Biennale Revels in Bold Statements on Gender Inequality: Writer Sethu

KOCHI:
The ongoing Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) makes bold statements about skewed gender equations in society amid posing an avalanche of disturbing questions from feminist points of view, according to renowned litterateur Sethu.

The fourth edition of the contemporary art festival matches with its general quality since inception in 2012, where a seed of thought gets branched out into various exhibits which imbibe the original spirit, he said after visiting the main biennale venue at Aspinwall House in Fort Kochi.

“This is a great ensemble of ideas. One also saw how various political statements get silenced too,” the septuagenarian said, complimenting artist Anita Dube, curator of the current biennale that is on till March 29. “It’s a discerning reflection of the social milieu.”

Sethu, 77, has been a regular visitor to all the KMBs, says visual art can influence writing and vice versa — going by his own experience as fictionist into novels and short stories. “One of my own stories is inspired from a colour scheme I stumbled upon,” added the writer, who hails from Ernakulam district’s Chendamangalam, which is adjacent to the ancient port town of Muziris that vanished in a 1341 natural calamity.

Young actress and art enthusiast Karthika Muralidharan, too, visited the KMB. “Earlier, artists from our country rarely got a chance to exhibit their works before a global audience within India. The biennale is that way a landmark in the history of our art shows,” she said on Thursday after a round of the installations at the sea-facing Aspinwall. “I wish the biennale gets broader and stronger every time.”

“This is the second time that I am visiting this edition of the biennale,” added the up-and-coming actress, who made her debut last year with the Malayalam film ‘Comrade in America’ co-starring Dulquer Salman.