Abirpothi

Krispin JosephPX

Krispin Joseph PX, a poet and journalist, completed an MFA in art history and visual studies at the University of Hyderabad and an MA in sociology and cultural anthropology from the Central European University, Vienna.

Capturing the Portfolio of the Marginalised: Decoding the Pixel Activism of Palani Kumar

“Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like” David Alan Harvey As a medium, photography has always maintained its ‘photojournalistic’ ‘news photography’ nature. But Tamil photojournalist and activist Palani Kumar, who uses photography as a tool to give a voice to the ‘voiceless’, sees it beyond its aesthetic appeal and uses it […]

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Archives of Resistance: The Panjeri Artists’ Union and the Assemblage of Anti-Caste Art

The Panjeri Artists’ Union is an anti-caste art collective based in Banipur, West Bengal, through their project, ‘Assemblies of Hope Amidst the Death-Worlds: A 100-Day Work Proposition’, which is a central highlight of the 6th Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2025–2026). This project, set up at the front of the main venue, Aspinwall House, is an ‘assemblage’ that

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The Ghosts Who Sing: Melancholy as Resistance in Jompet Kuswidananto’s ‘Ghost Ballad’

At the 6th Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2025–26), Indonesian artist Jompet Kuswidananto presents ‘Ghost Ballad,’ a site-specific installation at Pepper House, marking the journey from dictatorship to democracy and bringing together once-thriving, banned music and performances. The work uses his signature objects of ‘bodiless’ figures to gather the fractured chronology of Indonesia, acting as a bridge between

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Ibrahim Mahama’s ‘Parliament of Ghosts’: Stitched Sacks in conversation with refurbished Chairs

The installation “Parliament of Ghosts” by Ibrahim Mahama, displayed at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, offers reflections on the politics of space, with its colonial undertone. Mahama’s work, which uses stitched jute sacks and chairs, portrays hidden chronologies of trade, labour, and colonial power. At the Biennale, Mahama transforms a room at Anand Warehouse, a colonial-era godown,

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Adrian Villar Rojas: The decays of Another World in the Fridge

The works in the Rinascimento series by Argentinian artist Adrian Villar Rojas, exhibited at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, remind one of Barbara Kruger’s famous phrase, ‘I shop, therefore I am.’ If Barbara’s work can be seen as a parody or a comic version of René Descartes’ statement, ‘I think therefore I am,’ which overturned the stream

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Nityan Unnikrishnan: Hymns for the Drowning and Other Tales

When observing Nityan Unnikrishnan’s artworks displayed at Kochi Muziris Biennale, Deleuze’s phrase ‘To be fully a part of the crowd and at the same time completely outside it, removed from it’ comes to mind. What Deleuze means is not to avoid or withdraw from the crowd, but rather, philosophically, to respond to it. It calls

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Smitha M Babu’s Pakkalam: Reflections of Land in the Water

The paintings from Smita M. Babu’s series ‘Pakalam’, exhibited at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, traverse the geographical peculiarities of the Ashtamudi Lake shore in Kollam, a region with numerous unique characteristics. Smita’s works, which hint at various aspects related to the coir industry, including occupations, history, and traditions, stand as a testament to how an artist

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The naive art in action-A close look at Shilpi Rajan’s Artistic expression at Kochi Muziris Biennale

Art is multiplicity; it is multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and intersubjective; therefore, it is impossible to define what art is. Art implies many things, and so is the artist. When the contemporary world suggests that art is a product of capitalism, the art life of Shilpi Rajan testifies that art is also ‘socialism,’ or at least an

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Vanishing Point: An Installation on Kashmir’s Forced Absences Featured in Kochi Muziris Biennale

There is always a heavy weight to thoughts and news about and from Kashmir. There is always an undercurrent of sorrow and severe conflicts in it. That undercurrent is the hallmark of the artworks of the Kashmiri artist Moonis Ahmad Shah, displayed at the Kochi Muziris Biennale. Moreover, Moonis Ahmad Shah’s world of art also

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Refurbished art as a Harbinger of the Bygone Harmony: A Close Reading of Ali Akbar’s Art Exhibits

Artist Ali Akbar’s works, exhibited as part of the curated show at the ongoing 6th edition of Kochi Muziris Biennale, are entirely contemporary in nature, posing questions while also advancing the Biennale’s mission and challenging the legacy of colonialism through a visual dialogue. These works directly and indirectly pose a multitude of questions to the

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