Mumbai artists bowled over by Kochi biennale

Its "awesome and astounding," says a group of artists from Mumbai after visiting the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, an international exhibition of contemporary art being hosted in this port city.
Visiting the show, artists mobilised by Mumbai-based 'Dolna' said, "Here was art far beyond the horizons of the accepted connotation of art in India".
Six ace artists - Ami Patel, Swaroop Biswas, Bharati Pitre, Madhavi Kolte, Praveen Kumar and Nilesh Vede, of diverse genres from across India were brought together by Mithu Basu, founder Dolna, for a five-day Art Retreat hosted by the Zuri Kumarakom Resort and Spa.
According to the artists, it was collaborative and innovative with fusions of many streams like aesthetics, technology, and conceptual thinking that came together to redefine art.

It is an experience that will leave artists with myriad thoughts, probings, and inward journeys into their own realms to decipher the new course of art, said the team of Dolna artists.
Basu said the overall impact was that the most profound art was found in the simplest of expressions.

"Many works deserve mention and yet we would stay away so that viewers are open to absorption through their own perspectives and not shown a path of preferences.
"...Awesome and astounding was the experience and the artist community bows to its founders for creating an iconic property in the space of art," Basu said.

Besides a global online gallery for contemporary art, Dolna creates environment for artists to travel, flourish and grow.