Art Scene India: Bose Krishnamachari

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18 Feb 2020

Art and Sustainability

The month long public art initiative at VR Bengaluru, Whitefield celebrates sustainability with innovative art installations and activities

The ongoing Whitefield art collective WAC2020, now in its 5th edition, was inaugurated on 7th February, at VR Bengaluru, Whitefield, better known as the Black Box. The evening saw the unveiling of the art car, painted by the art collective, Aravani Arts Project, by artist and President, Kochi Biennale Foundation Bose Krishnamachari and festival curator Sumi Gupta.

Art car painted by the art collective, Aravani Arts Project

Since this year’s theme for the festival has been sustainability, the art, and all the activities are built around it. Sumi Gupta explained, “The Whitefield Art Collective since its inception in 2015, is committed towards the environment and sustainable processes. We are also focused on ensuring inclusivity for our events and nurture new talent; we always make sure we support and highlight student artists’ efforts, ensuring we give them credit on display panels positioned next to each artwork."

The inauguration of the festival was followed by a walkthrough of the art around the mall, and a fireside conversation between Bose Krishnamachari and Sumi Gupta, which brought up several relevant and interesting aspects related to public art, the Kochi biennale and the associated challenges. Bose reiterated how important it was to create spaces for conversation around art, and how informal spaces too contribute towards incubation of ideas and innovation. Incidentally, Bose’s solo exhibition The Mirror Sees Best in the Dark is going on in Kolkata till March 10.

Indian Peacock by Nithin Sadhu and Rahul KP

During the art tour one saw, ‘Preserve the Pride’ an installation made of corrugated fibreboard by Bandana Jain, which derives inspiration from the doorway of a Buddhist shrine at Ajanta Cave. It is fashioned out of 10,000 cut-outs of recycled corrugated fibreboard and alludes to the challenges in imagining our countries, cities and landscapes without the familiar remnants of our past. According to the artist, “I don’t want to protect the environment. I want to create a world where the environment doesn’t need protection.”

Humpbacked Mahseer by Nithin Sadhu and Rahul KP

Rahul KP and Nithin Sadhu of the Bangalore Creative Circus have created Namma ‘Tiger of the Cauvery’ out of metal scrap. The Humpback Mahseer often referred to as the “Tiger of the Cauvery river” is on the brink of extinction and the large installation lets you enter through the mouth and know more about the fish’s ecology and habitat through the process. Highlighting the issue of sustainability and the effects of climate change, the artist duo wonder, “does our development plan for the future accommodate such unique and rare species”? This installation has been created with scrap collected from trash collection drives along the Cauvery river and across Bangalore, and the project was commissioned by The Wildlife Association of South India (WASI) to draw attention to its conservation effort.

The Digital Wave By Romicon Revola, AR embedded Digital Print

'The Digital Wave’ by Romi Revola

The augmented reality installation ‘The Digital Wave’ by Romi Revola speaks of the times we live in. Even with technological advancements in the 21st century, women are still fighting for equality at various levels. The digital layer that makes the work of art come alive represents the rising fourth-wave feminism (with the use of internet tools). The art installations and activities have been curated by Artflute.

The inaugural evening also saw a spectacular fashion show by students from JD Institute of Fashion Technology, which showcased ‘Wearable Art’ designed around the theme of sustainability, with garments created out of biopolymers, recycled materials, seeds embedded in the fabric and so on.

Head over to VR Bengaluru, Whitefield and check out the art on display, in addition there are several activities to engage all age groups. The festival continues till March 7th.

Schedule of activities

Re-Imagine Bengaluru: 22nd – 23rd February

UnGallery-Spaces Beyond:22nd February

Art Cinema: 23rd February

Art Bazaar: 29th February to 1st March

Basement Art Project: 1st to 5th March

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7 Feb 2020

Art News: Fifth Annual Whitefield Art Collective 2020

The festival will run from 7th February 2020 to 7th March 2020 at VR Bengaluru, Whitefield Main Road.

This year's theme is Sustainability

Launches today: Whitefield Art Collective (WAC), the award-winning public art initiative, announced the inauguration of its month long fifth edition. WAC2020 will encourage creative explorations around the theme of “sustainability”, through partnerships with leading institutions and notable individuals from the artistic community.

This year, the collaborators include Shristi Institute of Art, Design & Technology, JD Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore Creative Circus, Indian Garbage Collective, The Broke Artist Collective, Aravani Arts Project, and Synaesthesia Collective & Art Flute.

Ajanta Caves: Preserve the Pride by Artist Bandhana Jain

WAC 2020 is supported by YujKutumb, The Yog Foundation. As for previous editions, VR Bengaluru as part of its Connecting Communities© initiative that aims to encourage civic pride, strengthen the local economy and enhance the city’s national and international image, will be the primary venue partner. WAC 2020 is also supported by The Waverly Hotel & Residences, Gravity Events, Burger King and Grover Wines.

Bose Krishnamachari, President, Kochi Biennale Foundation will inaugurate the festival by unveiling the annual VR Art Car, painted this year by the Bengaluru based women and trans-women art collective-Aravani Art Project. The unveiling will be followed by a fireside chat between Bose and WAC Curator Sumi Gupta, at the Living Room of The Waverly. The inaugural event will culminate with “Wearable Art” - a show by JD Institute of Fashion Technology at Skydeck.

Work by Student of JD Institute of Fashion Technology

Speaking on the occasion, Sumi Gupta, Curator of the festival said, “I am thrilled to steer this fantastic public initiative in its fifth year. This edition of WAC has incredible collaborations with institutions and student artists from across Bengaluru, creating a vibrant platform for large-scale installations & sculptures. Over the next month, WAC 2020 will bring together a community of connoisseurs, art students, patrons, and the citizens of Bengaluru in a celebration of the city’s art and culture.”

The month thereafter will see the show widen its scope and scale. Lined up are an Art Dessert Festival, Art Cinema Screening, Art Bazaar, a Children’s Art Competition with more than 500 kids from the city’s premier International Schools geared up to participate.

Reincarnation by Artist Sangeeta Abhay

‘Women in Art,’ a panel discussion moderated by Sreemoyee Piu Kundu will take the stage on Day Two of WAC 2020. With panelists Sumi Gupta, Curator; Shonali Bose, Director, Writer, Producer and Seema Kohli - Contemporary Artist; the discussion promises to be engaging. For the record, this will be the first episode of Season 2, part of the ongoing Salon with Shree series held in association with the Whitefield Literary Society to be held on February 8th.

Humpbacked Mahseer by Nithin Sadhu and Rahul KP

WAC 2020 is all about celebrating art. VR Bengaluru will morph into a hub of artistic innovation, blending aesthetics with creativity. WAC 2020 promotes regional art and artists by featuring a unique mix of programming and commissioned works, in partnership with regional institutions; all interwoven within the theme of sustainability.

Schedule of events:

Fine Art I Sculptures I Installations: 7^th February to 7^th March

Salon with Shree- Women in Art:            8^th February

Art Dessert bazaar with LBB: 8^th-9^th February

Children’s Art Competition:    14^th -15^th February

The Art Yard:    14^th -15^th February

Re-Imagine Bengaluru:    22^nd – 23^rd February

UnGallery-Spaces Beyond:    22^nd February

Art Cinema: 23^rd February

Art Bazaar:    29^th February to 1^st March

Basement Art Project:    1^st to 5^th March

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10 May 2019

Art News: Artist Shubigi Rao to curate Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2020

Singapore-based India-born artist Shubigi Rao to curate Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2020

Singapore-based Indian-origin artist and writer Shubigi Rao, a compulsive archivist and visual artist known for her complex and layered installations, has been named the curator of the fifth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) that begins on December 12, 2020.

The selection committee, which made the announcement in Venice on Thursday, unanimously decided to appoint Rao for her “exceptional acumens and inventive sensibilities” to curate the upcoming biennale.

The appointment is in keeping with the tradition of an artist helming the contemporary art festival that debuted in 2012.

Art News: Artist Shubigi Rao to curate Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2020

Artist Shubigi Rao, Curator, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2020

Mumbai-born Rao, whose work featured in the fourth edition of the KMB (2018), is also a writer and her myriad interests include archaeology, neuroscience, libraries, archival systems, histories, literature, violence, acts of cultural genocide, anti-censorship, migratory patterns, ecology and natural history.

The decision to choose Rao, 43, was announced at Istituto Europeo di Design, Palazzo Franchetti in Venice—the Italian city that hosted the world’s first biennale (in 1895). The announcement came after lengthy deliberations within a search committee comprising Amrita Jhaveri, Gayatri Sinha, Jitish Kallat, Sunita Choraria and Tasneem Mehta, besides Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) trustees Alex Kuruvilla, Bose Krishnamachari and V Sunil.

Rao expressed happiness about her appointment. “Biennales are sometimes floating cities that are unmoored from their locality/regionality. Kochi-Muziris Biennale is rooted in the intertwined histories and cultural multiplicities of Kochi, while providing a crucial platform for larger discourse of the critical, political, and social in artistic practices,” she said. “To shift the lens through which we read the spectacle of exhibition, we must reposition discourse and practice through acknowledging intersecting contexts. I believe it is possible for the Biennale to retain regional realities and histories through cementing existing affinities and establishing new commons.”

Krishnamachari, who is a co-founder of the 2010-instituted KBF, described Rao as a “brilliant and original” artist. “Responding to the Foundation’s interest in selecting a young curator with varied interests, the section committee chose Rao for her exceptional talent,” he noted.

Secretary Sunil described Rao as a multi-faceted artist with interests in a range of subjects. “We look forward to another exciting edition of the Biennale under her curatorship,” he added.

Besides featuring in the fourth edition of the KMB, Rao participated in the 10th Taipei Biennial (2016), 3rd Pune Biennale (2017), the 2nd Singapore Biennale (2008) and the Singapore Writers Festival (2016, 2013). She was also selected for residency programmes in Singapore, Germany and India.

Since 2014 Shubigi has been visiting public and private collections, libraries and archives globally for Pulp: A Short Biography of the Banished Book, a decade-long film, book and visual art project about the history of book destruction. The first portion of the project, Written in the Margins, won the Juror’s Choice Award at the APB Signature Prize 2018. The first volume from the project was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize 2018. The project has two of its proposed five volumes released.

*Press release

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13 Dec 2017

Art News: Noted painter Nilima Sheikh becomes first artist to be selected for Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018

Noted painter Nilima Sheikh becomes first artist to be selected for Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018

Kochi, Dec 12: Versatile and provocative painter Nilima Sheikh, whose illustrious body of

Nilima Sheikh, the first artist who got the curator's nod for the fourth edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale which begins on December 12, 2018, Art Scene India

works is a scorching portrayal of the turmoil in Kashmir valley and a mystical depiction of women-centric issues, has become the first artist to get the curator’s nod for the fourth edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), which begins exactly a year later -- December 12, 2018.

Anita Dube, the curator of the upcoming KMB that is hosted by the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), announced Sheikh’s name today, formally setting in motion the process of selection of her artists for the high-profile contemporary art event that has redefined the cultural landscape in Kerala and India.

During her over five-decade career, the 72-year-old Vadodara-based painter has produced an incredibly magnificent oeuvre, wielding her brush to make an intense depiction of subjects, with particular emphasis on Kashmir, Partition and displacement. Her strength also lies in the portrayal of grimness of contemporary life like oppressive patriarchy and the silent suffering of women that crack social fabric and she does it through use of traditional idioms and motifs.

A historian by training before she focused her attention on the canvas, Sheikh delved into the history of Kashmir, and believes that the valley’s turmoil “is owing to our lack of understanding (of the place and people there) as Indians…The artist’s role is to bear witness - to both the past and present.”

“The tender compassion in the paintings of Nilima Sheikh, in their quiet grandeur, aligns the feminine with the mystic and subversive strains in our tradition. She is a voice we must listen to, especially in these violent troubled times,” said Anita Dube.

Hailing the selection of Sheikh, KBF President Bose Krishnamanchari said, “The Kochi Biennale Foundation is thrilled that we are able to make this announcement on 12/12/17, exactly a year to the day the next edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale will start. Curator Anita Dube's intentions and ideas for KMB 2018 are reflected in Nilima Sheikh, the first artist she's presenting of the lineup. I can see in her choice reflections of the socially and politically sensitive aesthetics that Anita would bring to KMB-2018.”

Heavily inspired by the literary works of Rabindranath Tagore, Sheikh became interested at an early age in the connection between stories and images, between murals and ancient manuscripts. Beyond appropriating traditional techniques in her paintings, she works with figure and narration in her practice, which has famously translated into theatre sets such as Umrao as well as children’s books.

Her works are rooted in Eastern painting traditions such as miniature painting and oral traditions of vernacular folk songs. For her paintings, she drew inspiration from artists like Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose and K G Subramanyan. Through her own life experiences, Sheikh continues to create bodies of work that evoke mystical imaginary landscapes that address feminine experiences.

Her most recent work, titled Terrain: Carrying Across, Leaving Behind, was produced for Documenta 14, a leading global exhibition held in Kassel (Germany) every five years.

The artist also includes song and poetry as a performative mode of public address, echoing the 14^th century female mystic Lal Dĕd of Kashmir (translated by Ranjit Hoskote), along with references to texts from several writers who have written about Kashmir such as Aga Shahid Ali and Salman Rushdie.

About Kochi Biennale Foundation

The Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), founded in 2010 by prominent artists Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu, hosts the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), which made its debut in 2012. A non-profit charitable trust engaged in promoting art and culture and educational activities in India, it works round the year to strengthen contemporary art infrastructure and to broaden public access to art across the country. These programmes include talks, conferences, performances, educational initiatives, workshops and other forms of wide public engagement.

The KBF is also engaged in the conservation of heritage properties and monuments and the upliftment of traditional forms of art and culture.

A biennial exhibition on the best of contemporary international art, the KMB has shaped up as a seminal event in the realm of art and culture. The 108-day-long third edition of the biennale (12 December 2016-29 March 2017), held at 12 sites, showcased installations of 97 artists from 31 countries and drew over six lakh visitors.

Prominent artist Anita Dube is the curator for the fourth edition of the KMB, beginning December 12, 2018. Her selection by the KBF was in keeping with the Biennale’s long-standing tradition of being an artist-led exhibition. Based out of the National Capital Region, she is renowned for her conceptually rich, politically charged works. An art historian and critic by training and a visual artist in practice, she has been widely exhibited across the Americas, Europe and Asia, including at the first edition of the KMB in 2012.

*press release

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