KOCHI:
Veteran actors from the Malayalam and Hindi film industries experienced the ‘magic and wonder’ of the ongoing third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) over the weekend.
Mollywood stalwarts Maniyanpilla Raju and Kunchan visited Aspinwall House, the main venue for KMB 2016, Saturday morning, while Bollywood saw representation from well-known actors and theatr
“When I was in Portugal last month for a shoot, a man I spoke with in a restaurant told me about his visit to the Biennale. This made me feel somewhat small as I had never been to this internationally renowned art exhibition despite it taking place in my homeland,” Raju said.
“Enthusiasm for the Biennale should be created among the local people for them to know more about the different visions and modes of creative expressions,” he added.
For Kunchan, the visit was a homecoming of sorts. The comedian had spent his childhood in Fort Kochi. “Each art work exhibited here is magical: a wonder made from an artist’s mind. They prompt us to ponder over a number of self-interrogative queries,” said Kunjan, who had visited the last edition of the Biennale in 2014.
In Kochi for a couple of stage productions inspired by Shakespeare, Kapoor and Pathak spared the time to take in a tour of Aspinwall House in the evening.
“Just as a place, the Biennale is a stimulating experience. The artworks here are very experimental in nature, which provides multiple perspectives,” said Kapoor, who is also a filmmaker and theatre director.
He also lauded the efforts of KMB co-founders Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu in turning the Biennale into a internationally renowned fixture on the art circuit.
“It was their vision and persistent passion for art, which made this exhibition an important landmark in the art world in the short period of six years,” Kapoor said.
