Behind the Biennale curtain

KOCHI: In peak summer, they took in the heat of virtually traversing every nook and corner of the venues for the country’s upcoming mega contemporary art festival. Six months down the line, when the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) began in Kerala, each of its 90-odd installations were well in place for the viewer. Meet the two curatorial assistants and others from the production wing of the ongoing event in Kochi. A team, whose key task was to arrange the exhibits in the space allotted to them. All of it depending on a range of factors around logistics, with a sizeable number of works coming in from other countries and continents.

Curator Anita Dube found critical hands-on support from her assistants Anushka Rajendran and John Xaviers. The duo began their assignment in May last year from Dube’s studio in Delhi, and went on to receive crucial back-up from the rest of the members in the production team. ‘Challenging’ and ‘educative’ are the two highlights of their key role in the presentation of the artworks at the 108-day Biennale, billed as the subcontinent’s biggest of its kind.

Dube salutes the support she got from the production team and curatorial assistants in the task. “Each one of them ensured they understand the artists’ requirement. To achieve the desired result was topmost in their minds,” she says, thanking the members.

Anushka and John worked closely with Dube in finalising the artists as well. “We used to work at her Delhi studio with big layouts of each venue. The chief drill was to plan which artist will be slotted where — going by her curatorial note,” rewinds Anushka, doing her PhD in visual studies at the School of Arts and Aesthetics of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). “It was no way easy. More so, initially, you have not seen all the venues and were just working on maps.”

There was a slew of emails, skype chats and constant WhatsApp conversations between the curatorial team and the artists. The host team had to understand well the requirements of the artists and make prompt arrangements. Looking back, Anushka comes with a comment that has a streak of black humour: “One of my biggest lessons in this project is that the most difficult project is the one that can be implemented easily. For, you have anticipated all the difficulties beforehand.” With a smirk, she adds, “It is the simpler works that cause hiccups.”

Substantiating, she speaks about South African Sue Williamson’s work, which has now turned out to be a big hit among the visitors at Aspinwall. “We knew she was going to recreate her older works for our Biennale with new data and information. The work (‘One Hundred and Nineteen Deeds of Sale’) required over 2,000 identical bottles with a specific style of engraving. We were told of it in advance, so it all went off well.”

The monsoon catastrophe had a telling effect on the Biennale ideas of some installations. For, a few artists chose to change their work in a way that lent focus on the biggest Kerala calamity in a century. 
Jith Joseph A, operations assistant who worked closely with Marzia at the Biennale, states the work was ‘therapeutic’ for him, having affected by the flood. “It made me realise that every now and then, life will put you in front of a challenge and one need to rise up,” he adds.

Production manager Anil Xavier and coordinator Jayesh L R says it gives them great satisfaction when the common people come and enjoy the works installed by them. “We happy to reach out to our audiences,” says Anil.  “It touches their life in a broader spectrum,” says Jayesh.