KOCHI: The Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) has been audited by the government more than six times so far. In every instance, the auditors were satisfied that the KBF has followed due process, maintained financial propriety, and therefore deemed KBF worthy of being sanctioned government funding to conduct the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Audit by the AG’s office covers much of the same points that have been covered in previous audits. Much of this audit inquiries pertain to the question of ‘inadmissible expenses’ that have been utilised from the government grant to the KBF.
The sanctioning of the funds for the conduct of the Biennale did not disallow the use of the funds for establishment expenses required to create India’s first Biennale. Since the Biennale is a very long drawn-out process that takes more than a year of planning, it required months of preparation to convince the art world to come to Kochi, never a part of the art calendar.
Once funds were received, the Utilitzation Statement we submitted stated all expenses that went into creating that first Biennale. The budgets for the second and third editions of the Biennale were created keeping in mind the experiences and lessons from the first. Moreover, the budget for every edition is submitted to the government more than a year in advance. Today the KBF receives 30 per cent of its funding from the Kerala government, with the rest of the financing received from private individuals and donors. — Bose Krishnamachari, president, Kochi Biennale Foundation