The Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) is set to conduct a live art auction on Friday, with the aim of raising funds for the reconstruction of flood-ravaged Kerala.
Titled ‘Art Rises for Kerala’ (ARK), the auction in collaboration with SaffronArt is putting up for sale works of 41 artists. The exhibits had been on display at the Bastion Bungalow in Fort Kochi from January 5.
To CMDRF
The KBF said the proceeds from the evening auction at Grand Hyatt in Bolgatty Island would go to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), which was working to rebuild the State’s infrastructure after the August floods and landslides.
“The Kerala government has been one of the biggest patrons of the Biennale since its debut in 2012,” said KBF president Bose Krishnamachari, noting that the festival has “It’s My Biennale” as the tag line.
“It is our way of giving back to the society that has supported us all the time.”
The sale, with no buyer’s premium (percentage additional charge on the hammer price), will be led by an untitled canvas and resin work from 2018 by leading contemporary artist Anish Kapoor. Other top artists who have donated works for the auction include Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, G.R. Iranna, Gigi Scaria, Sudhir Patwardhan and Vivan Sundaram besides two rare drawings by 20th-century pioneer Amrita Sher-Gil.
The auction prices, going by the initial estimations, range between ₹1 lakh and ₹1.75 crore for individual works. Biddings are expected to push the amounts up.
The auction would be the first-of-its-kind in the art world, where the fund raised would be donated to rebuild a post-calamity land and its people, a press note said.