Kochi: The upcoming Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB) will feature a four-month-long performing arts festival by pooling in 650 artistes and collaborating with 25 cultural groups.
An array of theatre, dance, music, percussion and literary programmes cutting across different cultural aesthetics of India’s south and north from ancient to medieval to modern times will be unveiled from next week in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts.
The cultural segment of KMB’s second edition will begin with an innovatively conceived ‘Thayambaka’ ensemble on November 29 and include a string of art forms ranging from classical to folk to contemporary before culminating by March end with a theatre festival, the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) said on Saturday.
The 108-day KMB starting December 12 will host Kathakali, Nangiarkoothu, Chavittu Natakam, ghazals and a Mappila Festival besides the Yakshagana of Karnataka and Chhau dance from Jharkhand, Keli Ramachandran, performing-arts fete curator, said.
Also present on the occasion were ‘Mizhavu’ drummer V K K Hariharan, ‘Nangiarkoothu’ exponent Usha Nangiar and ‘Chavittu Natakam scholar’ Fr Gilbert Antony Thacheri.
An interactive sequence, ‘A Day with the Artist’, will feature both veterans and prodigies in the field of Kathakali (Kalamandalam Gopi), Melam ensemble (Peruvanam Kuttan Marar), Nangiarkoothu (Sarojini Nangiaramma and Usha Nangiar), Thampi Payyappilly (Chavittu Natakam), Sanjana Kapoor (contemporary theatre), V K K Hariharan (mizhavu drum) Payyannur Ramachandran (Theyyam) and Kalamandalam Rammohan (Kathakali makeup and costume) among others.
Riyas Komu, KMB Director of Programmes, said the cultural segment this time highlighted festivals as a mirror to tradition rather than showcasing individual artistry, the chief feature of the 2012 edition.
