Under Three Weeks to go, KMB 2016 Plans to Culminate with a Flourish

KOCHI:
As the ongoing third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) inches toward a close on March 29, its last few weeks will feature an exciting line-up of performances, music concerts, film screenings among other not-to-miss events and experiences.
Following public demand, the ‘Closing Week’, from March 22-29, will see KMB 2016 participating artists Anamika Haksar and Padmini Chettur present repeats of their performances at Aspinwall House and David Hall respectively. Over the Biennale’s opening week, the performances saw an average of 300 visitors in attendance daily.
Veteran theatre practitioner Haksar will stage a second series of her drama production Composition on Water on the struggle for water in disadvantaged communities, while Chettur, a noted danseuse, will conduct a second round of Varnam, her three-hour-long take on the titular Bharatnayam composition. Rehearsals for both performances will be open to the public.
Starting tomorrow (March 11) and running up to the end of the Biennale, visitors to Aspinwall House will also be able to partake of a unique, highly immersive virtual-reality experience courtesy of reputed filmmaker Anand Gandhi.
As well, there will be performances by renowned musicians and folk artists on the sidelines of the country’s only Biennale. Kathakali maestro Kalamandalam Gopi, legendary Carnatic singer T.M. Krishna, noted Sufi musician Mukhtiyar Ali, playback singer Smriti Minocha and Sarangi exponent Vasanti Shrikhande are all slated to perform as South Asia’s biggest celebration of contemporary art winds down. The closing ceremony on March 29 will feature the unique musical stylings of Thaikkudam Bridge.
“It speaks to the success of Biennale when such cultural figures associate with us. Being an art organisation, the Kochi Biennale Foundation explores artistic practices irrespective of format, style and medium: erasing borders between the contemporary and the traditional and creating new forms of relationship-building. Curator Sudarshan Shetty has aimed for the same and the coming weeks will add to this collaborative spirit,” said Bose Krishnamachari, KMB co-founder.
In addition, the KBF will host a series of discussion forums and seminars over the final weeks. Ten emerging curators from Students’ Biennale 2016, the second edition of the Foundation’s flagship art education programme, will participate in a seminar on ‘Art Education in India’ from March 18-19 at the Pavilion in Cabral Yard.
As well, on March 17, the KBF will partner with the Inter-Asia School and the Moonchu Foundation to conduct a seminar, ‘The Present Juncture of Historical Change: Decolonising Asia
n Futures, that will attempt to address the absence of close communication and mutual understanding between artists and thinkers of the Indian and Chinese civilisations.
The Pavilion will also host the release of the book First Food: Culture of Taste by Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment, on March 15 and a ‘Let’s Talk’ delivered by noted cultural historian Prof. Dilip Menon – titled ‘At the End of Time: Thinking the World from Kochi’ – on March 25.