Vijayan announces new Design Biennale in 2021

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday announced a new Design Biennale slated to be held in Kochi in 2021.

He was speaking at the opening of the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), touted to be the subcontinent's biggest art event featuring works by 94 Indian and international artists.

"After the next edition of the Biennale (KMB in 2020), there will be a Design Biennale in Kochi," Vijayan said.

Based on the curatorial theme of 'Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life', the 108-day-long art extravaganza, curated by artist Anita Dube this year, seeks to explore newer access to art practices amid seminars, workshops, lectures, cinema and performances.

Vijayan said the government continued to support the Kochi Biennale despite the devastating floods that ravaged the state earlier this year, because art was an important aspect of an individual life. "The government has been spearheading the rebuilding of the state, but we have not gone back on the grant for the event. Art is necessary for man to be elevated from animal status."
According to Dube, who curated the Biennale after a year's travel across the globe, the event aimed at blending "pleasure with pedagogy". "I hope these works also evoke questions in your mind."