Students’ Biennale opens in Mattancherry, giving young artists a national platform

Kochi / December 14, 2025

Kochi, Dec 14: The Students’ Biennale was inaugurated at VKL Warehouse in Mattancherry, Kochi, on Saturday, offering young artists from across India a national platform to showcase their creativity and engage with contemporary art practices. Conceived as an educational initiative of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, the exhibition brings together works by students from state-funded art institutions, enabling them to present their ideas beyond the classroom and in dialogue with a wider artistic community.

The Students’ Biennale, a cornerstone educational initiative of the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), runs concurrently with the sixth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), India’s largest contemporary art festival.

The Students’ Biennale is held across five venues— VKL Warehouse, Arthshila Kochi, BMS Warehouse, St. Andrew’s Parish Hall, and Space Gallery—featuring the artistic expressions of student-artists from institutions across India.

The sixth edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale, titled For The Time Being, officially opened on December 12, 2025, and will continue through March 31, 2026, across 22 venues in Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, Ernakulam and Willingdon Island. The edition features projects by 66 artists and collectives from over 25 countries, reflecting a broad spectrum of contemporary practices.

Opening the Students’ Biennale, Bose Krishnamachari, President of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, expressed confidence in the next generation of artists. He reflected on the origins of the educational programme, initiated in 2014 to give students access to global art practices, an opportunity he noted was rare during his own academic years.

“When I was a student, I never had the opportunity to witness any international art practice. In 2014 we initiated the Students’ Biennale. We are now at our sixth edition, and it is growing,” Krishnamachari said, highlighting the programme’s expansion and consistent impact.

Mario D’Souza, Director of Programmes at KBF, said the initiative continues to evolve, with over 175 government art colleges engaged for this edition. He emphasised the collaborative development of student projects with educators, curators, and artists.

Laishram Membi Devi, an art student from Utkal University of Culture, Odisha, who is exhibiting for the first time, shared her excitement, “Last time I visited as a visitor in 2018 — it’s an incredible experience to now be a part of this. I get to meet people from around the world, and it is an enriching experience.”

The Students’ Biennale is organised through a network of co-curators and artist collectives mentoring students from across seven regions of India:

• North & West India: Savyasachi Anju Prabir and Sukanya Deb (Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Goa, Rajasthan)

• South India: Dr. Sudheesh Kottembram & Dr. Seethal CP (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh); Chinar Shah & Ashok Vish (Karnataka, Telangana)

• North-Himalayan States: Khursheed Ahmed & Salman Basheer Baba (J&K, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Ladakh)

• East & Central India: GABAA for West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh

• North-East & Sikkim: Anga Art Collective

• Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, MP: Secular Art Collective

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