After battling much uncertainty, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) is officially making a comeback. Earlier this month, the Kochi Biennale Foundation announced that Nikhil Chopra, a multidisciplinary artist based in Goa, will curate the sixth edition of the much-celebrated art festival. The 110-day event, titled ‘For the Time Being’, will run from December 12 to March 31, 2026.
Nikhil, associated with HH Art Spaces, a Goa-based artist-led organisation he co-founded, interweaves performance, drawing, photography, sculpture, and installation in his works. Between 2014 and 2017, he performed at the second edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the Bienal de la Habana, the 12th Sharjah Biennial, and documenta 14 in Athens.
In this interview with TNIE, Nikhil talks about his journey with the Biennale, his curatorial vision, and his identity as an artist. Excerpts:
You’ve previously been part of the Biennale as an artist. Now you’re curating its sixth edition. Tell us about this journey.
My relationship with the Biennale began when I was invited to its second edition by curator Jitish Kallat. Around the same time, I co-founded HH Art Spaces in Goa with Romain Loustau, Madhavi Gore, Shivani Gupta, and Shaira Sequeira Shetty. We believed that artists create ecosystems, which in turn build communities.
In the decade since, both the Biennale and our organisation have grown. I’d say our journeys are intertwined. We’ve created something more powerful and lasting than ourselves. So, being chosen to curate this edition feels like a natural next step.
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is unique in that it invites artists to curate the event. This opens a space where artists can extend beyond their studios and engage with the wider artistic community. Not necessarily as trained curators, but as practitioners deeply connected to the process and making.
Even with its global attention, the Biennale runs on limited resources, much of it from the Kerala government and public funds. This adds a responsibility to deliver something world-class while remaining accountable to the local community. I look forward to the coming months as the Biennale is installed and opened to the public.
What are your impressions of the Kochi Biennale?
When I returned from the US in 2004/05, many conversations with artist friends centred around the need for project India as a fertile ground for creation among international artists.
There was a longing to bridge the gap between India, the West, and even the Far East. The launch of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale came with the hope that it would become a cutting-edge exhibition rooted in a uniquely rich and layered context, and fill that void.
Kochi, with its location at the crossroads of historic trade routes, has always been global. Its history of trading in timber, spices, and minerals made it a multicultural hub. That exchange also built a culture of resilience and a strong local identity.
Kerala’s cultural and political ethos adds depth. It remains one of the last strongholds of communism in the Indian sub-continent. People here are politically aware. They read, write, appreciate cinema, poetry, literature, and the arts. The natural setting — rivers, rainforests, and high ranges — adds another layer to this vibrancy.
The Biennale has nurtured local talent while drawing international participation. It has revitalised Fort Kochi’s economy and positioned India as not only a source of emerging artists but also a generous host for global voices.
What’s your curatorial vision for this edition?
At the centre of our thinking and methodology is process. We have invited artists who collapse the boundaries between process and production, studio and exhibition, rehearsal and performance. We focus on those who engage directly with the site and create work in response to their experience on the ground.
We have also placed the body at the heart of art-making. The body as a container of memory, as our museum, as a vessel we fill and empty. The lens we applied to curatorial choices included not only the physical presence of the artist, but also the sense of their presence and engagement with their own process.
Our framework includes friendship, kindness, tenderness, respect, humility, and empathy. These are the vocabulary we used to approach this Biennale. Over the past 20 years, I have connected with many artists nationally and internationally, gravitating towards those whose practices I have long admired and who share histories with me. Much of the conversation at this Biennale is about fostering relationships and building solidarity among creators, especially since we live in a world marked by war and suffering, both historically and in the present.
I’ve asked artists to summon the present moment, drawing
attention to our collective relationship to this world, both ecologically and as a global community.
This edition faced delays due to uncertainty over the venue. How did things come together?
I never doubted that the Biennale would happen. Like any emerging project, it faced initial challenges, needing to stake its presence in the city and cultural landscape. Such endeavours require cultivation, experience, and reflection. The Biennale has done an impressive job re-evaluating its role in the city.
The art has always been of high quality. The challenges were around logistics and organisation. But now, the structure is clearer. There’s a strong sense of professionalism and mutual respect, with contracts in place to protect both the institution and the artists. This methodical approach gives the Biennale the stability to open with grace, dignity, and love.
You’re known for immersive, durational performances. Could you elaborate?
Performance has been an important aspect of what I do. Essentially, performance is placing the process of making at the forefront. Just as an adventurer or a traveller would prioritise the journey over the destination. It’s about experiencing things as you move through them.
The reason it’s immersive is that I give myself the task of making large-scale drawings during these performances. Drawing requires intense concentration and skill, summoning and refining abilities. That is what creates the persona.
During a performance, I spend many hours making a drawing. It is the act of making that draws my attention and entire being. The audience witnesses this process, which itself becomes immersive. The performance evolves, and the artwork transforms throughout its duration.
What does the title ‘For the Time Being’ mean?
It’s a play on a familiar phrase. I’m taking poetic licence here. It’s about being in the present moment. Time has always been central to my work. It’s a human way of measuring movement. Through days, seasons, and life itself. “Being” points to existence, to what it means to live in this moment.
The title also acknowledges working within constraints. Of limited finances, heavy monsoons, derelict buildings, ancient histories, and high humidity — all part of Kochi’s context. Embracing these conditions and making them a source of creativity rather than limitation excites us.
The phrase also looks to the future, of what is yet to come. And also, to the idea of impermanence.
Will we see more local artists and emerging voices?
Yes, absolutely. While there will be internationally acclaimed names, a large part of our research has focused on emerging and mid-career artists from the region, especially Kerala.