Content creators mean business
Social media influencers are flipping the rules by first getting followers and then launching products and ...
Artist Hew Locke puts up his installation at Aspinwall House for the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014. VIPIN CHANDRAN
The only one of its kind in India, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB-2014), a two-yearly international contemporary arts exhibition, will open at multiple venues in the quaint, colonial, seaside town of Fort Kochi at noon on December 12.
About 100 artists from 30 countries are participating in this second edition of the biennale which will last for 108 days. Two rundown warehouses, used to store European companies’ spice stocks during the colonial era; a 17th century bungalow built by the Dutch East India Company; the Parade Ground where British, Portuguese and Dutch troops did their drills and the Vasco da Gama Square are among the exhibition venues.
They are located at a stone’s throw from the house in which da Gama, who heralded European colonialism in India, died and the church where he was interned for a few years before the remnants were shipped to Lisbon, Portugal. Fort Emmanuel, the first European fort at Kochi, from which Fort Kochi got its name, is close-by.
The first biennale (2012), which ran for more than three months starting from 12.12.2012, was a huge success in terms of viewer turnout, artists’ participation, and of course, controversies. It had generated enormous interest and curiosity in visual art, particularly installation art, across and beyond Kerala. The nearly half-a-million visitors to the event showed that there was mass appeal for visual arts and convinced art establishments there was space for biennales in India’s art world.
Maritime past
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale’s name and venues are all linked to Kochi’s heritage and Kerala’s history. By linking the biennale to the ancient port town of Muziris, the art start-up could conjure visions of a maritime past of Kochi. Muziris, historians say, was a key port on the Kerala coast which promoted extensive trade with the Roman Empire, Egypt and a host of other countries. Kerala’s first Christians, Muslims and Jews had all sailed in at Muziris, thus paving the way for the later harmonious existence of several religious communities in the tiny State.
The port, after hosting international trade for more than a millennium, is said to have been washed away in a 14th century flood in the Periyar river, which joins the Arabian Sea at Kochi. Though archaeologists are yet to find out its exact location, it is believed it was close to Kodungalloor, north of Kochi. While the 14th century flood wiped out Muziris, it also laid the foundation for another natural port-Kochi.
Old world charm
The tiny town of Fort Kochi that butts into the Arabian Sea has seen the rise and fall of Portuguese, Dutch, and British occupations. The town, with its colonial buildings and Chinese fishing nets, still holds an old world charm. Now, the biennale links the historical past and cultural heritage of the Kochi-Muziris region to international contemporary art scene.
Social media influencers are flipping the rules by first getting followers and then launching products and ...
Paneer, once alien to the South, has found a lucrative market in Chennai
WPP agency Wunderman Thompson has launched its annual Future 100 report, lifting the lid on trends shaping the ...
Carriers claim that all measures — including pre-flight tests, cabin sanitisation and fresh air inflow — have ...
What filters should you apply when mining for under-the-radar small-cap stocks? Read on to find more
High valuation, intensely competitive landscape and small cap nature of the stock are key risks.
Amid choppiness, the benchmark indices slipped marginally; approach the week with caution
SBI Cards (₹1,032.7): Witnesses fresh breakoutBetween September and December last year, the stock of SBI Cards ...
Marie leaned back in the chair, holding the brandy to her chest, the rain tapping on the windowpanes. She ...
The current India team didn’t just clinch a series in Australia. It also tugged at the heartstrings with ...
The rain in Wales falls mainly in the plains...Wait, that is Spain. Let’s start again.Women in deep red ...
The coffee beans were soaked in rum casks:Food can be imported, books sent across seas — as touching rituals ...
Social media influencers are flipping the rules by first getting followers and then launching products and ...
WPP agency Wunderman Thompson has launched its annual Future 100 report, lifting the lid on trends shaping the ...
Paneer, once alien to the South, has found a lucrative market in Chennai
The Flipkart kids playing adults are back — this time to push the home grown e-commerce marketplace’s grocery ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor