Biennale has put Indian artists in international context

The ongoing Kochi-Muziris Biennale has succeeded in putting Indian artists in a "much more" international context, according to leading international cultural ambassadors.
Vishakha N Desai and Saryu V Doshi, after a visit to the second edition of the 108-day festival here, said an Indian biennale was important to give a platform to the host country's artists in an international context, the organisers of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) said in a release today.
"Giving that platform to Indian artists allows you to see them in a different and broader context," said Prof Desai, who is special adviser to the President of Columbia University on global affairs.

"This is a significant step forward," the US-based Desai said, who was appointed by American President Barack Obama to the National Commission on Museums and Libraries in 2012.
According to Doshi, a former director of the National Gallery of Modern Art and a member of the board of Asia Society, the location has given KMB a "greater emphasis".
"It is also important how the artists have responded to the space in Kochi," Doshi said, adding, each venue of the biennale has a certain specific meaning. "That is exciting because each artist's interpretation of the location is different. The overarching concept is powerful," she said adding, the total impression is that the biennale is "aesthetically satisfying and well thought out".

Referring to the melange of cultures in Kochi and its over seven centuries of history under the rules of the Portuguese, Dutch and the British, Prof Desai, who teaches Professional Practice at the Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, said, "Time is not going away from you, but it stays with you because of the historicity".
The artists do not compete with each other at biennale. "Each work is well situated," she said, congratulating curator Jitish Kallat, the participating artists for the manner in which they have responded and the biennale founders Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu for making this happen.

Programmes like the Children's Biennale and the Students Biennale are crucial for taking the KMB forward. The Children's Biennale and the Students Biennale are very encouraging. You need to deepen and continue the engagement with the community, she added.