Culture is all about supporting artists, writers, musicians, says Arundhati Roy

Kochi / December 27, 2025

Kochi, Dec 27: Renowned author Arundhati Roy, who visited the Kochi-Muziris Biennale on Saturday, was captivated by the innovative and thought-provoking artworks on display, leaving a lasting impression on visitors.

“Some of the works are beautiful, particularly the film by Kulpreet Singh. It was moving and dangerous, looking at everything that art should look at, including politics,” said the author.

Singh’s work is featured in Anand Warehouse, Mattancherry. 

“I like the idea that it’s not corporate sponsored, it’s not commercial, people have a chance to exhibit because art does not always have to be judged by how commercial it is,” she said.

She explored the works at various venues in Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, feeling joy and pride in her Keralite identity.

“My heart is full walking around the Biennale, not just for the beautiful art, but for the real star, Kerala and Cochin, the ancient buildings around and the public,” she said.

“I really can’t imagine another place that would accommodate such beauty, with such support even from the state government, that the rest of India needs to learn from.”

She believes that culture revolves around supporting artists, writers, musicians, and those who essay them.

“But today, I think there is a movement, and we are poised in a place where all of it could be blown up or come together with so much strength and power to see the kind of diversity that exists, even here in Mattanchery, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Communists, people from across India and the world are here. Here, there is no threat, no chip on the shoulder, no commercialisation; a place where people are taught to widen the ways in which they think, and I am proud to be from here,” she said.

Growing up in Aymanam, Kottayam, Roy has etched her perspective of the land in The God of Small Things, which won the Booker Prize in 1997.

Arundhati Roy’s memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, about her mother, Mary Roy, was recently released.

ENDS