: The Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) has become a major subject for this year's prestigious Chevening Clore Leadership Programme for senior professionals in global cultural management.
The participation of a large number of artists from across the world and the thought-provoking venues of India's first Biennale have made Meena Vari, an Indian arts teacher selected for the British cultural leadership programme, choose the contemporary art event the topic of her study.
Students from the prominent art school Central St Martins, London and the Bangalore-based Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology will conduct the online study, conceived by Vari under a project called "Global Art Spaces".
As many as 16 senior students of the Srishti School have already arrived at the Biennale venues to pursue the project, which is conducted in collaboration with Britain's foremost art institution, the Tate, UK.
While the students of Srishti College will study the KMB, their counterparts at the Central St Martins will work with the Tate, UK. The students of both the institutions will then discuss their studies guided by two project leaders from India and the UK.
"The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is an ideal space to work with because there are so many artists from around the world coming to participate in the event in locations decided by them", says Vari, Dean, Contemporary Art and Curatorial Practice at the 1996-founded Srishti School.
At the biennale venues in Kochi, the Srishti School students are spending their time documenting space and talking to artists and workers involved in mounting the installations about their experiences. They are also talking to the common people to understand what they think about the contemporary art event in their town.
"We want to find out how the space and the art works connect with each other," says Divya Jain, a third-year student of Graphic Design and Visual Communication at the Srishti School.
"We are also talking to the workers to see what they understand about the art works they are helping to install", Rajshekhar Kunda, a third-year student of filmmaking and direction said.
