The Kochi-Muziris Biennial, the largest contemporary art biennial in South Asia, announced the 66 artists from more than 20 countries who will take part in this year’s event. They include Abul Hisham, Aditya Puthur, Adrian Villar Rojas, and Ali Akbar PN.
The exhibition runs from December 12 through March 31 across several venues in the city of Kochi, in the southwest of India, and is titled “For The Time Being.” Among the confirmed venues are Aspinwall House, the central exhibition site (a large sea-facing heritage property in Fort Kochi that was once the headquarters of the trading company Aspinwall & Company Ltd), and Pepper House, a former spice warehouse turned cultural centre on Vembanad Lake.
A statement released by the Kochi-Muziris Biennial said this year’s theme will be “oriented around the body, a bearer of memory and materiality, a site of encounter, and a witness to temporality.”
“Our invitation to companions was to work with Kochi’s climates, conditions, and resource realities; to make time, think nimbly, and collaborate locally,” the curatorial team said. “Around 50 new commissions are set across many first-time venues in neighbourhoods animated with trade, people, and movement. We draw from the past editions and their lives, and continue to see the exhibition as a growing organism constantly nourished by ideas, emotions, and actions. We also hold space for grief and mourning through this transformative time.”
The organizers will be hoping 2025’s edition is more successful than last time out. Two years ago, the biennial was embroiled in controversy after more than half of its participants publicly alleged a breakdown in communication with management and a slew of other problems. Ahead of the show’s opening, one artist pulled out, and several others told ARTnews that they were unable to realize their work before leaving India.
Of the 90 artists participating in the 2023 show, 53 signed a letter published by e-flux that spoke of behind-the-scenes chaos. “The scale and ambition of the Biennale should be attuned to its financial situation,” the artists wrote, saying that they had not been paid fees and production costs. They also reported that there were persistent fundraising and labor issues at the biennial.
Not only that, but before the 2023 biennial’s opening, both the Art Newspaper and Hyperallergic wrote that the Kerala government reportedly pulled out of a deal to acquire Aspinwall House from a private developer who usually leases the complex for the event. This, along with unexpectedly bad weather, impeded the biennale staff’s ability to prepare the venue for installation. The event ended up being postponed by two weeks due to several scandals.
Previous editions of the Kochi-Muziris Biennial have weathered other unfortunate events. In 2019 workers on the 2018 edition said the biennial had not paid them for their labor. During that last edition, Biennale cofounder Riyas Komu stepped down as the foundation’s secretary after allegations of sexual harassment. And in 2011, before the first edition even opened, the Kerala government was asked to investigate the biennial’s financial management.
The artists set to participate 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, Jayashree 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 Kadannappally, Sandra Mujinga, Sayan Chanda, RB Shajith, Sheba Chhachhi and Janet Price, Shiraz Bayjoo, Smitha Babu, Sujith S.N, Tino Sehgal, Utsa Hazarika, Vinoja Tharmalingam, Yasmin Jahan Nupur, Zarina Muhammed.
