The third edition of the Chennai Photo Biennale opens its doors both online and offline on 9th December. here is a glimpse
In 2019, Chennai’s heritage buildings, libraries and MRTS stations doubled as unexpected art galleries: prints strewn across station walls, exhibits on college campuses and videos displayed on Indo-Saracenic buildings. The second edition of the Chennai Photo Biennale put the city on the global map through its multi-disciplinary exhibits spanning various mediums.
In 2020, although the global pandemic halted the much-awaited Edition III of the festival, the planning never stopped.
Now, just a year after the CPB announced its theme – Maps of Disquiet – for Edition III, the festivities begin: on December 9th.
By February 6, 2022, in a span of 60 days, the festival will take a hybrid route this time: in the form of physical performances and virtual experiences, says Varun Gupta, director of the festival and co-founder of CPB.
The plan maps to addressing the “urgents of our times”: by building “new networks of solidarity,” everything from resistance to majoritarian imposition, ecological collapse and technological dystopia.
The four-member curatorial team, which includes Bhuma Padmanabhan, Arko Datto, Boaz Levin and Kerstin Meinke, is similar in theme. But some artists have re-imagined their projects to fit the virtual component that forms the core of this version.
“We decided it was important to move forward with our plans. We are rethinking the biennial which you can basically watch on your mobile phone from home, office or even a tea shop. We are almost Went to the drawing board with the curators six to eight months ago. And, we are working with artists to custom-develop a website that is going to be an online exhibition experience,” says Varun.
To help people engage with the topic, as a precursor, two research-driven journals on the topic will also be published.
While the Senate House and the Government College of Fine Arts, Egmore, were “jewels in jewels” for the second edition, the physical component of this edition misses these places given the challenges related to COVID. But on the contrary, Varun believes that the world is his audience now.
“To ‘materialize’ on such a large scale is no longer an option for us. But we are presenting in three galleries in Chennai – Ashvita Art Gallery, Forum Art Gallery and Rosa Muttiah Research Library. In addition, we have the Goethe-Institut which lends itself as a viewing room,” says Varun. The venue is expected to present video art through single-screen and dual-channel projection. He explains, “In the viewing room, People can come and watch a range of artist and video works every Wednesday and Saturday, which will also be available online for audiences outside Chennai.”
main attraction
There are two major commissioned projects in Tamil Nadu on the theme of quarrying site and village, Keezhari.
“Andreas Langfield and Sarabhi Ravichandran are working on a project together – a video, along with interviews with scholars on the subject. In parallel, we also have Saranraj, a young artist from Madurai from the Government College of Fine Arts, who has worked in the past. Working on the site for a year and a half. He will present his project at the Rosa Muttiah Research Library. This edition has a more regional flavor due to its focus on projects from Tamil Nadu.
Another question they wanted to solve was, how can they get people to bi? For this, the team has brought out a newspaper-style publication. Essentially the biennial will travel to people’s hands and homes. “It will be circulated in colleges, libraries, galleries and will also be available online to order.”
Student demonstrations are an important component of all CPB editions – “This time too, the performance of students is going to be physical. The venue is yet to be decided,” says Varun.
He says he believes there is something on offer for everyone, both outside visitors and city dwellers, who wish to visit the festival. “It is not going to be just wall prints, it will also have installations, which will be presented in a grand way,” says Varun.
During the pandemic, virtual art viewing has taken a significant hit, due to screen fatigue as well as the need to step out. Many even argue that walking through a space to experience art through a screen will never match up to seeing it up close. “We know it’s going to be a weird experience where you are more for nautanki than art,” says Varun, “so we wanted to create something that really focused on rendering art, narrative in a way. It can’t be done in a physical exhibition where it’s too sequential.” He added that a scroll-driven story can be expected keeping in mind the mobile and desktop user.
Along with the festival, CPB also hopes to further the nature of hybrid events in the arts sector. Varun concluded, “We want people to come to Chennai.” “But that is no longer a limitation.”
CPB is looking for volunteers, donors and partners for this edition. Get in touch at contact@chennai photobiennale.com.
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