PA/42/14 December 10, 2014
AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS AT THE KOCHI-MUZIRIS BIENNALE
Three Australians will join 94 artists from 30 countries in the second edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, an increasingly important international exhibition of contemporary art on the world stage.
Australian High Commissioner Patrick Suckling welcomed the strong Australian participation as another sign of the deep commitment both Australia and India had to strengthening cultural relations.
“Such festivals offer opportunities for artists to come together, talk and exchange views, and in the process help forge close bonds within peoples and countries,” Mr Suckling said.
“In a short span of two years, the biennale has come to be hugely popular among art aficionados and the broader public, both within and outside India.”
Renowned Indian artist Jitish Kallat has curated the 2014 Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Whorled Explorations. The biennale runs from 12 December until 29 March 2015.
Australians Fiona Hall, Lindy Lee and Daniel Boyd will take part in the biennale, supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australia-India Council and Asialink.
Daniel Boyd will present five paintings at the main exhibition venue, Durbar Hall. He uses gestalt psychology to explore historical stories of exploration, which inform both Indian and Australian history.
Lindy Lee will present paper and metal works that explore the idea of how the material and immaterial are hinged together. While in the paper work this idea is explored by burning through the surface to reveal the shadow that exist in her metal works she draws on the ancient Chinese technique - the ‘flung ink’ painting practice.
Fiona Hall will present painting on Tongan cloth, through which she engages with the complex relationship between humans and the natural world, and issues around colonialism, consumerism, globalisation, natural history and the environment. Hall's choice of material, and the way she uses it, is critical to her art and presents a strong Australian perspective.
Mr Kallat has strong connections to the Australian art scene, having participated at the Melbourne Festival in 2012 with a solo exhibition at the Ian Potter Museum of Art through the support of Asialink.