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Coir in Pepper House
In the courtyard of Pepper House, one of the venues of the 2016 Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Indian artist Praneet Soi had put up a number of sculptures made of coir on wooden supports. Soi had chosen to work with coir especially for the Biennale since this material has been and still is so important for the…
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Fort Kochi
Fort Kochi And when you have got enough for a moment of the art in Aspinwall, you open the windows and doors and look outside. Aspinwall is the name of the old 19th century trading company whose compound with deserted office buildings and warehouses in Fort Kochi is the main venue of the Kochi-Muziris Art…
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Paper Bathroom
Paper Bathroom Bathroom Set (2016) is an art work by Dia Metha Bhupal that was shown at the recent Kochi-Muziris Biennale. It is life-size, and the urinals, toilet, wash basins, floor, walls, ceiling, everything is made of rolled and glued scraps of paper. Thousands and thousands of little paper rolls. They say it took her…
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Dream Stop
Dream Stop is the title of Gary Hill’s ingenious installation, which was on display at the 2016 Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Using 31 video cameras and an equal number of projectors, fitted with special mirrors and lenses, he creates a collage of projected images on the four walls of the large space, inviting us to pause for…
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Dance of Death
Dance of Death My usual order of confronting a visual art object: first I look and, in this case at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, I see a collection of hanging light bulbs. If the work permits it I walk around it and try to make sense of what I see. Then I read the legend on the…
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The Annunciation
The Annunciation The mysterious moment when Maria is informed that she is chosen to carry the son of God inside her womb and to bring him into the world, has inspired many a painter to exceptional works of art. All great painters of the Renaissance will have an ‘Annunciazione’ to their name. A very beautiful example…
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Holland in Kochi
Holland in Kochi One of the first things I saw at the 3rd edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale was a little painting of a Dutch landscape. Holland in Kochi! I immediately felt at home again. Daniele Galliano, an Italian artist, likes combing flea markets in search of paintings by anonymous Sunday painters. He dusts them…
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Ambrosia
Ambrosia According to one creation myth of ancient Mesopotamia, the gods created humankind because they were fed up of having to look after their own food. Yes, gods also need food to survive, and they want man to provide it. As we can see here, man, religious man, still acquits himself faithfully of his task.…
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Ελαιώνας
Ελαιώνας Elaionas is the Greek word for olive grove. On the island of Aegina there is a genuine, centuries-old olive grove with trees that are 500 years old and one specimen that is even more than 1,500 years old. What astonishing creatures! The fact that they have reached such a venerable age, with all those…
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Blissful sleep
Blissful sleep After their lovemaking ▲ and ▼ are plunged into a deep, blissful sleep. It must be one of those hot Californian summer days in the 1960’s. As a work of art it may be fragile and look dated, but the tender sweetness of the scene is able to touch the heart. Photo of the…
καιρός remembered
… the right moment, position chosen, shoot …
