KOCHI: Curator Anita Dube sounds hoarse. “I have been working till 3 am for the past few days,” she says as she starts a preview tour of the Kochi Muziris Biennale on Monday afternoon. The first stop is a building called the ‘Coir Godown’. This was the original name given to it during the time when the Aspinwall Company (founded in 1867) was functioning at Fort Kochi. But Anita’s voice is sombre as she shows the textile works of artist Priya Ravish Mehra.
“Priya had focused on the marginalised community of Rafoogars of Najibabad, Uttar Pradesh,” says Anita.
“I wanted to pay homage to an artist and a colleague who is no longer here.” Priya had died in May this year of cancer at the age of 57.
In a nearby room, Mexican artist Tania Candiani has transformed a traditional weaving loom into a musical instrument with strings. An assistant plays the strings and creates a sound similar to a sitar.
Photographer Sunil Janah has taken searing photographs of the Bengal famine. “The mood will change from building to building,” says Anita.
“Because we are living in very dark times.”
At one section, when Anita climbs up the stairs, she says, “The upstairs rooms are apocalyptic. There is the work of an artist called Radendo Milak and Anju Dodiya, who focuses on the battle of the
sexes.”
Even as she talks, nails are being hammered in, and work goes on. “The work started late because of the floods and many carpenters and electricians were not available as they were busy repairing their own homes," says Manoj Nair, Editorial Director of the Biennale.
One of the exhibits which will have resonance is the work by Sue Williamson which consists of several banians.
“These belonged to people who were sent on slave ships from Kochi to work in South Africa,” says Anita. “Sue did research and found out their names.”
On the banians, Sue has printed the following: Name: Jacob. Place of birth: Malabar. Age: 12. Seller: Antony. Buyer: Aram.
“Sue has dipped the shirts in a moat in South Africa and dirtied them,” says Anita.
What's going to be an eye-catcher is a huge tyre, weighing 370 tonnes, and made by JK Tyres, which is hanging from a height at the centre of Aspinwall House.
“This is called developmental mobility and the work is by Danish artist E B Itso,” says Anita. “The world has invented the wheel and he wants to show the oppressive nature of the discovery as we go forward.”
This is set to become ‘The Spectacle’ of the Biennale. Another project which is bound to create an impact is by Gond artist-couple Subhas and Durgabai Vyam, consisting of marine plywood etchings. “They are telling the stories about their myths and lives,” says Anita.
“Every inch of the walls has been covered with their work, the opposite of minimalism.”
This sampling seems to indicate this Biennale is also heading in the same direction as the previous editions: A sumptuous feast for the eyes and plenty of food for thought.