Kochi Biennale Foundation gets Asia Arts Game Changers Awards

Kochi, February 10: Acknowledging the immense contributions made by the Kochi Biennale Foundation towards the development of modern and contemporary art, Asia Society Centre on Thursday honoured the KBF founders Mr Bose Krishnamachari and Mr Riyas Komu with the prestigious Asia Society Asia Arts Game Changers Award 2018 at an event in New Delhi.

They were felicitated with the Asia Arts Vanguard award, which acknowledges and celebrates the work of eminent artists whose practice has brought a deeper understanding of the region to the people of Asia and beyond. 

Dedicating the award to the entire Indian art world, artists, patrons, the Government of Kerala and the people of Kochi, Mr Bose Krishnamachari, Director, KBF, said he and Mr Komu are proud to play a role in the project.

 

Riyas Komu, Arpita Singh, Bose Krishnamachari and Benitha Perciyal winners of Asia Arts Game Changers Awards 2018

“The project is only possible through the support of an ever growing art eco-system in India and we are proud to play a role in its evolution. Our work and mission continues and we hope this award will encourage greater philanthropy, corporate giving and government support for the arts across India,” he noted.

Mr Riyas Komu, Director of Programmes, KBF, expressed happiness on receiving the award and said it is a great honour for the biennale.

“It is a great honour for Kochi Biennale foundation to receive award from the Asia Society for being the Game changers in the modern and contemporary art. I would like to dedicate this award to the people of Kochi, a community which lives and celebrates the diversity of human existence,” he said.

Mr Komu also congratulated the other three winners.

The award was bestowed on them along with renowned artists Miss Benitha Perciyal from India, who had earlier associated with Kochi Biennale, Miss Arpita Singh and Mr Sun Xun from China.

This signature event brings together major art collectors, artists, gallerists, dignitaries from the art world, and Asia Society trustees and patrons to honour artists and arts professionals for their significant contributions to contemporary art. 

India Heritage Walk Festival 2018:

Month-long online film festival opens with Ray's Rabindranath Tagore

New Delhi, Feb 4: Biographies of timeless legends, the stories of forgotten men and women,

vanishing traditions, and unseen vignettes of India captured through the lens of the wandering

filmmaker feature in the line-up of documentaries that will be screened throughout February

during the month-long Online Heritage Film Festival.

The film screenings are part of the India Heritage Walk Festival 2018, a multi-city event organized

by Sahapedia, the online encyclopedia of Indian arts and culture, and YES Culture, the cultural

division of YES Global Institute, a practising think tank of YES BANK, to encourage people to

explore the tangible and intangible heritage of their cities and towns.

The Sarangi- Story of a Museum

A total of 25 films, including well-known classics as well as entries selected by a panel of eminent

arts and culture practitioners, including renowned dancer and former CBFC head Leela Samson,

are in the line-up for the festival which opened on Thursday (February 1) with Satyajit Ray's

award-winning 1961 Films Division documentary on Rabindranath Tagore.

Sahapedia willrelease one film nearly every day throughout the month on its Sahapedia will release one film nearly every day throughout the month on its  ww.youtube.com/user/sahapediaonline/featured at 10:00 am, and each is an exploration of

a remarkable facet of the subcontinent’s heritage in the form of people, arts, traditions or

architecture.at 10:00 am, and each is an exploration of a remarkable facet of the subcontinent’s

heritage in the form of people, arts, traditions or architecture.

Weavers of Maheswar (2016) by KeyaVaswani and Nidhi Kamath tells the story of people who’ve

worked hard to revive a vanishing handloom craft; The Sarangi- Story of a museum (2015) by

Manoj Bhandare and Raju Hittalamani is a journey through Kathmandu's museum of music and

musical instruments from Nepal and The Battle of Bhima Koregaon (2017) by Somnath

Waghamare celebrates the valour of the forgotten Mahar (untouchable) soldiers who overthrew

the Peshwa rule in Maharashtra.

Rabindranath Tagore

The lives of legends like Kalamandalam Gopi (1999), the Dhrupad maestros of the Dagar family

(Dagarvaani - 1993), and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra (Bhavantarana – 1991) are documented in

some of the classics, while other films introduce viewers to lesser-known gems like The Shillong

Chamber Choir (2008) ; Mystique of Murshidabad(2014); Little Magazine Voices (2014)and

Hyderabadi tryst with Ittar(2017)

The screened films will be available for online viewing throughout the month.

The Film Festival is one among the many events scheduled for IHWF 2018 in February, 2018. The

month-long, multi-city event features nearly 70 public engagement events, including heritage

walks (themed, curated and guided tours conducted by experts), baithaks (talks), workshops and

instameets in nearly 20 cities, focusing on diverse aspects such as architecture, food, heritage,

crafts, nature, and art that make up the cultural fabric of our country.

Details of IHWF 2018 are available on: www.indiaheritagewalkfestival.com

Vaibhav Chauhan, Festival Director (IHWF) and Secretary, Sahapedia, says, “When we made a film

festival a part of India Heritage Walk Festival, it was an attempt to resonate with Sahapedia's

vision of providing varied forms of content on our rich heritage and culture. While there is

tremendous amount of multimedia content on Heritage, that deserves and requires promotion,

there is much still to be documented in an authentic and comprehensive fashion. We hope to

encourage this through the film festival, and highlight Sahapedia's role in providing a platform for creative work in this domain.”

Rana Kapoor, MD & CEO, YES BANK and Chairman, YES Global Institute, says, “India is blessed with a rich heritage and cultural history, which is abundantly manifested in monuments and

architectural sites across our country. Civil society participation in our Nation’s heritage, aided by

activities such as heritage walks, is integral to the preservation and conservation of these sites.

Such heritage tourism initiatives, with the whole hearted participation and involvement of local

communities and citizens, has the potential to instill immense national pride and further the

agenda of heritage development.”

Preeti Sinha, Glocal Convenor, YES Global Institute and Senior President, YES BANK, ‘As we move towards a ‘Digital India’, our vast and rich cultural heritage needs to leverage technology for the new digital age. Digital audio guides for heritage walks, videos and info-graphics for social media

platforms and high quality images of arts and monuments on app based platforms are changing

the way we consume and absorb India’s heritage. The online heritage film festival of India

Heritage Walk Festival is one such initiative to document and promote the various facets of Indian

civilization from some of the most enterprising film-makers. The IHWF is a free festival for the

people of India. We hope our citizens use this opportunity to reconnect with their past and its rich

creative history to build a new digital future.’