#... angles/perspective... design consistency... action etc. All of these aspects need to be strong and well honed...

[stargazerlillian]

This. Is. EPIC!!🙌🙌🙌

GO WATCH PENANCE PEAK BY @blucolorpencil

[dpreanimated]

A Complete List Of Jobs Needed for Production

*indicates a need still for this position. More *’s = more need in this field.

Animation

***Storyboard Artist: Artists who are responsible for configuring the layout, general timing, and cinematography of an episode. Essentially building the bones of each scene and ensuring each episode flows smoothly in the visual department. Should be able to draw dynamic poses and might even have to animate a little (depending on the complexity of the scene; some fast-paced fight scenes might need extra movement padding to get the vision just right especially if it has a single shot with multiple angles [think: cheesy anime fights]). Style guides aren’t as important here compared to dynamic poses and expressions because storyboarders are mainly just to establish scenes and movement, but you must be able to match the style of the show somewhat (e.g. don’t go all crazy so it’s easier on keyframe animators).

**Keyframe Animators: People with a strong grasp of the Danny Phantom style who configure the entire composition of timing for an action. (Should be able to draw dynamic poses and expressions and must have a basic understanding of squash and stretch, bounce, movement arcs, timing, etc. Should be able to draw a character consistently.) Must be able to match a style guide.

**Inbetweeners: Artists who draw the frames in between key poses. (must have a basic understanding of squash and stretch, bounce, movement arcs, timing, etc and must be able to draw a character consistently. ) Must be able to match a style guide.

**Cleanup Artist: Person who cleans up the pencil roughs in keyframes. Should have a good understanding of line consistency / line value and a familiarity with the DP art style.

**Colorists: People with a strong grasp of color theory who color in all the frames of the animation; they will also work with effect/overlay artists to ensure that shots have consistent lighting colours throughout a scene.

*Effect / Overlay Artists: People who bring together the animation by adding lighting and special effects to the scenes. This also includes ensuring that shots have consistent lighting throughout a scene (work in tandem with the colorists).

*3D Artists: We most likely won’t need 3D work unless we do something super complicated, but if you have any 3D background feel free to mention so and give an example (models you’ve rendered, 3D animations, 3D compositions, et cetera). Will most likely be given a different role with ‘3D Artist’ as a sub-role, though this is subject to change. Potential tasks for this role could include modeling a commonly used set or object (like the fenton thermos, Danny’s room, the lab, etc.) to help background artists / storyboarders visualise a room or object from different angles. Other tasks (though less common) could include modeling/animating a model of a complex piece that would create inconsistencies if drawn (like a ghost asteroid, lol).

***Background Artists: Works with storyboard artists and colourists to create background paintings for each shot. Must have a good understanding of composition, colour theory, textures, and perspective. Must also be able to follow a style guide to make sure the world doesn’t feel disjointed.

Additional Information: One program that will most likely be used for the project for convenience is Krita. A familiarity with Krita is recommended mainly for keyframe, inbetweeners, cleanup artists, and colourists. Storyboarders(ish) are encouraged to use Krita for general convenience but due to the large amount of still frames involved in the storyboarding process it is probably a lot easier to use a storyboarding software (like storyboarder, which is free and connects to photoshop/firealpaca!). Background artists, overlay/effects artists (with the exception of hand-animated effects like explosions and stuff) and 3D artists are encouraged to instead work in the programs they are most comfortable with.

Music/Sound

Scoring: Person who creates and notates original music specific for the show using both real instruments and synths.

Lyricist: Person who writes lyrics to go along with specific songs that require them.

*Instrumentalists: People who record themselves playing their instrument for the score. One instrumentalist per instrument is needed. Instrumentalists are contacted whenever the score calls for their instrument. Must be highly skilled in instrument and must have decent recording equipment.

*Singers: People who perform all vocal aspects of score. Singers of all styles are welcome. Must be highly skilled in vocal style(s) and must have decent recording equipment.

**Foley Artist: People who collect organic sounds from the real world to be used as sound effects for the show including footsteps, water splashing, clothes crinkling, glass shattering, etc (must have a handheld recording device).

**Digital Sound Effects Artist: Person who designs and creates all computer-generated/manipulated sounds for the episode.

*Mixing: Person who takes externally recorded music from instrumentalists and singers and assembles them in their DAW. Mixer is also in charge of the primary editing process including EQ, compression, reverb, panning, and normalizing. Also tasked with assembling and editing dialogue.

Mastering: Person who puts the finishing touches on the file from the mixer so it plays optimally on all devices as well as listening for any audio mistakes past steps missed. Person must have a strong grasp of audio engineering process.

*Re-Record Mixer: Person who takes all sounds including music, dialogue, foley, and any other sound used and balances them cohesively. Final step in sound department.

Pre-Production Art

**Graphic Designer: Person who designs logos and promotional graphic materials. To a lesser degree, could also work with in-show logos and packaging.

Character Designer: Person who designs characters for the show.

*Prop/Weapon/Vehicle Designer: Person who designs props, weapons, and/or vehicles and similar things for the show. More technical than character designs.

***Background/Environment Artist: The same as the role for the animation department, but could also include a bit more rough/concept work.

*3D Artists: Potential tasks for this role could include modeling a commonly used set or object (like the fenton thermos, Danny’s room, the lab, etc.) to help background artists / storyboarders visualise a room or object from different angles. Other tasks (though less common) could include modeling/animating a model of a complex piece that would create inconsistencies if drawn (like a ghost asteroid, lol).

Writing

Writers: main writers of the project. They have access to all the docs, outline the show, and write the episodes.

Ducks: Editors and idea people, they are given episodes to edit as well are asked for ideas. Writers bounce ideas off of them to develop plots or etc points. They are given any docs that the writers give them.

[cherry-valentine]

Spring 2017 Anime Season

Here’s what I’m watching:

Fukumenkei Noise is one of my favorites this season. We need more shoujo romances like this, with cool, stylish art and awesome music and heroines who actually, you know, do stuff besides pine after guys (and to be clear, the heroine here does pine after a guy, but it’s definitely not the only thing she does, and she’s a refreshingly proactive heroine). The love triangle is particularly interesting because both male love interests seem to have an equal shot at ending up with heroine Nino. My favorite is Yuzu, and his attempts to support Nino and her crush on Momo while also being in love with her himself, and his conflicted feelings between wanting her to be happy and wanting her love for Momo to fail, are the highlights of the series. There’s also the “secretly in an alternative rock band” angle, which provides for some great costume changes and even better songs. Overall, it’s one of the better shoujo anime of the past few seasons.

Royal Tutor Haine is a cute and quirky little comedy about a no nonsense tutor called in to teach four difficult princes how to best prepare to be king (in the event their older brother dies or something, I guess). The charm really comes from the tutor himself, Haine. He looks like he’s twelve, but he’s actually a full-grown adult with appropriately adult-like voice and mannerisms. We see this often with female characters (to justify sexualizing characters that look like little girls, usually) but it’s a bit more uncommon to see it like this. His genuine affection for the princes while remaining somewhat stern in his teachings is surprisingly sweet to watch. The princes themselves are a collection of bishounen stereotypes (the tsundere who’s secretly shy and insecure, the formal and stiff one in glasses, the strong, rough one who’s actually a big softie, and the flamboyant one always surrounded by ladies). I wish they had been as interesting as Haine, but they are at least cute and fun, even as they march down very familiar character arcs. The character designs are, of course, very beautiful (even the castle guards are good looking!) and the music is fine (I can take or leave the opening theme, but the ending theme is extremely catchy - especially in the alternate version with the boy band performing the song in full cosplay of the characters).

Kenka Banchou Otome is a cute little otome series with a silly premise that benefits from the short episode runtime (the episodes usually run under eight minutes each). This effectively trims out all the fat and leaves us with a strong focus on what makes the series fun: attractive male characters getting their asses handed to them by a cute, pink haired heroine who happens to be a badass martial artist (and is posing as a guy), and then said male characters falling for her (or him, from their perspective, I guess). The heroine is great because she’s kind and sweet but she will still mess these guys up if they attack or challenge her. I also have a soft spot for the guy she traded places with, who is supposed to be a rough and tough delinquent but is all too happy to put on a skirt and pose as the heroine at her all girls school (and he has a room full of posters of a certain hot male idol...). This series is basically short, quick bursts of fun.

Tsuki ga Kirei is a sweet, subtle romance that, refreshingly. spends equal time from the perspectives of both parties in the romance. I was a little iffy on the show at first, because it was slow-burning and, if I’m being totally honest, a bit boring. Both leads are so shy and quiet that it’s literally frustrating to watch them in the beginning. You’ll find yourself wanting to scream, “Somebody say something for God’s sake!” But their collective insecurities also make them painfully relatable at times. We’ve all had those awkward moments where we have no idea what to say or, worse, say the wrong thing and have no idea how to fix it. As the episodes roll by, you find yourself rooting for this cute young couple. The art has a somewhat subdued style, with lots of natural colors (hilariously, a side character is the only person with strange-colored hair, which is a fun inverse of the usual trope). Speaking of the side characters, they’re fairly interesting and get some much needed development in the brief, after credits skits that are actually really funny (which is odd since the main story has little humor). I was a little put off by the fact that, despite the characters being in middle school, it’s heavily implied that a side couple is sexually active and it’s also implied that their teacher is in love with one of her students. These aspects are mostly left to the aforementioned skits and are used for comedy, but I found them just a little bit disturbing. Overall, the show is worth a watch if you don’t mind a lot of quiet reflection in your gentle romance anime.

Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul is the second season of Rage of Bahamut and it’s one of the shows I’m enjoying most this season. I enjoyed season one quite a lot, but season two has been much better, with an awesome new heroine in Nina, a cute and silly young girl who is super strong, falls in love with every handsome guy who walks into her line of sight, and oh yeah, turns into a giant, fire-breathing dragon. Like in the first season, the show does an excellent job of balancing the humorous nature of its lead characters against the dark and violent world they live in. There are some truly horrific things going on, as the world is wrapped up in a three-way conflict between demons, gods, and the humans who are using a new sort of magic (or technology?) to reign supreme. It’s also interesting that one of the main antagonists from season one (Azazel) is now one of the main protagonists (second only to Nina), and even though I didn’t like him much before (and he’s still not a very nice person at all), the story paints his situation in a such a sympathetic light that I’m rooting for him. The animation, design work, and music are all amazing (go watch the stylish black, white, and red opening theme - you won’t regret it).

Kabukibu is another quirky show, this time about a high schooler starting his own Kabuki club and putting on amateur Kabuki performances. I don’t know anything about Kabuki besides the brief mentions I’ve seen of it in anime, so this was pretty interesting for me. The series follows familiar beats to other “characters trying to start a club so they have to recruit people” stories, complete with characters who continually refuse to join but you know they’re going to end up joining anyway. Despite this, the show is fun and very informative. It makes me want to watch an actual Kabuki play. I also like that the main character isn’t the star of the club. He can’t act to save his life. He plays a behind-the-scenes role (he writes scripts, helps with sound effects and staging, etc.). This was a nice twist on the usual formula. My only real gripe with the show is the fact that a particular female character is consistently referred to as fat or “round” by the other characters as well as herself, yet she looks just as skinny as the rest of the girls in the show. It’s just bizarre, to be honest. Another character does privately think that she’s “not as fat as she thinks”, but that still implies she’s some degree of fat and none of the other characters seem to share this sentiment. It’s basically another example of animators being so adverse to drawing fat girls that they just said “screw it" and drew another thin girl. Still, it’s a rather minor complaint in an otherwise fun show.

Quan Zhi Gao Shou (I hope I spelled that right) is a Chinese series that’s been making waves lately for two primary reasons: It draws a lot of comparisons to Sword Art Online (both feature a player with God-like gaming skills playing an MMO that seems way too important) and secondly, it’s one of the best looking animated tv series I’ve seen from any country, in a very long time. This is significant because pretty much all of the Chinese shows I’ve watched over the past few seasons have had noticeably lower animation quality than your average Japanese anime. Quan Zhi, however, is gorgeous. Everything from the backgrounds to the character models looks fantastic. So what about those SAO comparisons? It’d be easy to write off Quan Zhi as boring, because, at first glance, it’s nowhere near as exciting as SAO. No one is trapped in the game. Whatever happens in the game has no direct physical effect on the players, and even though action scenes in the game are animated as if the players are directly in the game world, it’s made clear that the players are simply sitting at computers and all the dialogue we’re hearing is either voice or text chatting in-game. It’s not even virtual reality! But depending on your age bracket, you might find the first episode of Quan Zhi to be far scarier than the first episode of SAO. This is because there are definitely high stakes for these players, even if their physical bodies are not at risk. What they could very possibly lose are their sponsorship deals and team positions, and losing those means losing their income and livelihood. The first episode is frightening for the adults in the audience, because suddenly losing your only source of income is TERRIFYING. Believe me, I know this very well. The way the series ties itself to themes of job security and economics gives it an air of realism that’s been sorely lacking in gaming-based anime lately. High on my watch list.

Shingeki no Kyojin Season Two has been great. Everyone can say what they want about SnK being “too mainstream” or whatever but the fact is it’s a quality show and it’s brought in a lot of new anime fans. There’s usually a reason a series becomes massively popular, and in this case, it’s beautiful animation, great music, and a tightly plotted story that doesn’t always follow familiar action anime beats. Combine that with a general lack of tired romantic subplots and the fact that the show doesn’t distinguish any difference of strength between genders (if anything, it’s the ladies who are the strongest), and you have a show devoid of most of the stuff people complain about when it comes to anime. The show is not perfect, of course. Some scenes can drag on a little too long and occasionally characters do things in service of the plot that defy logic. But these are rare enough to not be a problem. I was tempted to say I’m enjoying season two more than season one (because I am enjoying it a LOT), but it’s been so long that I honestly can’t remember exactly how I felt while watching the first season. I just know it was one of my favorites in a season full of great shows. If you’re one of those people who are avoiding SnK because it’s “too popular”, you need to reevaluate why you do or do not watch a series.

Boku no Hero Academia Season Two continues to be enjoyable. This is because the series has enough charm to distract me from my issues with it (namely, that it’s faithfully marching down the standard shounen fighting anime path with practically no deviations - the show is basically Naruto with super heroes instead of ninjas and with slightly less angst). The best thing about the show by far is the protagonist Midoriya. He’s just a genuinely nice person that you’ll relate to and root for. Another highlight is his relationship with his mentor, All-Might. It’s just such a sweet, positive relationship, and it’s nice to see that there’s pretty much zero negativity here (I don’t even remembering seeing any good natured ribbing). All-Might takes a very fatherly role here (to the point that another character suspects Midoriya of being All-Might’s secret love child!), which works well for the fatherless Midoriya. In fact, there’s a general sense of positivity permeating the whole show. This is because all of the main characters, regardless of their general attitudes and behaviors, want to be heroes so they can help people. I would also commend the show for it’s variety in character designs, IF that variety extended to its female characters. Seriously, look at all the crazy or weird looking male characters, many of which don’t even look human, then look at the lady characters, all of which, without exception, are human-shaped (and they’re pretty much all the same human shape: large breasts, narrow waist, and curvy thighs). There’s only one that looks the slightest bit strange, and it’s only because of her unique coloring. It’s just a little irritating that even in a show filled with guys with literal crow heads or multiple arms and come in tons of different shapes and sizes, all the ladies are in the default “conventionally attractive” shape. Still yet, the show is a lot of fun and definitely worth watching.

Gin no Guardian is another Chinese series, albeit one that doesn’t look anywhere near as polished as Quan Zhi Gao Shou. The episodes run at around twelve minutes each, which is more common for Chinese shows. Ironically, it actually lends itself much more to SAO comparisons than Quan Zhi does, as it features an online game that characters actually go into and can presumably be hurt or possibly killed in (it’s never specifically said that but it seems to be implied, or at the very least, there are real world consequences for things that happen in the game). The first few episodes were very good, focusing on a couple who come from vastly different backgrounds (a rich heiress and a poor boy doing menial tasks on the school grounds to cover his tuition) playing a game together and connecting in that virtual world in a way they never could in reality. It was actually very well done, and a few scenes tugged on my heartstrings. But then we get a predictable plot twist that effectively shuts down that whole dynamic and turns the show into a more generic action anime with MMO elements. The show is still okay but I have to admit I’ve found myself zoning out while watching the more recent episodes.

Uchouten Kazoku Season Two is, like the first season, a unique and quirky little show full of charm. The show does a great job of developing its own world with its own rules and its own version of reality, to such a degree that even the strangest things seem normal and commonplace here. You won’t question seeing a frog playing shogi, or the most powerful being in the series methodically ironing all his shirts on the roof of a building. And all the strange things aren’t done just for the sake of being strange. There’s nothing pretentious about this show. Everything is presented with an air of gentle amusement. And even though the show has rare moments of violence and death (and they’re also presented in a natural manner - not at all for shock value or to milk some melodrama from the story), the series is overall positive and good natured. It’s helped by the interesting art style, a somewhat cartoonish design combined with rich colors and gorgeous backgrounds. The animation quality isn’t always perfect, but the overall look of the show makes up for any stumbles. And then there’s Benten, hands-down one of the best female characters to come along in years (if a figure of her existed I would buy it in an instant). Beautiful, supremely powerful, and utterly fearless, Benten is a somewhat neutral force in the story (she both helps and hurts the protagonists, at various points), and her only real goal seems to be seeking amusement. This means sometimes she’s flying around the world (literally flying, as she convinced a Tengu to give her his power) and sometimes she’s going down to hell to wrestle Oni for fun. Because why not? I would watch this show for Benten alone, but fortunately, it’s a great series even without her.

Kyoukai no Rinne Season Three is fun and all, because the world of the series and the setup are fun, but so far it seems to be limiting itself to short, one-shot stories (three per episode), which means there’s no overarching plot for this season. One or two episodes like this would have been fine, welcomed even, as they flesh out various characters are are genuinely entertaining for the most part. But several episodes? In a row? And no end in sight? I know the series has a relaxed pace, and I’ve enjoyed that aspect of it, but this is getting a little too relaxed. I really want the series to go back to actual story arcs, or even full-episode stand alone stories, since they at least have a little more development. There’s an important arc that should be coming up soon, as a new character involved in it is seen in the new opening theme, and it’s one I’m looking forward to a lot so it’s a little frustrating every week when I’m met with yet another collection of mini stories. Oh well. Like I said, the show is still fun and entertaining. It could just be a lot better.

[nofomoartworld]

Thinks: Riyas Komu on India’s Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Cultural Acupuncture

  Katrina Neiburga and Andris Eglitis, Will-o’-the-Wisp

The Kochi-Muziris Biennale opened last December and closed at the end of March with the announcement of artist Anita Dube as the artistic director of the fourth Biennale—at last a woman in the role. I wrote about the second Biennale for Bad at Sports. While at the third Biennale in February, I sat down with Riyas Komu to hear his thoughts and ideas about what locals call “Our Biennale.”

Lise McKean weaves a visual essay into her interview with Riyas.

Nazia Khan, The Journey We Never Made, installation detail with Kochi harbor

Lise: Here we are, Riyas, sitting harbor side on the Biennale grounds at Aspinwall. I’m elated to be here in sunny Kochi again visiting with you and the other Biennaleans. I’d like to talk with you about the ways that the Biennale has evolved since its launch on 12/12/12, with Bose Krishnachari and you as its co-founders.

Riyas: Of course the biennale is metamorphic by design, and will change with each edition. But a lot of the credit for reaching at this stage goes to our team. We’ve got a fantastic team that supports everything that we do. They too have been learning while making the biennale. They have been fabulous and they have stayed very intact and very strong.

Lise: Do you mean that the team is largely the same since the first Biennale in 2012?

Riyas: Yes. And they have shown great wisdom in handling the pressure. But, if you go into the details of an exhibition like this, what one expects generally is how does it reach out to people? How does it make an entry into people’s minds? How does it educate the community about what is lacking in our system?

I think we’ve been able to address this over the past six years. We’ve done it carefully, and through the process of art making. That has to be emphasized because what we do here is the process of art making. In the first edition, we launched the project with idea of celebrating cosmopolitanism and Kochi and also connecting them back with Muziris.

Orijit Sen, Go Playces, entry to installation

Lise: So the Biennale celebrates cosmopolitanism as an important feature of Kerala’s heritage by linking it to the archeological site of the ancient seaport of Muziris.

Riyas: Yes, and not just by linking it. From its inception, the Biennale has been associated with the Pattanam excavation as well as the Kerala government’s Muziris Heritage Project. Artists at the Biennale have drawn materially and conceptually from these programmes. The idea of Muziris has motivated public conversations on migration, hospitality, trade, identity, etc. So in a way, the Biennale responds to—and perhaps even performs—its own archaeology.

Celebrating the idea of diversity is much needed in today’s context. The first Biennale became a site which celebrates all these aspects but at the same time it brought back Kerala’s history of social action. It became a site of art production. It became a site of engagement and conversations. In fact, it started doing a much-needed cultural acupuncture.

Lise: Cultural acupuncture. That’s a wonderful image. The Biennale as a means of exerting pressure on pivotal points in society.

Riyas: Pressure points for rejuvenating a whole system that lacks that kind of an ecosystem. I think we succeeded in doing that with the first edition. We were able to tell a story from Kochi about Kochi through an elaborate process of art making. And by inviting new travelers to Kochi. Instead of coming for the spice trade or other modes of interaction, now we have a new lot of artists landing on the shores of Kochi. That process has begun. With the first edition, we were successful in getting 400,000 visitors. It created the sense that it’s a people’s biennale. People’s curiosity was reflected in who came to see it.

PK Sadanadan, 12 Stories (of the 12 progeny), installation detail

Lise: People meaning especially the people of Kerala.

Riyasa: Yes, the people of Kerala and India. It’s a Biennale that you can touch and feel. While forming the Kochi Biennale Foundation we were adamant that this Biennale should remain an artist-led initiative. Jitish Kallat, the artistic director for the second Biennale, was able to build on what was built within that two years. With the second edition, we had around 94 artists from 30 countries.

Lise: And Jitish carried forward the theme of cosmopolitanism into the second Biennale, extending it from the earth to the universe.

Riyas: Yes, while the first edition was about Kochi and Muziris and the important legacy of building art, Jitish took advantage of that and did a story from Kochi. His Biennale was about telling narratives, telling your stories, seeing confidently and articulating from a site. His project was about looking at Kochi from a wider perspective. He discourses from Kochi with the new. For the second edition, we initiated the Students’ Biennale and Children’s Biennale projects as important outreach exhibitions.

When it comes to the third edition, we had Sudarshan Shetty as the artistic director, another artist who has a certain history of being very radical and very different in his approach towards art. He’s an artist who is interested in multi-disciplinary exercises and he’s brought that element into this Biennale. We have poets, novelists, writers. We have sculptors, installation artists, painters. We have film makers, theater personalities, cartoonists, mural makers. All kinds of people are in this Biennale engaging in a discourse.

Excerpt from Baroni: A Journey, novel by Sergio Chejfec in Biennale project, Dissemination of a Novel

Lise: Can you give some example of how Sudarshan put this into play over the course of the Biennale?

Riyas: You can see this in the way Sudharshan provoked the audience to explore a city through texts, graffiti, and even auto rikshaws. If you think visually Sudarshan had this novel wrapped around the city, and people used to follow this to explore the city.

Another important aspect that is the Students’ Biennale. It started out in 2014 with 37 art institutions. If the main Biennale makes an artist the curator, the Students’ Biennale is a process in educating the young generation to become curators and give opportunities to young aspiring artists to exhibit in Kochi. We selected 15 curators and appointed them 18 months before the opening.

While Sudharshan traveled the world to see art work, the 15 student curators traveled across India to 55 art institutions and selected 465 works by students that are exhibited in seven venues in Kochi. The Students’ Biennale is not just a process of selecting and exhibiting, it involves orientations, workshops, mentorship programs, and training.

Lise: The Students’ Biennale serves two important roles in that it encourages young artists by exhibiting their work and fosters a new generation of curators.

Riyas: Yes, it creates a new generation of curators plus gives a lot of confidence to young artists to continue with their art practice and remain as artists. It also gives them an opportunity to exhibit their works in parallel with major artists of the world.

Lise: Do the student artists whose work has been selected also come to the Biennale?

Riyas: One of the things that the Kochi Biennale Foundation does is insist that they be here while their works are installed, and also be a part of the Biennale. There is no point in them sitting somewhere and working if we don’t provide them a chance to interact with, and be a part of the exhibition. The idea is to initiate them into the larger art world and the process of art making, exhibiting, curating, etc. We provide financial assistance for all 465 student artists to come in batches and participate. Another aspect of the Students’ Biennale is its survey about the conditions where students are studying and amenities such as libraries and studio facilities.

Lise: Does this survey arise out of concern about the quality of art schools and their curriculum and facilities?

Riyas: That’s also one of our major concerns. It was first initiated as a survey into the way students across art colleges in India were thinking. It still is a survey, but now students in art colleges are thinking beyond what they are taught and are engaging with practices outside their own. I think the Biennale has given them a freedom to explore that the institutions themselves cannot provide at times.

It’s this concern that also drove us to initiate an annual project and launch the ABC program, Art by Children, in place of the Children’s Biennale. It’s a pilot project with 100 schools across Kerala and more than 5,000 children. It stems from the idea that we not only need art education but we also need arts in education. The ABC project is an investment by the Biennale Foundation in the future. When we were young, we didn’t see galleries or museums or art. The young, new, upcoming generation gets a chance to grow up with lot of art around them.

Lise: So ABC and the Biennale give children and youth in Kerala the chance to know such a world exists and opportunities to experience it.

Riyas: Yes, education is now a focus of the Biennale. We consistently try to educate from every angle. In an interview like this which may have a global readership, there’s another project I’d like to emphasize. It’s one of the most impressive of the Kerala government’s initiatives for women. It’s a women’s organization called Kudumbashree and it has 420,000 members.

Go Playces, installation detail

Lise: Kudumbashree is a giant in the social justice world for organizing women around empowerment and employment. How does it relate to the Biennale?

Riyas: This year in collaboration with Kudumbashree, we selected 45 women who have the inclination to make art. We brought them here for 10 days and gave them training in how to see the Biennale, how to understand works of art. They also did workshops with master artists. They’re returning to our Pepper House residency program later this year. They will stay here for a month and the government is supporting their travel, accommodation and expenses. They’re also giving them a grant to work. The works they produce will be collected by the government. Through initiatives and projects like these we hope to engage with the community more on a long-term basis.

Lise: In addition to being the Biennale’s co-founder, you’re the Director of Programmes. The program book shows a packed schedule of seminars, conferences, talks, performances, and films with participants from all over the world.

Riyas: We have been getting 100 people at these events. In the Biennale’s early weeks, we had 250 to 300 people. We also archive events and they’re available online so it reaches out to a larger audience. Artists’ Cinema is another important project. It screens a film every evening during the Biennale. Artists’ Cinema tries to break the boundaries between genres of cinema. Video art, experimental films, short films, documentaries, and fiction—everything is shown.

Lise: I’ve noticed also over the years very substantial improvements to the Biennale’s buildings and facilities.

Riyas: That’s also part of the process. We have become more confident and we now have access to better financial resources. It also depends on the curator. What kind of structural design he wants as an exhibition design.

Lise: I understand that the Biennale’s vision includes preservation of neglected historic buildings. In fact, the location of the Biennale is tied to that vision.

Riyas: That’s very much so. What the Biennale is doing is that it’s turning old disused buildings into spaces which can show and exhibit art. Other people are also exploring these spaces and converting them into art cafes, and galleries and cultural spaces. In fact, at the opening ceremony, the Chief Minister of Kerala announced that they are trying to work on having a permanent venue for the Biennale. We hope that the Biennale finds such a venue.

Tony Joseph, Biennale Pavillion in Cabral Yard

Lise: Another of the Biennale’s venues is Cabral Yard. It was much less built up in the first two editions and was a haven of trees and earthen constructions.

Riyas: This year we wanted to make an intervention, an art project itself. Sudharshan invited the Kerala architect Tony Joseph build a pavilion to accommodate our programs, including cinema, performances, the talk series. It’s not just designed. It’s an artwork and an argument for cultural centers that can accommodate many types of practice. This pavilion becomes another message to our system that we need to cultivate spaces like this. The whole approach in making that space is for it to be a model for any city in Kerala.

Kerala doesn’t have the kind of cultural centers that can have a coffee shop, a reading room, a children’s workshop space, a library, a film screening space, an auditorium. We tried to kind of put everything together into it. It’s a statement.

Tom Burkhardt, Studio Flood, installation view [upside down is intended orientation ]

Lise: The Biennale is a political act in that it shows how to make what is needed.

Riyas: And it not only moves people to action, but it also creates spaces that challenge the archaic ways of thinking of institutions here. The whole exercise of the Biennale, why we are aggressively involved in the education process, is to put pressure on the system. We are demanding as citizens that we need more art, we need more discourses, we need more art production.

Biennale Collateral Projects

Lise: What you’ve told me has really clarified how intentional the Biennale is about being a tactic to sustain pressure on the government to support art and art making—and public access to them.

Riyas:  In post-independent India, this project is very unique in where it derives support. It has gotten very strong support from the local government, which has a strong conviction in what the Biennale is doing. It is interested in the politics of the Biennale and stands by that. It knows that this is a project which unifies the community and celebrates the community’s history. At the same time, we’ve been able to bring artists from other countries and get support from those countries because they have strong relationships, one way or the other, with a place like Kochi. It’s a unique scenario where artists, cultural organizations, and individuals support it. Bureaucrats and politicians support it. And the locals support it.

Lise: This broad-based support is also evidence of the widespread need and desire for something like this. How about telling us what the Foundation is thinking about for the future? Where is the Biennale going?

Riyas: The Foundation is committed to expanding its educational initiatives. We are going to invest lot in the Art by Children ABC project and are in conversation with the government of Kerala’s education and finance ministers.

Painting by Art by Children ABC participant

Lise: Is the integration of art education into the school system part of the Foundation’s vision? In the US, arts education is waning in public schools. Its funding is increasingly cut and fewer and fewer students have access to it in public schools. Privately funded arts education organizations do not have the capacity to meet the growing need.

Riyas: India spends 0.13% on culture in comparison with 17% on defense. Where will the country go? What kind of support system is there? You can say put pressure on the NGOs or corporations with corporate social responsibility. That’s what America is also trying to do. I would say that’s actually moving away from responsibility. Unlike there, the government of Kerala is becoming a model state. It’s taking responsibility. It has realized that art and culture are among the biggest areas they have to focus on. That’s what is going to liberate people from their confusion. I salute this government for that.

Lise: Are you saying that despite changes in government officials and politicians, the Kerala government continuously has supported the Biennale from its beginning?

Riyas: The Kerala government has been very consistent. We have received support from the state government irrespective of government changes. The Chief Minister comes and inaugurates it. They love it. It’s a project which brings glory to this nation. But it’s very tragic that the Government of India’s central ministry is not interested. It’s not even sending a delegation to see a project of this scale, which has the participation of 31 countries.

Christer Lundahl and Martina Seitl, Symphony of a Missing Room – An Imagined Museum

Lise:  Is this an example of Delhi’s myopia? Or is it something else?

Riyas:  I think it’s the lack of vision. And the Government’s priority is bringing in large-scale infrastructural projects. They have a “Make in India” campaign, but they ignore everything that’s made in India.

Lise: Maybe this lack of vision is also a political statement.

Riyas:  I don’t think it’s an intentional statement. It’s just a continuation of the way we have been doing things over the past few decades. We have not cultivated very strong cultural institutions. Whatever we have are in a very bad condition. They don’t have the vision to understand what soft power can do in a country like India. If a visionary government thinks that “make in India” is a commercial proposal, they should try to understand—in cultural terms through ideas of innovative design—how to trigger more creative ways of involving others to come and make things in India.

Printmaking workshop with Background Civilization

Lise: Each edition of the Kochi Biennale is an impressive collective act of making and displays the vast resources of creativity in India and beyond.

Riyas: The Biennale asks, what makes the making interesting?

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