Kochi-Muziris Biennale announces 66 artists to participate in December exhibition
Kochi-Muziris Biennale, South Asia’s largest contemporary art biennale, has announced that 66 artists from over 20 countries will participate in this year’s event. They include Abul Hisham, Aditya Puthur, Adrian Villar Rojas and Ali Akbar PN.
The exhibition, titled “Temporarily,” runs from December 12 to March 31 at various venues in the southwestern Indian city of Cochin. Confirmed venues include the central exhibition venue Aspinwall House, a large sea-front heritage building in Fort Kochi that was once the headquarters of trading company Aspinwall Ltd., and Pepper House, a former spice warehouse that has become a cultural hub on Vembanad Lake.
A statement from the Kochi-Muziris Biennale said this year’s theme will “center on the body as a bearer of memory and materiality, a site of encounter and a witness to time”.
“Our invitation to our peers is to collaborate based on the realities of Kochi’s climate, conditions and resources; to make time, think flexibly, and collaborate locally,” said the curatorial team. “About 50 new commissions were established in many first-time venues in communities full of trade, people and movement. We draw from past editions and their lives and continue to see the exhibition as a growing organism, constantly nourished by ideas, emotions and actions. In this period of change, we also provide space for grief and mourning.”
Organizers hope that the 2025 competition will be even more successful than the last edition. Two years ago, the biennale was embroiled in controversy after more than half of its participants publicly claimed a breakdown in communication with management and a host of other issues. One artist quits before exhibition opens, several others told art news They cannot realize their work before leaving India.
Of the 90 artists participating in the 2023 exhibition, 53 signed a letter signed by electron flux This talks about the chaos behind the scenes. “The scale and ambition of the Biennale should be commensurate with its financial circumstances,” the artists wrote, saying they had not yet been awarded fees and production costs. They also reported ongoing fundraising and labor issues at the biennale.
Not only that, before the opening of the Biennale in 2023, The Art Newspaper and allergic The Kerala government has reportedly backed out of a deal to acquire Aspinwall Villas from a private developer that usually leases the complex for events. This, coupled with unexpected bad weather, hampered the ability of Biennale staff to prepare the site for installation. The event was ultimately postponed for two weeks due to several scandals.
Previous editions of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale have experienced other mishaps. In 2019, staff at the 2018 Biennale said they had not been paid for their labor. During the last biennale, biennale co-founder Riyas Komu resigned as secretary of the foundation following sexual harassment accusations. In 2011, before the opening of the first edition, the Kerala government was asked to investigate the financial management of the biennale.
Artists participating this year are: Abul Hisham, Aditya Puthur, Adrian Villar Rojas, Ali Akbar PN, Anja Ibsch and Grüntaler9, Arti Kadam, Athina Koumparouli, Bani Abidi and Anupama Kundoo, Bhasha Chakrabarti, Biraaj Dodiya, Birender Yadav, Cinthia Marcelle, Dhiraj Rabha, Dima Srouji and Piero Tomassoni, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Faiza Hasan, Gieve Patel, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Hicham Berrada, Himanshu Jamod, Hiwa K, Huma Mulji, Ibrahim Mahama, Jaashree Chakravarty, Jompet Kuswidananto, Jyoti Bhatt, Khageswar Rout, Kirtika Kain, Kulpreet Singh, Lakshmi Nivas Collective, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Lionel Wendt, Malu Joy (Sister Roswin CMC), Mandeep Raikhy, Maria Hassabi, Marina Abramović, Mark Prime, Mathew Krishanu, Meenu James, Minam Apang, Mónica de Miranda, Monika Correa, Moonis Ahmad Shah, Naeem Mohaiemen, Nari Ward, Niroj Satpathy, Nityan Unnikrishnan, Otobong Nkanga, Pallavi Paul, Panjeri Artists Union, Prabhakar Kamble, Raja Boro, Ratna Gupta, Sabitha Kadannaappally, Sandra Mujinga, Sayan Chanda, RB Shajith, Sheba Chhachhi With Janet Price, Shiraz Bayjoo, Smitha Babu, Sujith SN, Tino Sehgal, Utsa Hazarika, Vinoja Tharmalingam, Yasmin Jahan Nupur, Zarina Muhammed.
