The Kochi Biennale Foundation has announced Kader Attia as the curator of the next Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which is due to open in December 2027. The announcement was made today in Venice by Jitish Kallat, president of the biennale.
“Kader Attia brings to the biennale artistic depth, curatorial openness and a strong pedagogic sensibility. The committee was drawn to the poetic range and generative potential of his proposal, and to the flexible curatorial framework it offered for bringing multiple artistic practices, histories and publics into meaningful relation in Kochi,” Kallat commented. “Attia had previously participated in the 2014 edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and we look forward to the ways in which his curatorial vision will take shape in Kochi.”
An artist, curator and professor, Attia works across a variety of media, including installation, sculpture, film and archival research. His practice examines colonial legacies, delving into hidden and overt histories to untangle memories while piecing together the past. He exhibited his work recently at the 24th Bienal de Arte Paiz in Guatemala and held solo presentations at MUAC in Mexico City and the Kim Thompson Art Center in Bangkok last year.
Attia, who was selected for the role by a committee chaired by Jitish Kallat and including Shilpa Gupta, Amrita Jhaveri, Pooja Sood, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Mariam Ram and Rirkrit Tiravanija, will embark upon a research project to define the curatorial framework of the upcoming biennale. Widely recognised as the first and largest contemporary art biennial in India, the event will be hosted by the city of Kochi, which will serve as a starting point for Attia’s enquiry.
