Internationally acclaimed artist Kader Attia will curate the seventh edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB). The announcement was made by Jitish Kallat, president of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, at a special event organised by the Foundation in Venice on Friday.
Attia was selected by a committee chaired by Kallat. Its members were Shilpa Gupta, Amrita Jhaveri, Pooja Sood, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Mariam Ram, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. The Seventh Edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale will open in December 2027.
Born in Dugny, France, in 1970, Kader Attia is an internationally recognised artist, curator, and professor at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg (HfbK Hamburg). His practice engages deeply with questions of history, memory, repair, and the enduring legacies of colonialism. Working across installation, sculpture, film, and archival research, Attia has developed a body of work that brings together artistic, anthropological, and philosophical inquiry.
As the curator of the seventh edition of the Biennale, Attia will begin a process of curatorial research and dialogue towards developing the framework for the 2027–2028 edition, with Kochi as a vital point of departure within a wider field of artistic, historical, and contemporary inquiry.
Welcoming Attia, Kallat said: “Kader Attia brings to the Biennale artistic depth, curatorial openness, and a strong pedagogic sensibility. The committee was drawn to the poetic range and generative potential of his proposal, and to the flexible curatorial framework it offered for bringing multiple artistic practices, histories, and publics into meaningful relation in Kochi. Attia had previously participated in the 2014 edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and we look forward to the ways in which his curatorial vision will take shape in Kochi.”
Speaking on his appointment, Kader Attia said, “Ever since I visited Kochi for the first time, I have dreamed of coming back and building connections between the many intertwined influences that are at the core of this culturally multi-layered city. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bring this desire to life on the scale of a biennial, together with the fantastic team of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, for its seventh edition. Dreams repair us, like art… and the Biennale, as well as Kerala, will give us the space-time to reclaim our sovereignty over our dreams."
“The sixth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale was remarkable in many ways. It reaffirmed the Biennale’s role as a vibrant space for dialogue, imagination, and inclusiveness. The announcement of the new curator, Kader Attia, marks the beginning of a fresh artistic journey — one that will continue to challenge, inspire, and connect global voices with our local realities. We are committed to building on this legacy with new ideas, deeper engagements, and bold artistic explorations, while remaining rooted in Kochi’s unique cultural fabric,” said Dr Venu V, the chairperson of the Kochi Biennale Foundation.
The sixth Biennale was mired in controversy, first when artist Tom Vattakuzhy’s controversial ‘Last Supper’ painting withdrawn from Kochi-Muziris Biennale after protests. A few days later, Biennale president Bose Krishnamachari resigned. It later came to light that he had done so following sexual harassment charges against him by a colleague.
