Free Mondays at Kochi biennale starting January

KOCHI: A week into the opening of the second edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), over 15,000 people
have plodded into its seven venues spread across west Kochi and at Durbar Hall.
Starting January, people will get free entry to biennale venues on all Mondays.
"Free Mondays reiterate the stand that 'it's our biennale'. This is not just an art exhibition; we have put together a carefully curated programme of seminars and films, that we want everybody to take in" said Kochi Biennale Foundation president Bose Krishnamachari, who is the director of KMB '14."We have been keen to make the biennale belong to the people, because it happens with the support of people from all walks of life," he added.
Artists' Cinema, the 100-day-long event, which opened on December 14 featured two films on Friday, curated by the Berlin-based Natasha Ginwalla - 'The Anabasis of May and Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi and 17 years without images' directed by Eric Baudelaire and 'Supermatist Kapital' directed by Yin-Ju Chen and James T Hong.
The visual art project will have a package curated by film critic C S Venkiteswaran from December 20 to 23, featuring four films - 'The Last Adieu' by Shabnam Sukhdev, 'Rangabhoomi' by Kamal Swaroop, 'Tender is the Sight' by Trisha Banerjee and 'In search of Fading Canvas' by Manohar Singh Bisht.
Artist's Cinema is an attempt to find a balance between independent and commercial digital filmmaking and provide a platform for good cinema, said programme manager of KMB, Bandhu Prasad.
The screenings will take place from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at Umbrella Pavillion, Aspinwall House, Fort Kochi.
A week before the biennale, tickets to the exhibition - costing Rs 100 - were distributed at homes around Fort Kochi and Mattancherry. Students up to the age of 15 have a subsidized rate of Rs 50. Check-ins will be monitored on free Mondays too, to keep a tab on the numbers of visitors.