അന്വേഷണം വാർത്തകൾ ലഭിക്കാന് വാട്സാപ്പ് ചാനലില് ചേരൂ.Kochi: The upcoming edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), titled for the time being, is a dynamic, pulsating, and shape-shifting process that celebrates the collectiveness of participating artists, said artist Nikhil Chopra. He was virtually addressing an audience in London, at the second iteration of ‘New Dialogues: Contemporary Art from South Asia’, the Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF)-KMB Lecture Series, held at Hayward Gallery on October 17.
The award-winning performance artist is curating the newest edition of KMB with HH Art Spaces, a Goa-based organisation, which he co-founded in 2014. The 6th edition of KMB commences on 12 December 2025 and runs through 31 March 2026.
“When the artists are labouring in their spaces, or creating in situ with rich resources available instead of shipping them…combining their sweat with ours to create a new form, the third body… The exhibition is all about this shared labour and a shared need to do something new,” said Nikhil. Delving into his curatorial approach, he said the 6th edition of the KMB is ‘a dynamic process, a state of flux, vibrant, shape-shifting, moving, shaking, pulsating, vibrating, breathing and sweating, which reflects the collective spirit of the artists’. He also invited the audience to KMB, which is the largest contemporary art festival in South Asia.
The lecture Series on cultural, artistic, and curatorial practices across South Asia and the diaspora, presented by Hayward Gallery in collaboration with DBF and KMB, was held in Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. Nikhil walked the audience through a film and video offering glimpses of the venues, from the former spice warehouses and other spaces in Mattancherry, Fort Kochi, and Willingdon Island, which are being actively renovated and repurposed as Biennale venues.
“Absence of bodies is as important as presence. Like people who have passed through and ideas that have passed through these spaces, we ourselves as people are going to pass through this. So, we are not really thinking about an exhibition from the state of permanence, but from this place of ephemerality”, he said. “We’re thinking about temporality, we are thinking about being a memory, a lingering perfume that we want to leave behind as we pass through this place and we go away,” he said, lauding the production team led by Shyam Patel for setting the stage for the show.
In his opening remarks, Dr Shwetal Patel, who leads Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF)’s International Partnership and Programmes, thanked Bangladeshi art philanthropist Durjoy Rahman and British curator Ralph Rugoff for championing pluralistic values and for bringing all together.
“The Kochi-Muziris Biennale has always been a meeting place — bringing together artists, thinkers, and practitioners from across South Asia and from many other parts of the world. It stands as a space of dialogue, exchange, and experimentation, where artistic and curatorial practices intersect and challenge orthodoxies,” he said.
Dr Patel added that the DBF–KMB Award and Lecture Series has become an important pillar of KBF’s international programming, helping to extend the spirit of the Biennale beyond Kochi and into new contexts of discussion and in other geographies.
Other speakers included Abdul Halik Azeez, Hit Man Gurung, Raisa Kabir, Jitish Kallat, Zahra Malkani, Pallavi Paul, and Sheelasha Rajbhandari. The panel discussions were moderated by Mario D’Souza and Dr Patel. Author Kamila Shamsie delivered the keynote address.
The DBF-KMB Award is a multi-year exhibition and public programme that brings together the Hayward Gallery, the DBF, and the Kochi Biennale Foundation. Nikhil also spoke at the inaugural DBF–KMB Lecture Series held on 11 October 2024 at the same venue. Artist Amol K Patil was the first recipient of the DBF-KMB Award for his installation ‘The Politics of Skin and Movement’, which explores the relationship between the body and the urban environment.
