Kochi: The Students Biennale 2022 edition, which showcases the creative talent of modern contemporary artists, got off to a colorful start at the Mattancherry VKL Warehouse.
Fifty-one presentations from various art education centers in 22 states of India radiate a new power of modern thinking, sentiments and responses in four different venues. One hundred and ninety-six art students are part of this presentation, which is based on the theme ‘In The Making’, brought together by seven internationally recognized curators.
Afrah Shafiq, originally from Goa, who finds the extraordinary in the ordinary through singularity in perspective, Amshu Chukki from Bengaluru, who makes diversity into art, New Delhi-based celebrity curator and writer Arushi Vats, Delhi-based artist and Malayali art history teacher Premjish Achari, artist and Delhi-based researcher Suvani Suri and Mumbai Clark House Initiative visual arts lecturers Saviya Lopes and Yogesh Barve are the curators and brains behind the Student Biennale, which is one of the most important segments of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.
“The segment reflects emerging artists, new age creations, evolving talents, concepts and socio-artistic perceptions, hence the theme ‘In The Making’,” said Premjish Achari, one of the curators. Despite the limitations of art education centers in India, their presentations show how young students are shaping their creative talents. The general thinking that art only means painting, drawing and sculpture has undergone a change.
Conceptualizing their artwork to reflect the prevailing situation there, the students from North Eastern states and Kashmir bring out different levels of meaning through their works. Even though the new generation is sidelined and despite limitations, they are finding expression through contemporary art that gives hope, explained Premjish Achari.
The exhibitions include a range of exquisite installations including multimedia creations, photographs with different configurations, broad-based sculptures, paintings presented in various creative styles, interactive art forms and artworks embodied both indoors and outdoors.
The curators have toiled hard to provide a platform to enable the masses in the state to interact with talented artists and contemporary art from other states. Various workshops and discussions will be held at art institutions in these states during the four-month Biennale festival.
Apart from the captivating creative works of two Kerala students, Celine Jacob and Nandu Krishna, a group of students from KMEA Architecture College presents a huge installation on the theme of ‘Kashmir’.
Venues for the Student Biennale, titled ‘Co Labs’, include Arman Buildings, KVN Arcade and Trivandrum Warehouse in addition to VKL Warehouse.
