If you’re in Kerala, make time for the guided tour at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Our guide Shaili took us through the highlights at the main venue Aspinwall House, making connections between the art and its political, social and personal context. Fully worth it, even if you have only an hour like my parents and I did.
The tour runs twice a day, at 11am and 3pm, until 29 March 2019. It’s free and no registration needed, just get the entry ticket (Rs100) and turn up at the Aspinwall House info desk.
This biennale is especially significant because it has been put together by its first female curator, the renowned artist Anita Dube. A strong focus is art that addresses the marginalised. And in Cabral Yard, Anita Dube has left the space open to the public to contribute their own works or anything they’d like to share from the Internet. So if you can’t get enough at Aspinwall House, there are 11 other venues at this year’s biennale!
I always like winding down in Fort Kochi with the sunset at Hotel Seagull or Arca Nova (they share a boundary wall).
Also stop by Mattancherry for the Dutch Palace murals, Paradesi Synagogue, and Sarah’s handmade-lace shop—at 96, she is the oldest Paradesi Jew still living here.
A short boat ride away is the idyllic Kayal Island Retreat; owner Maneesha Panicker also runs Silk Route Escapes and can take you around on an art walk. Also worth visiting is Kodangallur, 90 minutes away by car. Said to be the ancient port town of Muziris, it is home to India’s first mosque and churches alongside temples and synagogues—testament to tolerant, generous rulers. This is where St Thomas landed in India in 50AD; the relic of his right arm is also enshrined here. There’s a hop-on, hop-off boat tour of Muziris, among others.
Glimpses from our Aspinwall House guided tour below.
Touching My Father – Song Dong
“The artist photographed a video projection of his hand over his father, before his passing. This simple action has a heightened significance in China, where it is not socially acceptable for men to have physical contact with their elders, as a sign of respect.”
House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home – Martha Rosler
“It reopens the question of how atrocities in in the post 9/11 era have been received, and how society can guard against desensitisation to violent images in an age of permanent war and a greatly expanded image culture.”
This is the tree reflected in the previous image 🙂
More Sweetly Play the Dance – William Kentridge
Silhouettes move across 8 screens to a brass band in a 15min video; #MustSee!
“Kentridge is perhaps referencing the medieval practice of dancing to avoid death, and forefronts the downtrodden masses who must carry the burdens of history while persevering into the future.”
Guerrilla Girls
Zoom in to read the text!
A Place Beyond Belief – Nathan Coley
“By its specific location at the entrance, and through a play on the word “belief”, the statement reflects on the place that art and culture proposes and asks what it means to rise ‘beyond belief’ in the current political context in India.”
A window at Aspinwall House; love this reclaimed trading office. Now in its fourth edition, the biennale attracts lakhs of visitors from India and abroad. It’s quite a sight to see contemporary artworks displayed in the vast, former shipping offices and still-functioning warehouses. This port district setting is especially resonant for art with themes of maritime voyages, slavery, colonialism, trade and mapping histories.
—Saumya Ancheri
