I was there at the opening and “flag hoisting” of the Biennale in December 2025, and I was there every day for a fortnight to be taken in by the “unfinished spectacle” the curator reportedly spoke about.
I was as lost as many of the artists and the volunteers. Venues were not ready, the centre of the festival, Aspinwall House, had garbage installed (not as art) right in the middle of the courtyard that was later covered with tarpaulin. Several artists’ works were not yet ready to view.
The massive warehouse on Willingdon Island looked like a real estate factory with artwork next to drilling machines that could well ruin them. Everyone in the know of things apparently knew the Biennale was not ready to start but given their previous misadventure with delays (and artists’ open letters of dissent), the management seems to have forced-started the festival pretending everything is fine.
Volunteers admitted things were not in control and one must truly appreciate the patience and commitment with which they managed angry visitors and annoyed artists. They love art, but they aren’t sure the celebrities at the top management acknowledge their spirit.
“After 15 years of being deeply committed and involved in building the foundation and shaping the Biennale, from its inception as an artist-led initiative to what it is today, I felt this was the right moment to step back, for personal and family reasons, and to return more fully to my own artistic practice,” Bose said in a statement.
Bose, along with artist Riyas Komu, founded the Biennale in 2012 as an artist-led initiative. Riyas and Bose went separate ways in 2018 after allegations of sexual misconduct against Riyas. Since then, the festival has witnessed financial constraints and has been marred with controversies. This time is no different.
The brochure, worth Rs 30, of this edition has a map listing the venues but nothing about what those venues were hosting. Every morning (after a few days of zero information), Instagram informed the day’s schedule, but it still didn’t give an overview of all the exhibits. That is when I started noting down things I wouldn’t want to miss and, in the process, made some unartistic observations and discovered some beautiful work dispersed across venues one could easily miss. In that journey, I also came across exhibits like Shilpa Gupta’s Listening Air at Ginger House, though not part of the Biennale.
Third day at the Kochi Biennale—and I am full of self-doubt mixed with disappointment at the contemporary art scene. The primary venue, Aspinwall House, displayed nothing extraordinary and so far, performance art being the highlight. Not surprising, given this edition’s curator, Nikhil Chopra, loves performance!