Kader Attia to Curate the 2027 Kochi-Muziris Biennale
Kader Attia, the Berlin- and Paris-based artist whose work is currently on view in Koyo Kouoh’s main exhibition at the Venice Biennale, has been named curator of the 2027 Kochi-Muziris Biennale. The appointment places one of contemporary art’s most intellectually rigorous figures at the center of India’s leading biennial, at a moment when the institution is navigating both continuity and change.
Attia, a recipient of France’s Prix Marcel Duchamp, is widely known for sculptures and installations that address the afterlives of colonial violence, particularly in North Africa. His curatorial experience is equally significant. He previously organized the 2022 Berlin Biennale, a show that drew praise in some quarters for foregrounding artists from the Global South, while also prompting criticism after a group of Iraqi artists withdrew in protest over a French artist’s work that included graphic images of tortured Abu Ghraib detainees.
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale has long distinguished itself by inviting artists to shape the exhibition. The most recent edition, which opened at the end of last year, was organized by Nikhil Chopra in collaboration with HH Art Spaces, the artist-run space in Goa. In 2018, Anita Dube, who also has an art history background, curated the biennial. Attia himself participated in Kochi’s 2014 edition, making the new appointment feel less like a departure than a return.
Jitish Kallat, the Indian artist who led the selection committee, praised Attia’s “artistic depth, curatorial openness, and a strong pedagogic sensibility.” In a statement, Attia said he had dreamed of returning to Kochi since his first visit, adding that he hoped to build connections among the city’s intertwined influences and to realize that ambition on the scale of a biennial.
The announcement also arrives after a difficult period for the Kochi Biennale Foundation. Bose Krishnamachari, a co-founder of the biennial, stepped down as leader of the foundation in mid-January. It later emerged that he had been facing a sexual harassment complaint, which he denied, calling the allegations “misleading, unverified, and taken out of context.” Venu Vasudevan, the foundation’s chairperson, said Attia’s appointment marks “an exciting new chapter” for the biennial.
For Kochi, the choice signals both a commitment to artist-led curating and a willingness to place the next edition in the hands of a figure whose practice has repeatedly returned to questions of repair, memory, and historical damage.
