IBA Stage: Kochi-Muziris Biennale 6

Courtesy Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation.

IBA Stage: Kochi-Muziris Biennale 6

March 19, 2026 (Thursday)
4:00 PM (Kochi / GMT+5:30)
https://www.kochimuzirisbiennale.org/

We are delighted to present the next edition of IBA Stage, featuring the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, one of South Asia’s most influential platforms for contemporary art and a key meeting point for artistic exchange across the Global South.

We are particularly pleased to host this conversation as the Kochi-Muziris Biennale has recently rejoined the International Biennial Association as an institutional member, following a period of restructuring within the Kochi Biennale Foundation. This renewed membership reaffirms the Biennale’s key role within the global biennial community and its longstanding commitment to both its local cultural ecosystem and the international art world.

The event will bring together Nikhil Chopra, curator of the current edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, and Mario D’Souza, Director of Programmes at the Kochi Biennale Foundation, to discuss the curatorial vision and programmatic structure of the Biennale’s sixth edition.

The sixth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, titled For The Time Being, opened to the public on 12 December 2025 and will run until 31 March 2026, unfolding across 29 venues throughout Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, Willingdon Island, and Ernakulam.

Bringing together 66 artists from more than 25 countries, the exhibition is shaped by the curatorial vision of Nikhil Chopra in collaboration with HH Art Spaces, and engages closely with the geographical, social, and cultural histories of Kochi.

Embracing process as methodology, the exhibition places friendship economies at the centre of its curatorial framework. It understands bodies as landscapes of time—vessels of labour, joy, and loss—and invites visitors to reflect on “embodied histories of those that came before us and continue to live within us in the form of cells, stories and techniques.”

The biennale opened across eight venues on 12 December, marked by a ceremonial flag-hoisting at Aspinwall House, Fort Kochi, followed by the formal inauguration at Parade Ground, Fort Kochi, led by the Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan. The opening celebrations culminated in a public concert by Shanka Tribe, featuring Neha Nair, Resmi Satheesh, and Shahabaz Aman, alongside a series of performances by participating artists including Mónica de Miranda, Zarina Muhammad, Smitha M Babu, Naeem Mohaiemen, and Mandeep Raikhy.

Alongside the international exhibition, the Kochi Biennale Foundation’s core programmes, Invitations, Students’ Biennale, Art By Children, and Edam, opened on 13 December 2025 and continue throughout the Biennale’s duration, expanding the project’s engagement with education, intergenerational exchange, and local cultural ecosystems.

Founded in 2022, the Invitations Programme brings together institutions and collectives whose practices sustain artistic ecosystems across the Global South. Participants in the current edition include Alice Yard (Trinidad and Tobago), Bienal das Amazônias (Brazil), Dar Jacir for Art and Research (Palestine), Ghetto Biennale (Haiti), Khoj International Artists’ Association (India), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Panamá (Panama), Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (Kenya), Packet (Sri Lanka), and ruangrupa / OK.Video (Jakarta), among others.

The Students’ Biennale, held at VKL Warehouse in Mattancherry, presents projects by students from over 175 art institutions across India, curated by a network of curators and collectives working across seven regions. Meanwhile, Edam, curated by Aishwarya Suresh and K. M. Madhusudhanan, explores artistic practices emerging from Kerala and its diaspora, including a special presentation dedicated to Vivan Sundaram.

Additional initiatives include the Residency Programme, developed through the research project One Thousand Seas, and the Island Mural Project, which extends the Biennale’s engagement with public space and local communities.

Throughout the Biennale, an extensive programme of performances, lectures, conversations, and concerts animates the exhibition, highlighting Kerala’s rich musical, theatrical, and folk traditions.

The sixth Kochi-Muziris Biennale affirms the Biennale’s position as a major platform for contemporary artistic practice rooted in place while operating within a global network of art and cultural institutions.

Through IBA Stage, we invite audiences to hear directly from the individuals shaping this ambitious project and to engage with its curatorial vision and programmatic framework.

As with all IBA Stage events, the conversation will conclude with an open Q&A session, offering participants the opportunity to join the discussion.

We look forward to welcoming you to this conversation on March 19 at 4:00 PM Kochi time.

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