The only Biennale in all of India is held in Cochin and is currently on. I recently made a visit to Fort Cochin to check out certain friendships and visiting the Biennale.
The official name of this 5th Biennale is Cochin-Muziris Biennale. We all know about cochin and its history and multiculturalism but what about MUZURIS
At the Kashi Arts Cafe in Burgher Street there was a exhibition of representations of artifacts recently unearthed by an archaelogical excavation in the region where the ancient Muziris is imagined to have been in Pattanam, a short drive away to the north. Wine Jars and Amphorae date to earlier times. Silting up of the Periyar river physically drowned the city
There is a fair bit of interest in the Muziris story
Muziris, somewhere around modern Kodungalloor in Kerala, was an ancient thriving port that finds mention in Sangam literature as well as Greek, Roman, Arab travelogues. Kodungalloor in little Kerala still holds a kind of beauty that reflects the history and culture. Archaeological excavations are now unearthing the history and tradition, which slept in the bosom of the earth for two thousand years - a historical treasure that is finally getting unearthed. The market places bounded by backwaters and canals take us on a sail back in time to the history and architectural treasures of the past. Muziris welcomes you to the cape of cultural foot prints left by travellers from around the world - waves of Azhikode where Christianity first entered India, the Cheraman mosque which gave out the first Muslim call for prayers in India, the Jewish synagogue that predates advent of Christianity in symphony with the Kodungalloor Bhagavathy temple, the villages where handlooms spin traditional attire, the Palium palace along the old waterways that once led visitors to Muziris. To rediscover and reinstate the historical and cultural significance of the legendary port, Government of Kerala has initiated the Muziris Heritage Project (MHP)
From International Journal of History and social sciences 201. the authors of this articles are from Ernakulum
While visiting my friend at his bookstore, I happened to glance at a recent book by SETHU, a writer in vernacular Malayalam. I had read another one of his work, translated into English, called Aliyah, which is the best anthropological observation on the daily life of the Malabari Jews.
When I looked at the title of his latest book, i was less than surprised. As Native peoples say, there is no such thing as coincidences,just that we are not clever enough to interpret it.
I am enjoying the book very much, once again a participant observation kind of literature familiar to the anthropologists, and this time it is about Muziris.
I will write a review and reading this book has been a balm for the nostalgia i felt for Cochin..
