15 February 2013, 03:19 PM IST
Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) is soon coming to a close on March 13. How corny can art get? The biennale began on 12/12/12 and will end on 13/03/13. Thank God, Malayalis haven't discovered a 13th month meanwhile.
Biennale has had its own share of controversies with local artists complaining that they have been ignored by the organizers, Bose Krishnamachari and Riyaz Komu, artists in their own right, both of them first generation Malayalis.
Senior bureaucrat, acclaimed writer and former Naxalite N S Madhavan kicked around for the organizers and wrote that biennales exhibit international art and not domicile certificates. Point taken. But are the 14 portraits of bishops belonging to different Christian denominations international art? May be irksome questions are at best ignored.
Arrogance and mule-headed approach on the part of organizers did diminish the KMB in many ways. The state government had given the organizers a grant of Rs 5 crore and questions were asked about how judiciously it was spent. At one point there were talks about the state assembly considering blacklisting the venture, whatever it meant. Then, curator and lead organizer Bose Krishnamachari was heard saying "no one has the right to ask us about how well the money was spent." Ahem.
But there is no doubt that the biennale attracted a crowd, but mostly idlers from Kochi. One is not too sure whether the organizers succeeded in spreading the message of the biennale at least across Kerala. While visiting the biennale on more than one occasion I did not see a mix of art enthusiasts from Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram and even from Thrissur.
Kochiites themselves are intrigued by the biennale. They, who grew up on a steady diet of Mohanlal and Mammootty films and Raja Ravivarma calendar art, have been shocked by what goes by the rubric of art at the Aspinwall House in Fort Kochi, the main venue of the biennale. Families and youngsters who wanted to encounter a slice of international art are left bemused and unable to tell apart the garbage pit from the art installations at the biennale. A group of elderly women, perplexed by what hit them, said: "This is not what we expected. We don't know whether all these stuff are gimmick or art. Well, we are far from impressed with what's on view. There should be people around to explain things, considering how art illiterate we are. If we say these are not art, definitely, we will be ridiculed. So many big people have already said the biennale is something so important and meaningful. So who are we to contradict them?"
With Aspinwall House sitting on the edge of backwaters, those who have paid for their tickets were more keen to spend time by taking in the breeze and sharing their afternoon woes.
It has to be said that common man is woefully short of art awareness. He or she has to be convinced that art is in the eye of the beholder and quite ordinary stuff staring at them every day can be invested with meaning, if you are willing. Sheela Gowda's installation at the biennale titled Stopover: Grinding Stones is a telling example.
Kochi-Muziris Biennale would be a success if Malayalis and all those who are not part of the art mart are willing to slow down their steps and accept another paradigm for appreciation. That would be a slow process. But biennale is here to stay. Isn't it boss?
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