KOCHI:
For a group of nearly 50 fine arts students from Baroda, the out-of-state field trip to the ongoing third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) has proven to be an eye-opening experience.
Taking in the artworks and soaking in the “authentic feel” at India’s only Biennale, the students 
from Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) Baroda – many of whom were on their first visit here – found both diversity of perspective and avenues for experimentation in their individual artistic expression.
“It has changed my existing notions and views of what art could be. The way the Biennale has been curated shows how intricately engaged the artworks are with the exhibition space. The visual quality on display has given me so much pleasure,” said Pujashree Burman, a Master of Visual Arts student, who especially enjoyed the works of Desmond Lazaro and Liu Wei.
KMB co-founder Bose Krishnamachari invited the group to take a walk through the venues and spaces and explore the multiplicity of styles, forms and viewpoints as intended by this edition’s curator Sudarshan Shetty.
“Sudarshan didn’t intend for there to be one direction or way of looking at the Biennale. There are multiple perspectives and diverse ways of looking at art. It is especially important for art students to be exposed to this understanding since they are tomorrow’s artists. I’m certain their experience here will be enlightening,” Krishnamachari said.
The students – from a number of disciplines within the Faculty of Fine Arts – said the authenticity of the Biennale set it apart from other art events and art spaces in the country.
“The Biennale feels uncontrived and not commercial – unlike the rest of the
industry. How raw and real the sites are and how this rawness interacts with the works: this has been a very different experience from the other art fairs and gallery spaces I have visited so far,” said Ragini Chawla, a third year BVA student from the painting department.
BVA students Aadya Swaroop Naik and Stuti Bhavsar said the Biennale did not exhibit “art for art’s sake” and felt like a more “refreshing, immersive experience compared to manicured, spic and span galleries”.
“It’s not just one kind of art on display here. There are exhibits in video art, visual art, sound art… you are exposed to a variety of art forms and styles. As an art student, it was important to come see what I could do and the options available to me,” said Kopal Seth.
