In a damning indictment of the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), which organises the Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB), a group of invited artists have written an open letter calling out their organisational shortcomings and lack of transparency which led to postponement of the event, which is now part of the global art calendar. The open letter published on e-flux.com, a repository of critical discourse on art which artists and art organisations across the world use as a sounding board for major events, expressed "concern and shock at the way the Biennale has unfolded this year."
The fifth edition of the Biennale, which was set to begin on December 12, 2022 had an official inauguration on the announced date but the exhibitions at the three main venues could only be opened on December 23 because the venues were not ready and the art works could not be mounted. Art lovers, artists, curators and critics who had flown in for the event from across the globe to attend the opening were dismayed by the sudden announcement of postponement.
Calling KMB, a unique space for creative expression, conversation, and dissent that they had come to value over the last ten years, the letter signed by globally known artists said "changes are clearly, urgently needed" to transform KMB as an event and institution. The signatories of the letter however pledged solidarity with curator, Shubigi Rao, stating that she worked through challenges well beyond her purview as curator. The letter by 47 artists and six artist collectives also expressed solidarity with all of the production workers, volunteers, electricians, carpenters, fabricators, and craftspeople who have brought their skills and energy to this year’s Biennale. The ongoing edition of Biennale has around 200 artworks by 90 artists.
The day before the scheduled opening only less than 10 percent of the exhibits at the main venues were ready. Bose Krishnamachari, one of the founders of the Biennale, had blamed that issues with the DLF, a realty major which owns the main venue Aspinwall, and shipping logistics led to the delay.
The letter said at 3pm on December 11, the KBF management invited artists present in Kochi (half the number of participating artists) to an emergency meeting and informed them of the decision to delay the opening by a few days. KBF said they would keep one of the three main venues open, even when the artists pointed out that it wasn't ready. The artists asked for a realistic date by which production issues could be realistically addressed. "After consulting with their production teams, the Foundation decided to postpone the opening to December 23, 2022," the letter said.
The signatories of the letter went on to add that "We believe the Biennale Foundation should have made the decision to postpone weeks earlier, when many of the failures were already apparent—well before thousands of art-lovers travelled for the opening days, and most artists themselves had to return and could not stay on to see their own work installed or engage with the work of fellow artists and visitors."
Commenting on the last-minute postponement of the main exhibition on the eve of the inauguration, the letter offers insights into what awaited the invited artists as they arrived to install their works in the weeks and days prior to the opening: "Shipments delayed in transit and at customs past the opening day; rain leaking into all the exhibition spaces, impacting equipment and artworks; a lack of steady electrical power; a shortage of equipment; and an insufficient workforce on all production teams".
Participating artists were drawn into daily struggles with the Biennale management and it was their organisational shortcomings and lack of transparency that made a timely and graceful opening impossible. “The considerable challenges that participating artists would encounter upon arrival were never communicated, so none of us could make an informed decision as to whether to travel to Kochi or indeed to even participate under the circumstances. While artists produced projects in good faith, our commitment to the Biennale was not reciprocated, and responsibility for the many problems that surrounded it, evaded," the letter said.
Noting that the way the KMB is currently organised hinders the artistic process, and closes opportunities for artists rather than enabling them, the letter said while concerns have been present in past editions of the KMB, it have become greater in the 2022-23 edition.
The letter, while identifying the issues as organisational and systemic, also called into question KBF's ethical relation with artists and their work and its transparency, accountability and duty of care. The letter summarised points on where the Biennale management failed. On top of the list was shockingly poor communication, opaque financial planning and last-minute fundraising which led to delays and uncertainty. Absence of capable people at the appropriate time, delay in hiring production teams, missing contracts and expertise to deal with international shipping and exhibition of art work were also clear signs of failure, according to the participating artists. The artists also said the event gave them "collective stress."
The sign on the exhibition site reads "Our Biennale" but despite the claim the KMB failed to connect us even to each other, except in solidarity over its repeated failings, the letter said.