Historian Ramachandra Guha on the premises of Aspinwall House, Fort Kochi, on Tuesday. Credit: Kochi Biennale FoundationKochi: The Kochi-Muziris Biennale offers an extraordinary confluence of the local, regional, national and global according to historian and columnist Ramachandra Guha who visited the exhibition here Tuesday.
The Bengaluru-based historian is in the city for two days with his family to see the 108-day long display of art that is spread out across 12 venues.
“Even with a few hours of immersion, one can see what an extraordinary event this is and how it has been exquisitely curated by Sudarshan Shetty. It is amazing to see the diversity and the kind of beautiful and occasionally provocative nature of the art and installation,” said Guha.
“I think everybody should come and visit before it ends in March,” he said.
After taking a tour of Aspinwall House, one of the main venues of the Biennale, he said, “As a historian, I see the event as an extraordinarily enriching, exhilarating experience after being around just Aspinwall venue.”
The award-winning writer said the Biennale featured an international outlook even as it was authentic to Kerala, thanks to its Malayali co-founders Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu, both Mumbai-based artists.
“They have shown a capacious vision, which includes the rest of India, Asia and the world,” he said.
As a historian, Guha seemed to be very interested to see Chinese artist Liu Wei’s work placed next to a installation by Taiwanese artist Wu Tien Chang. “You won’t see that in China or in Taiwan,” he said.
