12 December
Thayambaka by Margi Rahitha Krishnadas & team
11.45am, Aspinwall House
Kerala-based percussionist Rahitha Krishnadas performs a Chenda solo, building from controlled rhythm to thunderous complexity. This opening gesture anchors the Biennale in local sound traditions.
A New Alphabet by Monica de Miranda
1:00pm, Aspinwall Courtyard
The Portuguese-Angolan artist, filmmaker and researcher explores resistance, storytelling, and ecologies of care through visual art and film.
Procession for a Shifting Storm by Zarina Muhammad
1.30pm, Coir Godown
The London-based artist and writer activates her installation Observing Omens Drawn by Lightning through ritual, movement, and percussive sound, guiding audiences on a roving performance.
Curatorial Walkthroughs
12.30–2.00pm Aspinwall / 3pm Island Warehouse
Curator Nikhil Chopra leads visitors through Biennale venues, highlighting works that explore care, history, and community.
Hallucinations of an Artefact by Mandeep Raikhy
4.00 PM, SMS Hall
The Delhi-based artist brings the Indus Valley Dancing Girl figurine (c. 2300–1750 BCE) to life using dance and AI, challenging conventional narratives around this playful artifact.
Music: Shanka Tribe
7pm, Parade Ground
This global-instrument ensemble blends tribal rhythms, folk, and live techno, creating a trance-like collective meditation in open-air settings.
13 December
Six Stations of a Life Pursued by Vivan Sundaram
4pm, Cube Art Space
A posthumous exhibition of the late Indian artist, featuring archival reconstruction and sculptural assemblage to explore memory, resistance, and the body’s place in history.
Of Worlds, Within Worlds by Gulammohammed Sheikh
5pm, Durbar Hall
This Painter, poet, and pedagogue has remained relevant in Indian art for six decades. The exhibition includes over 100 works across media, from paintings and prints to installations.
Conflictorium
5.30pm, Pazhayannur Bhagavathi Temple
Curated by Venkataraman Divakar, the project brings together paintings, photographs, and installations that attend to overlooked histories, challenging inherited historical hierarchies.
Paakkalam by Smitha M Babu & collaborators
5.30pm, Aspinwall House
Kerala-based painter Smitha M Babu stages ecosystems on canvas where humans, animals, and landscapes interact, revisiting early memories of her milieu.
Invitations Exhibitions —
(Bienal das Amazonias / Dar Yusuf Nasri Jacir / The Packet / ruangrupa–Gudskul)
6.30–8pm
Cross-continental projects highlight Amazonian ecology, Palestinian land-based research, Caribbean zine culture, and Jakarta’s collective pedagogies, reinforcing the Biennale’s South–South ethos.
Music: Mehfil-e-Sama’a
8.30pm, Parade Ground
Mehfil-e-Sama’a is a Delhi based Sufi-Hindustani classical music ensemble composed mostly of artists from Kerala who are settled in Delhi.
14 December
Nairobi Contemporary Art Centre Walkthrough
9.30am, David Hall
East African artists showcase Nairobi’s migration-shaped, urban-futurist lineages, connecting local ecosystems to Kochi’s Indian Ocean imagination.
Art By Children (ABC) Programme
2pm, Water Metro Station
The KBF-led initiative brings art into Kerala schools, fostering creativity and dialogue, with student artworks displayed in the main Biennale.
Processing Circle (Kaseko Cycle) by Uriel Barthelemi
5pm, Aspinwall Courtyard
French drummer and composer Barthelemi presents a three-day performance exploring rhythm, trance, and sonic exchange.
Circle of Fragments by Meriem Chabani with Nirmiti Collective
5pm, Jail of Freedom Struggle
Moroccan architect Chabani and Paris-based Nirmiti Collective examine sustainable urban design and cultural narratives from the Global South.
Music: Hiwa K, Chicago Boys
5pm, Pepper House
Iraqi-born, Berlin-based interdisciplinary artist Hiwa K blends music, participatory performance, and everyday stories.
Music: Nanjiyamma & team
7.30pm, Parade Ground
Tribal folk singer Nanjiyamma brings resonant folk traditions to the stage.
Chavittu Nadakam by Yuva Kerala Chavittu Nadaka Kalasamithi
9pm, Parade Ground
Revival of Kerala’s Latin-Christian folk theatre with operatic vocals, vigorous footwork, and elaborate costuming.
15 December
Statues Must Die by Naeem Mohaiemen & Mallika Taneja
11.15am, Bastion Bungalow
Mohaiemen (Bangladesh) and Taneja (Delhi) explore South Asian postcolonial histories and intersections of body, city, and gender through film, photography, and performance.
The Art of Activism by Ackroyd & Harvey
5pm, Cochin Club
British artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey use art and ecology to provoke climate consciousness.
Mutant Patterns (Kaseko Cycle) by Uriel Barthélémi
5.45pm, Coir Godown
Uriel interrogates the circulation of African and Caribbean rhythms and their influence on contemporary electronic music.
Music: The F16s
7pm, Bastion Bungalow
Chennai alt-rock band blends synth-rich textures with emotive songwriting.
16 December
Brook Andrew lecture
11am, Bastion Bungalow
This Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal artist, writer, and curator from Australia explores colonial legacies and museum intervention through collaborative research-based practice.
The Chamber of Calling by Yuko Kaseki & Uriel Barthelemi
5pm, Parliament of Ghosts
Berlin-based Butoh dancer Kaseki performs with Uriel in improvised, transformative cycles of death and renewal.
Music: Mehboob Memorial Orchestra
7.30pm, The Pavilion
Kerala’s first ghazal orchestra, merging classical sensibilities with local melodic traditions.
17 December
Karinthalakoottam
7.30pm, Bastion Bungalow
Dalit community troupe preserves ancestral storytelling through ritual forms often absent from mainstream spaces.