A Visitor’s Confession: I Didn’t Get the Biennale
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025 did not speak to me.
Or perhaps it spoke in a dialect I was never taught.
The Biennale is an international
exhibition of contemporary art held in Kochi from Dec to March every two years.
I seldom understood modern art, let alone postmodern and other species. So I
never cared to visit this exhibition in the past. However, when many people,
particularly blogger-friends, started asking why I never visited it, I decided
to go. After all, the Biennale is the largest art exhibition in India and the
biggest contemporary art festival in Asia. I should visit at least once in my
life, shouldn’t I? That’s how Maggie and I found ourselves in the Aspinwall
House at Fort Kochi.
Aspinwall is one of the many venues
of the show. It will take you weeks to visit all the venues and we confined
ourselves to just one. And it left both of us puzzled: are we both so
illiterate when it comes to painting and sculpture?
The very first chamber we entered
contained art from a state whose language is unfamiliar to us: Assam or West
Bengal, we guessed looking at the script. Let me present an overview of some of
the paintings there as well as a couple of specific paintings.
There was no curatorial note at all
anywhere. Just the paintings. Not a soul who can answer your queries. Not even
the names of the artists. Of course, art is to be observed and absorbed.
Neither Maggie nor I could absorb anything. We walked on from chamber to
chamber, watching the great works of art and wondering what they meant.
At one place where the images meant
something to me because of their realism as well as connection with my
upbringing, I took a few pics.
 |
| Maggie joins a Christian home in the Fest |
 |
| This reminded me of a seminary I studied at |
I heard a school girl telling her
family members, “I understood everything.” I turned back and looked at her –
and noticed the sarcasm on her face. I wasn’t the only baffled visitor.
I was entering the Aspinwall House
for the first time. It is usually closed. It was originally built around 1867
by a British trader, John H Aspinwall for shipping spices, tea and rubber from
Kochi to England. A devastating fire which destroyed a large area of Fort Kochi
in 1889 did not spare Aspinwall either. It was rebuilt, however. Now it is a
primary site for the Biennale.
As Maggie and I sat outside the
building to take a break, I realised that history fascinated me a lot more than
paintings and sculpture. The eminent contemporary artists did not speak to me,
but the Aspinwall House did. Its air was still redolent of spices and
condiments.
Who is the contemporary artist really
speaking to? That question arose in me again and again. Is the mysteriousness
or obfuscation intentional? Is the ambiguity enriching for some visitors at
least? Or merely intimidating, as in my case?
Neither Maggie nor I wished to visit
more venues.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone; count me too! But, this is how I have understood it.
DeleteWhen it comes to communication, both visual as well as textual, there are two types.
One, wherein the content creator's main objective to communicate an idea to the content consumer (the audience, the listener, the viewer, the reader, etc).
Two, wherein the content creator's main objective is not to communicate an idea, but merely to express a thought.
When it comes to the 1st type, there is a greater possibility that people like us would understand what has been created.
When it comes to the 2nd type, we would be lucky if we understood anything. If at all we understood something, it might not be what the content creator originally meant!
I guess, the venues where you visited comprised compositions of the 2nd type. Probably, there are venues having creations of the 1st type. I don't know. I have been there.
Thanks, Pradeep. Your comment along with Yam's does enlighten me quite muuch on this. Maybe, I need to train myself a bit in this, as JDM says. Initiation.
DeleteI visited a painting exhibition by Muhammad Sheikh recently. Though I could not comprehend the meaning behind many of the paintings there were a few that made sense. One of the security guards was able to explain the meaning of several paintings at least in the room he was attending to. Even I can't appreciate modern art for its genuine value. The simple realistic paintings depicting real life scenarios for me any day!
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting, Jai. A security guard explaining it. Did he learn it from any guide who was explaining it to their team? Or did he just employ his common sense?
DeleteI think he must have gotten to know from some guide... His explanations were lucid and clear...
DeleteI appreciate your honesty over your artistic uninitiation... Art does require initiation. Why don't you enquiire of the Buennale Organizers over the lack of curators and interprters in the halls, for the laymen and the initiatef, lest the art turns into Exotica and Esoterica!
ReplyDeleteThe truth is I did make some effort to do that initiation. Maybe, I need more patience.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteBig smiles - thank you for at least trying! You know I have great interest in art of all kinds - that doesn't mean I like it all, and there are definitely question marks over some of what is hung in galleries. Pradeeps two points are valid and I am inclined to think that quite often the second is predominant and all that will matter to the viewer, then, is whether the composition hits the eye pleasantly, bringing feelings of calm and satisfaction, or whether it should be left for someone else to puzzle on!
As a man of words think on this: how many lines of debatable quality does one have to plough through to find that one poem that truly speaks to you? Poems are the equivalent skill. Many paint/sculpt/write. Few are truly magnificent at it, more can become competent, rather a lot are little more than hobbyists. YAM xx
I am aware of your interest in arts. I notice the number of paintings you share on your blog. But most of those paintings do make sense to me.
DeleteI also like your analogy with poems. That helps to understand the nuances.
I thought it was just me who was baffled at the presentation. It felt so overwhelming and it made me feel so lost that I was almost questioning my intellect. Am I just dumb?Somehow, from observing closely, and being by myself I realised it was about the wars, the various wars and it's effects. The tiny feet kept around which you must have seen, were apparently all the lives that were taken away as a result of the war. I felt this year's Binnalle was just too strong for me. The themes, the paintings.. Except a few of them that I really liked from other exhibitions, the one in Aspinwall house wasn't particularly my favourite.
ReplyDelete