Kochi-Muziris Biennale Delayed Two Weeks Just Hours Before Opening
Santha KV, Thasara (2018). Exhibition view: Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi (12 December 2018–29 March 2019). Courtesy Kochi Biennale Foundation.
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale has delayed its opening until 23 December from its original opening date of 12 December. The announcement was made just hours before the event was scheduled to open.
Aptly, the Biennale’s main exhibition, In our Veins Flow Ink and Fire, ‘embodies the pleasure of experiencing practices of divergent sensibilities, under conditions both joyful and grim,’ according to its curator, Shubigi Rao.
There have been a series of delays since the event was first pushed back in 2020 due to Covid-19. A statement posted on Instagram cited ‘organisational challenges, compounded by external factors’ for the most recent postponement.
One of those external factors is the arrival of Cyclone Mandous which brought downpours and high winds to southern India. Bose Krishnamachari, Director of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, told Indian newspaper The Hindu that the situation hinged on a delay at Aspinwall House, which required repairs.
A break-down in purchase negotiations between the local tourism board and the developers and current owners of the site, DLF, saw key venues locked-up until 1 December. This hindered the construction of a pavilion being built using traditional methods, which was still being hastily prepared when the postponement was announced.
Issues around shipping and obtaining a bank guarantee for the safe return of artworks also delayed the arrival of a number of artworks, according to Krishnamachari.
Following the 11th-hour announcement, Biennale organisers went ahead with the inauguration ceremony, which was attended by local dignitaries including Kerala’s Chief Minister.
Disgruntled art enthusiasts and critics, who had already arrived in Kochi expecting to visit the main exhibition the next day, expressed their disappointment.
‘Why did you not inform us all earlier so that thousands of your most trusted “fans” could adjust travels accordingly?’ a Dutch visitor on a three-day visit lamented on Instagram.
Sharan Apparao of Apparao Galleries told The Hindu, ‘So many of us have lost money on tickets and bookings.’
‘I think this is a lesson to everybody who is doing these big, major events in the art world to understand that we can’t always do “wow” things,’ Apparao said.
Organisers attempted to placate disgruntled visitors with the information that the Students’ Biennale, Invitation Program, and Satellite Exhibitions will go ahead as scheduled.
Artists featuring in this year’s Biennale, which will run through 10 April 2023, include Cecilia Vicuña, Yinka Shonibare CBE (RA), Melati Suryodarmo, and Joan Jonas. —[O]
Main image: Santha KV, Thasara (2018). Exhibition view: Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi (12 December 2018–29 March 2019). Courtesy Kochi Biennale Foundation.
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