‘Biennale Artworks Play with Truth, Perception’: Sanjana Kapoor

KOCHI:
Observing a playful quality in the artworks on display at the ongoing third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), noted theatre practitioner and actress Sanjana Kapoor described India’s only Biennale as a “beautiful” experience.
“There is a kind of playfulness to the works this time. It feels like the artists are playing with the ideas of what visitors can see, what they can perceive and what the truth is. There are so much more immersive and experiential exhibits this time,” said Kapoor, formerly the head of the famed Prithvi theatre in Mumbai.
A repeat visitor to the Biennale, Kapoor felt “at least three days are needed to experience this spectacle” in its entirety. Kapoor, who made her acting debut in the classic film 36 Chowringhee Lane – produced by her father Shashi Kapoor and starring her mother Jennifer Kendal, was disappointed to have missed out on the performances of the stage productions that are part of KMB 2016, but lauded the inclusion of theatre in the Biennale space.
Of the performances she did manage to partake in during her visit to primary venue Aspinwall House today, Kapoor said Lundahl and Seitl’s ‘blindfold tour’ installation ‘Symphony of a Missing Room: An Imagines Museum’ stood out.
“The idea, the implementation and the way I was guided and instructed about what to hear and what not to see. The most fascinating part of that work is the trust that it demands. I had to put faith in the person who guided me, to trust the whole concept of the artist. For me, it is an important work at a time when people are cynical and sceptical about everything,” she said.
Kapoor, who was accompanied by Keli festival director K. Ramachandran on
her visit, said, “Having the tour end at the ‘Sea of Pain’ was a mind-blowing experience. Raúl Zurita’s poetry installation is the most powerful work in the Biennale.”