Biennale visit gives Yesudas trip down memory lane

For world-renowned musician K J Yesudas, a visit to the Kochi-Muziris Biennale today turned out to be a rewind to his childhood in a coastal pocket here as much it was as a trip to futuristic art world-wide.
Just as the septuagenarian entered the main venue of the festival, Yesudas recalled a decade-old incident where he was routinely denied access into the Aspinwall House compound.
The heritage building in Fort Kochi � close to the vocalist's native Mattanchery � used to be a busy office complex where his musician father Augustine Joseph was an employee.
"My father used to be a worker in the coir sector those days � before switching over to the world of cinema. As a kid, I used to feel curious about the activities inside this building, but never got a chance to get in," the 73-year-old playback singer and classical musician trailed off.

"Today, the entry inside is giving me goose pimples," Yesudas said.
A detailed view of the exhibits at the leafy compound excited the artiste. "The biennale is for those who think," Yesudas said, adding that it required the curious mind of children to know more about the installations, paintings and sculptures on display here. That way more schoolchildren and art students must visit this event, he added.
He said the preparations in organising such a grand event merits uninhibited praise. "Only people who are ignorant about the labour behind such a festival would criticise it," he said, hailing the Kochi Biennale Foundation and wishing it better success in the coming editions of the festival once in two years.

Renowned painter Arpana Caur also visited today the three-month festival, which is ending on March 13.