New Delhi, Noted poet Jibananda Das’ 1942 poem “Banalata Sen” finds new life as the curatorial framework and theme for the upcoming second edition of Bengal Biennale, which references both the central figure of the poem and the ecology of wild forest vines , delving into subterranean worlds and buried histories across Kolkata and Santiniketan.
the exhibition will unfold across multiple venues in Kolkata and Santiniketan, connecting established cultural institutions, historic sites, artist-led spaces and alternative locations While the list of participating artists is yet to be announced. “The more polarised our world seems, the more urgent is the need to acknowledge the lessons of resilience that nature offers us. If we wish to learn from it.
The unseen entanglements that unite us, the neurons that make us feel for each other, and the hope that green shoots hold out to us – Bengal Biennale’s Banalata was born, and grew from these thoughts,” Jeet and Malavika Banerjee, trustees, Gameplan Foundation said.
“It endeavours to create new knottings of kinship and solidarity across Bengal and beyond.
Co-curated by artist collective Chander Haat and curator Ritika Biswas, the biennale will “bring together collective and individual approaches to artistic practice, research, and community-building, while foregrounding the specific cultural and ecological contexts of Bengal”. This Biennale attempts to hold poetics and politics as inherently and generatively entwined forces,” Biswas said in a statement.
