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Parliament of Ghosts
Parliament of Ghosts Ibrahim Mahane first developed the concept of Parliament of Ghosts in his hometown of Tamale, Ghana. He has since staged it in various locations, including Manchester (2019) and the Venice Biennale in 2023, adapting it each time to the political and economic history of the city. Partly coinciding with a version staged…
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A happy union
A happy union Kulpreet Singh creates works (films, paintings) centred on the practice of farmers burning stubble in their fields in the Punjab and the air pollution this causes across a wide area, as far as New Delhi. It is an annual phenomenon that sparks widespread social discontent.What I wish to focus on here, however,…
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A reflection
A reflection In her installation ‘Black Gold’ at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Yasmin Jahan Nupur has charted the economic significance of black pepper throughout the centuries. Along with this significance, she has also traced the trade routes by land and sea, and the colonial domination by Europe of overseas territories where this ‘black gold’ was found.…
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Out for a stroll
Out for a stroll Out for a stroll in Kochi, enjoying a welcome break from all the impressions I’d gathered during my visit to the contemporary art biennial. Incidentally, it’s an event that, to my delight, attracts a large young audience from Kerala and other parts of India. Photos of the week: Kochi, Kerala, India…
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Transformation
Transformation Medical stretchers and autopsy tables, assembled and transformed into the building blocks of an installation that evokes the atmosphere of a mortuary.It is particularly the painted stretchers, suspended vertically from a white wall, that catch my eye. With their strong forms and beautiful colours, they have been transformed into true works of art. Photos…
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Footnotes
Footnotes Things can turn out that way: the footnotes are far more interesting than the work to which they are attached. Photos of the week: K.K.Muhamed, Foot Notes, and Remembering the Present, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India 2026
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Colour Speaks Politics
Colour Speaks Politics Captions accompanying exhibited artworks can be enlightening, but all too often they degenerate into a maze of pompous, convoluted phrasing. Here is an example from the caption accompanying Hasseena Suresh’s work: “Unlike the chronological border of figures glorified in the narratives of mythology, Hasseena traces the genealogy of glorification in the moments…
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Haunting images
Haunting images In Still, Anja Ibsch’s installation at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (see last week), I was also struck by these unsettling images of children’s faces. One was printed on a metal tin, and the other was faintly visible on or behind a glass panel. For the rest of the day, their piercing gaze continued to…
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Still
Still Anja Ibsch had her own space at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale for her installation Still, where she was free to work with her own belongings, memories, and phantoms, as well as with objects she discovered in Kochi. During the biennial, visitors could find her there, working on new ideas and making changes in various spots.…
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Rammed earth
Rammed earth Earthship is an outdoor installation in the form of an S-shaped structure, designed by Monica de Miranda for the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. It was built by local masons using rammed earth in the garden of Aspinwall, the main venue of the biennale. De Miranda has placed plants she collected in Kochi in and around…
καιρός remembered
… the right moment, position chosen, shoot …
καιρός remembered 