallel to the main exhibition was the second edition of the Foundation’s flagship art education and outreach initiative, the Students’ Biennale (SB), which will also close tomorrow with an awards announcement. Led by 15 emerging curators, SB 2016 featured the works of 465 students from 55 art schools across India at seven venues in Mattancherry.