The Art of Dissent
Two major festivals—arguably the most important events on India’s art calendar—are slated to open in December. And this year, both the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kerala and the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa will showcase works that address the crisis of alienation, the perception of the “other” and the response of art to divisive politics.
Kochi-Muziris Binennale curator Anita Dube sees that focus as inevitable, given the clash between the conservative drive of the forces of Hindutva and recent liberalising moves like the elimination of Section 377 and opening of the Sabarimala temple to women. “I am very excited to share the conversations I have had through the diverse range of artworks on display this year, from artists who have never exhibited their works on this scale, to fixtures of art and story,” says Dube.
Opening artist Nilima Sheikh, whose works deal with displacement, loss and memory and the perspective of women, will set the tone for the 108-day event. Beginning December 12, this year the biennale promises to be more political than
ever. Also featured will be works by Anju Dodiya, who explores suffering and creative release; Arunkumar H.G., who addresses the relationship between the urban and the rural; and some 80 other artists from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
In its third year, the Serendipity Arts Festival has lined up an impressive list of more than a dozen curators ranging from artist Subodh Gupta to photographer Rahaab Allana. The eight-day festival opens on December 15, featuring multidisciplinary collaboration and cultural innovation. “Our approach is to celebrate the diversity of arts,” says festival director Smriti Rajgarhia-Bhatt.
Devised by Sunil Kant Munjal, the chairman of Hero Enterprises, in 2016, the festival this year responds to the politics of otherness and turns its gaze towards the marginalised with several works on gender and sexuality.
‘Queen Size’, a theatre project curated by Atul Kumar, responds to Section 377 with a choreographic exploration of the intimacy between two men played out on a charpai. ‘Lavani Queens... Sangte Aika’, which is curated by Ranjana Dave, investigates gender with questions like, who is a Lavani dancer, can Lavani be performed by men and women? And what effect will it have on ‘male gaze’? ‘Akshayambara’, curated by Arundhati Nag, looks at the representation of the feminine within the male-dominated practice of Yakshagana. And yet another play called ‘Gentlemen’s Club’, curated by Atul Kumar, follows the lives of various drag kings and is a tale of women and their celebration of masculinity.
“There are many layers of marginalisation,” say the organisers. “In the coming years, the ‘Spotlight on the Margins’ will become an integral part within the theatre section at the Serendipity Arts Festival.”
The KochiMuziris Biennale and the Serendipity Arts Festival will this year showcase the struggles of the marginalised