By Ashraf Padanna/Kochi
Prominent artists, filmmakers and writers in Kerala have expressed disappointment that the budget presented in the state’s legislature on March 13 has ignored Kochi Muziris Biennale.
No allocation of funds was made in the budget despite India’s biggest art event, which has received nearly half a million footprints in three months, contributing tremendously to the state’s tourism industry.
In a statement expressing their disappointment, they said the biennale had put Kochi and Kerala on the global cultural map and had created a sustainable platform for long-term cultural discourse and engagement in Kerala.
The statement was endorsed by Namboodiri, Sethu, Balan Nambiar, Satchidanandan, Paul Zakaria, N S Madhavan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Benyamin and others.
The second edition of the biennale will close on March 29.
With just two editions, they said, the KMB has grown to become one of the major art events in Asia.
The first edition of the Biennale hosted works of 89 artists from 23 countries and the second has the works of 94 artists from 30 countries.
“As such, it has also become a site where ambassadors, museum directors, curators, artists, and decision-makers from around the world converge. Bringing the art and cultural discourse to Kochi not only amplifies Kerala’s cultural positioning in the world but it also creates new avenues for cultural economy to Kerala and India,” they said.
“The city of Kochi, over the past four years, has considerably benefited in tourism and hospitality sector through the Biennale.
“We understand that the social reality in which we operate is marked by contradictions and can be studied only by the comprehension of these contradictions. Biennales have a public nature: they move outside galleries and museums into larger and complex public spaces and bring art to the public - provoking in society new questions and new sensibilities.
“India’s first Biennale could not have been elsewhere. Kochi has been home to a number of different communities both within and outside India for centuries now.
“Kerala’s history of public action and engagement through art also affirm the located nature of the KMB.
“It is these legacies, rather than the presence of art markets like in Mumbai or Delhi, that the KMB seeks to inherit and that needs to be supported by the government of Kerala,” they said.
The Biennale witnessed the energisation of public spaces and heritage locations in the city of Kochi and Pattanam.
Various heritage buildings in Fort Kochi and Mattancherry hosted the Biennale, and this has inspired fresh perspectives about the architectural possibilities of the region.
“It has helped to improve India’s cultural image, which is expected to translate into long-term gains in social, cultural and economic development and has also helped Kochi to establish itself as a favoured destination for hosting social, cultural and academic events,” they said.
“The successful implementation of the first and second edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale has already made the city of Kochi an iconic destination in the tourist map. This has established Kochi as a new cultural hub in Kerala akin to Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Thrissur.
“To organise the Biennale, the Kochi Biennale Foundation would require continued financial support from the government of Kerala. We are deeply disappointed that an event of such magnitude and cultural relevance has not been included in the state budget,” they said.
The Biennale has made a significant media impact within India and internationally and the event regularly features in industry and media roundups as the ‘most innovative’ and ‘must see’ cultural festival in Asia.
“We believe that this exceptional achievement of the KMB deserves generous support from the government. Any withdrawal or slowdown in government support will hamper the effective and timely running of the Biennale. We, therefore, urge the state government to revisit the 2015-16 budget proposal and extend substantial financial support to Kochi Biennale Foundation.”
