Established in South India in 2012, over the years the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) has displayed contemporary art and attracted global artists and audiences. To stage contemporary art at the above site, a composite narrative of cosmopolitanism has been produced by merging the histories of several empires, their economies, and their social worlds. The lives of the lost port of Muziris, the diverse architectural styles signaling the presence of the communities who have inhabited and colonised the region over the centuries, and attendant heritage projects are significant elements in such a narrative. Drawing upon research on all biennale editions, this talk analyses the KMB’s visual-material landscape as an ‘art-architecture-archeology-heritage complex’: this complex sheds light on the re-territorialisation of the biennale cultural form in a global south context and the demands that postcolonial histories, built environments, and art world actors place on the process.
Manuela Ciotti is Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the Global South at the University of Vienna. Her profile is informed by two major research strands. The first consists of the study of inequality, identity politics and modernity in the struggle for social justice among subaltern communities in India. The second strand focuses on the politics of art, materiality and representation generated by the global circulation of art and material culture out of India, and the history of the art world from the standpoint of the global south. She is currently PI of the ERC Advanced Grant 'The anthropology of the future: An art world perspective' (ANTHROFUTURE) (2024-2028). A list of her selected publications can be found here.