Students Biennale 2020

KOCHI:  Ever since its inception in 2012, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale has brought the best of global contemporary art to the shores of Fort Kochi, Kerala. Having completed four successful editions, the Biennale is all set to kick off its fifth edition in December with Singapore-based artist Shubigi Rao helming the four-month-long event as its curator.

In the run-up to the second edition in 2014, The Kochi Biennale Foundation had initiated a Students Biennale. Running parallel to the main festival, the Students Biennale was envisioned as a curated exhibition that would showcase artworks and installations created by students pursuing fine art courses in colleges across the country.  

This year, owing to Covid-19 pandemic, Students Biennale 2020 has been restructured as a fully virtual exhibition. The foundation has made an open call for budding student artists in this regard. Here is all you have to know:

Last time around
Students Biennale 2018 which marked its third edition saw the participation of 112 fine art students chosen not only from India but also from neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal. Based on the theme ‘Making as Thinking’, the exhibition was spread across seven venues along the Bazaar Road and Mattanchery stretch in Fort Kochi. The exhibition which was curated by a jury of six culminated in award and residency bestowed on 11 young artists from Kashmir while Akanksha Agarwal, Maksud Ali Mondal and Umesh Singh were rewarded with the TATA Trusts’ Students’ Biennale International Award.