For the next three months, a corner of Kerala will give art aficionados a taste of Durga Puja art.
The coastal city of Kochi is hosting the Kochi Muziris Biennale from Friday and MassArt, the Calcutta non-profit that introduced the concept of Preview Show ahead of Puja, has been selected as one of the 10 collaterals that get to showcase their theme.
Collaterals are independently organised art exhibitions and events that run parallel to the main Biennale, selected by an international jury to complement the main event.
The Kochi Biennale will run till March 31 and feature 66 projects across 22 venues, transforming historic locations in Fort Kochi and Mattancherry into a sprawling
art space.
The Calcutta project, housed in GRC Marine Yard, will be opened on December 14.
“We have taken 21,000sq ft to showcase Durga Puja, which is the world’s biggest public art festival. The place used to be a spice godown with a jetty jutting out into the backwaters. What we loved about the site is the approach — a 120ft by 5.5ft alley. Durga Puja is all about how streets transform into space for public art. That alley resembles the cheek-by-jowl ambience of north Calcutta where one meanders through creeks that fan out into the open sea-like pandal,” said Dhrubajyoti Bose Suvo, the secretary of massArt.
Five artistes who have made a mark in the Durga puja arena — Bhabatosh Sutar, Pradip Das, Manas Das, and Deep Das and Ishika Chanda (the couple who showcased the art of Raja Ravi Varma at the Pratapaditya Trikon Park pandal this year) — have been camping in Kochi for a month.
“We are trying to generate a flavour of Durga Puja artistry without the idols,” Bose said.
Sutar has created an 80ft boat which, hanging upside down, will serve as the roof of an amphitheatre where programmes will be presented daily.
Pradip has picked elements of his 2021 work at Kankurgachhi Yubak Brinda on jatra and is presenting it in a different context through large cut-outs of figures and wall paintings of a collage of posters.
The story will culminate in a chair, the seat of power, that is itself bending with its front legs folded flat on the ground.
This idea was the centrepiece of Sutar’s Arjunpur Amra Sabai Club work in 2021.
At the height of the pandemic, human beings themselves, represented in the visitors, had emerged as each other’s saviours. Therefore, they stood in front of personified divinity rather than the clay idol. There was, thus, a decentralisation of power.
Manas is working on the theme of the dhak and the dhaki.
Three containers with materials, like muli and talta bamboo poles, were transported from Bengal as they are not available in the coastal regions. The bamboo poles have come to use, among other places, in the chalchitra that Deep and Ishika are creating on the theme of immersion utilising the waterfront.
A 15-minute video will showcase the 24 Pujas that were a part of massArt’s preview show this year.
The entire area, pointed out exhibition curator Sayantan Maitra, will be accessible.
“We have created barrier-free designs with ramps, guide rails and Braille notices in keeping with the accessibility guidelines for festivals promoted by the United Nations and Unesco, which partnered our Preview Show. A stall will publicise the accessibility messages,” he said.
The Bengal government’s information and cultural affairs department has sent a Chhau dance team, which will perform across Kochi to raise awareness about the show.
The tourism department will also have a booth to promote destinations in Bengal.
“This is the first time that Durga Puja has stepped outside its own boundaries to be presented on an international art platform. This is a huge step not just for us, artistes, but for Bengal’s cultural identity as well,” Sutar told Metro.