सोमवार, 23 मार्च 2015

Biennale to conclude with high-spirits concert by Ska Vengers

             Kerala Governor to address March 28 closing ceremony at Durbar Hall Ground

Kochi, Mar 23: Into its last week and just through with the performing-art segment, Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) will stage a lively reggae concert in its grand closing ceremony to be held this Saturday evening—a day before the conclusion of the 108-day festival that has so far brought in more than five lakh visitors.

Well-known Delhi-based band Ska Vengers will present a two-hour show at Ernakulam’s Durbar Hall Ground, which will be the venue for the finale that will feature a special address by Kerala Governor Justice (retd) P Sathasivam, who will be honouring patrons and supporters of the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF).

The March 28 function, slated to begin at 5.30 pm, will be attended by an array of state ministers and MPs and legislators from the state, besides Kochi Corporation Mayor Tony Chammany and Greater Kochi Development Authority Chairman N Venugopal, according to KBF which is hosting KMB’14 featuring 100 main artworks by 94 artists from 30 countries displayed in a total of eight venues.

KMB’14 artistic director Jitish Kallat, who is the curator of the exhibition that began on December 12 last year, will talk at the ceremony, where KBF Secretary Riyas Komu will deliver the welcome address and the foundation’s president Bose Krishnamachari will propose thanks.

The 2009-formed Ska Vengers is known for blending Ska rythms with lements of dub, punk, jazz and rap, making it refreshingly different music that is not just energetic but highly danceable. Teeming with youngsters, it has Samara Chopra and Delhi Sultanate on the vocals, besides Stefan ‘Flexi’ Kaye (organ/percussion), Raghav ‘Diggy’ Dang (guitars), Tony Guinard (bass), Rie Ona (alto saxophone) and Shirish Malhotra (tenor Saxophone).

Incidentally, KMB’14 showcased the richness of Kerala’s traditional ensembles at its opening show. That was at Fort Kochi’s vintage Parade Ground, where renowned chenda maestro Peruvanam Kuttan Marar led a two-hour show of 300-plus artistes on the state’s ethnic drums, pipes, horns and gongs, ahead of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurating the second edition of India’s only biennale.

KBF estimates a total attendance of 5,00,000 visitors at the second biennale, pointing out that this has been a marked increment from the previous edition’s total of close to 4,00,000.
Besides its main exhibition, KMB’14 has been hosting a string of programmes besides partner and collateral projects. They include a 12-week film festival, Students Biennale, Children’s Biennale, lectures (under History Now and Let’s Talk series) and a residency exhibition, besides a performing arts segment that got over last evening with a threatre festival, a day after a unique literary meet that traced the language histories and contemporaneity of the region.

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