KOCHI: Concluding the third edition of Student’s Biennale, its winners were announced on Friday at the closing ceremony of Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018. The awards, instituted by Tata Trusts and the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), honoured the participants for their excellence in art practices.Three were selected as the recipients of the Tata Trusts Students’ Biennale International Award, while 11 students from the University of Kashmir won the Tata Trusts Students’ Biennale National Award. The award jury comprised KBF president Bose Krishnamachari, Tata Trusts Head (Arts and Culture) Deepika Sorabjee and artist-filmmaker KM Madhusudhanan.
The three artists selected for the Tata Trusts Students’ Biennale International Awards were Umesh Singh (Uncomfortable Tools and Jaab (muzzle)); Maksud Ali Mondal (Nature Unconditioned) and Akanksha Agarwal (A Palm tree on a Pedestal, Ha..ha..a flower behind too). The 11 students selected for the Tata Trusts Students’ Biennale National Award were Tabeena Wani (Untitled); Saba Altaf (Home); Zaid Bhat (Building, dwelling, thinking); Owais Ahmed (Memory for Forgetfulness); Ushmayo Dutta (Pursuit of home); Ahamad Muzamil (Massacres and Home); Numair Qadri (The story and claims); Anis Wani (Jannat e benazeer); Arona Riyaz (Memory); Mir Lateef (Pulhoor and Kashmir – A political Study); and Asif Haneef (Untitled).
Bose said the 2010-founded KBF always gave importance to art education. “We believe in providing an internationally-recognised platform for art students and giving them an opportunity to experience the firsthand making of an art show of a large extent,” he said. Deepika spoke highly of the students’ deep engagement with the materials used, revealing it played a key role in the jury’s selection.
“The concept in the translation of ideas (using the small production grants given this year) into works that carried their roots, coming as they did from different parts of the country, was particularly noticed," she said. For instance, according to Deepika, Umesh’s use of cyanotype prints of the farmers juxtaposed with the sculptural works produced from diseased bark and discarded tools, while Maksud’s confidence in working with organic material that, in decay, left evocative ‘drawings’ in growth. "Akanksha’s scale and formalism in papier mache, all responded to the ‘Making as Thinking’ curatorial brief refreshingly,” she said.