IT’S inevitable. The physical change or the transformative shift in our lives. Be it visible or invisible. It is a privilege for a performing artists to so lose themselves to luminal exposure. To take the form and let the form take over. To be so intensely in the moment that one transcends time and space. To be transported to a realm where the mind is in sync with an ephemeral reality. That is the promise that the Sixth Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB) 2025-26 holds, and we are already deep listening.
At the second edition of Asia Society India Centre’s Trailblazer series, Jitish Kallat, leading Indian contemporary artist, steered the conversation adroitly with knowledgeable restraint. The incisive questioning led to the theme of the upcoming Biennale, “For the Time Being” by newly appointed curator, Nikhil Chopra, with HH Art Spaces. Chopra conveyed the raw emotion behind his curatorial which aspires to create “a living ecosystem.”
KMB 25-26 will open on December 12, 2025 and run through March 31, 2026. This edition, as Bose Krishnamachari, renowned artist and president, KMB, validates, is gearing for audiences to get a full run of an immersive, performative atmosphere. Over these 110 days, the idea is to position “friendship economies” based on a deeply humanitarian approach.
The audience, patrons and power couples at the forefront of the ascent of this domain were riveted at Snowball Studio as Nikhil unfurled his evolving practice and process (as methodology). It was a representation of the world of art with an eclectic mix of Feroze Gujral (Gujral Foundation chair and former trustee at KB), avant-garde gallerists, mainly women, the pillar Pheroza Godrej of all time, to name just two.
Get Naked
NIKHIL Chopra’s (b.1974) artistic practice ranges between live art, theatre, painting, photography, sculpture, and installations. His practice uses memory to dwell on issues of identity in the process of the shift. One of India’s contemporary artists, he is known to engage his audiences in his theatrical performance immersion since 2008 as he enacts rituals of daily acts.
“The system of production is not a mystery in my work…It’s my persistence and production that become the work. If you take an object like a mask, I want to make the mask, I want to wear the mask, I want to become the mask, I want the mask to become of me. Then I want to take off the mask and place it in the set in which I perform.”
— Nikhil Chopra in an Interview with Studio International, 2019
Cosmic Dormitory Realm
WHAT resonated with me was the belief that summed a visceral conversation on the body, in the context of it being cultivated like landscapes. Nikhil Chopra’s advocacy of “getting your sleep and resting your body.” As my mom would likewise tame our boundless energy, “It’s a tonic, good you slept well.” I am a believer of this and his other aspect of the creative world: it is what art expects of us: To stay vulnerable. A pristine state of dreams that emerge, evolve and make a shift in expression. Birthed by this cosmic dormitory that opens up layers of exploration in thought and medium. Importantly, all this as he re-examines his relation with mountains and seas
What kept me pondering was the unbelievable journey of HH since its initiation in October 2014, which was in the heart of my forefathers (many physicians), Aldona, Bardez, North Goa. It is a village I adore. Here’s wishing Nikhil, Romain Loustau, Madhavi Gore, and their key drivers, Shivani Gupta and Shaira, the joy of sharing inventiveness in your chosen path across the globe. And the historical setting of Fort Kochi, the very best as you welcome the best!
When the desert plays
DIVYA Bhatia, founder, Jodhpur (Rajasthan International Folk Festival) RIFF, informs me about the upcoming SAZ & Friends on August 8, 2025. The concert brings the song of the Rajasthan desert alive at Mumbai’s very own Royal Opera House. Divya has nurtured this living music tradition since Jaipur Lit Fest took off, aside from his commitment to the Jaipur Virasat Foundation and theatre fest Aadyam in Mumbai and Delhi.
This performance holds the genre of jazz among the narrative of the folk landscape, dance tied together by the versatility of SAZ. Cool Desert Project is a jugalbandi of heritage sounds and contemporary innovation. The programming repertoire also includes Rang-E-Thar, which is said to capture the wind of the desert, and “Inayat: A Duet for Four,” as envisioned to experience this artistic energy and get transported to its roots with its playful spirit.
Bye Mumbai
WHILE the sands of time await no man, I hear that the popular, inventive space at Colaba, XXL gallery, has closed permanently in Mumbai as it is moving to Delhi. All the best, you guys, your vibrant curations enhanced the tip of SoBo!
Strangers
“TWO Crows Conversing,” a solo by Kacper Abolik is what I need to head to. The title takes me back to the RK Laxman series of crows back in the 80s. Watch out for more as I catch up with the all pervasive crows.
Exhibition runs until the August 5, 2025.