High-profile Visitors Call For More Art Fests Along the Lines of KMB in India

KOCHI:
Describing the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) as the ideal place to come gain an appreciation for art, a high-profile delegation of officials from Bihar said an upcoming space for contemporary art in that state would look to India’s only Biennale for inspiration.
“The Biennale is excellent, well-curated and showcases a vast variety of artworks. This first-of-its-kind exhibition in India has surely educated people about the importance of art appreciation. We are looking to make a world-class museum in Bihar that will have a gallery for contemporary art,” said Anjani Kumar Singh, Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar.
The Chief Secretary had led a group of officials from Bihar on a visit to KMB 2016 over the weekend. Accompanying him on the trip were Chaitanya Prasad, Secretary, Department of Art, Culture and Youth and Principal Secretary (Urban Development and Housing), and Dr. Jai Prakash Narayan Singh, Additional Director at Patna Museum.
“I am very impressed with the sound and video installations. Looking at the large-scale works like ‘The Sea of Pain’ by Raul Zurita, ‘The Pyramid of Exiled Poets’ by Aleš Šteger and ‘Floating Towards the Night Sky’ by Eva Schlegel and Carl Pruscha, I think it is very unfortunate that India does not have a number of biennales or long-term art exhibitions of this sort like the many art festivals we have on music,” Singh said,
Prasad also appreciated Biennale, noting that the nearly three-month celebration of contemporary art had become a fixture on the art calendar. Dr Narayan Singh said the planned contemporary art gallery in the upcoming Bihar museum project would house works by eminent artist and KMB 2016 curator Sudarshan Shetty.
Also making his first visit to the Biennale on Sunday was Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Director General of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya.
Expressing gratitude to the Kochi Biennale Foundation for providing young artists, creative minds and the common man the opportunity to view artworks of an international standa
rd, Mukherjee said, “This is an amazing experience and I will carry it with me wherever I go. The Biennale has set an example for major cities in India. I hope we introduce more biennales in other parts of the country.”
He said that it was difficult to select the best installations among the over 100 exhibited artworks as each piece was the product of a very talented mind.