The City, the People and the Art: Pune Biennale 2017 begins

January 6, 2017

The city is ready to experience a wave of intriguing and engaging art that spreads in different forms across the city. The third edition of Pune Biennale was inaugurated on Thursday at the hands of several notable names like Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Sangita Jindal as well as city officials like Kunal Kumar, the Commissioner of Pune Municipal Corporation and the Mayor, Prashant Jagtap.

The inaugural ceremony kicked off by a theatrical tribute to renowned Indian artist, Raja Ravi Varma.

Raja Ravi Varma performance at the Pune Biennale 2017 inaugural performance

“Since 2013, Pune Biennale has become an integral part of Pune’s cultural wealth. We are privileged to have got full support from the Government of Maharashtra, Pune Municipal Corporation, other local bodies and our supporting patrons. Pune Biennale Foundation in collaboration with Pune Municipal Corporation is trying to make visual art available to the larger public and involving city artists in creating an aesthetic experience for the citizens,” said Dr Vishwajeet Kadam, President, Pune Biennale Foundation.

The biennale is being curated by Luca Cerizza and Zasha Colah. The city will see artworks and installations by over 200 artists coming from around the world and the country. The art is situation is different locations like Sambhaji Park, Z Bridge, Empress Garden, Phule Museum among a few to mention. This vast display of art will run for three weeks till January 29.

“While Pune Biennale 2013 highlighted the important issue of ‘Hills of Pune’ by using art as a powerful communicative tool, Pune Biennale 2015 made a real commitment and engagement with ‘Heritage: Yours and Mine’. So thematically, the third edition now goes a level deeper into the idea of identity and self for the people who try and negotiate contemporary forces of globalization and yet retaining traditional values, concludes Dr Kiran Shinde, Managing Director, Pune Biennale Foundation.

The evening ended with Kolossal, a performance by Marcello Maloberti that showed a palm tree being elevated by a crane along with a brass band playing a symphony at Z Bridge.