4th Kochi-Muziris Biennale: Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life

‘Poems are like sentences that have taken their clothes off.’ Marlene Dumas‘ poetic and sensual refrain accompanies her figurative watercolours on view in Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life, the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) in the southern state of Kerala, India (12 December 2018–29 March 2019).

Dumas’ new series ‘Vocabulary’ (2018) comprises 20 delicate paintings of interlocking figures and solitary creatures including a snake, a bird, a cricket, and a snail as well as various body parts devoid of backgrounds. Two faces merge in a passionate kiss with eyes closed and red lips fused against lurid yellow flesh. Dumas’ series sets the scene for Anita Dube‘s riveting 108-day biennial, which pivots on a theme that is derived from Guy Debord’s warnings of a world mediated primarily through images.

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