The Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) has unveiled the programmes and exhibitions for the sixth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), scheduled to run for 109 days from December 12, 2025, to March 31, 2026. This edition, titled "For the Time Being," is curated by Nikhil Chopra with HH Art Spaces, an artist-led organization based in Goa.
The KMB will feature 66 artists and collectives from over 20 countries, showcasing a diverse array of conversations, films, music, theatre, workshops, and choreographies. The themes explored will include migration, violence, disability, and statelessness. The Biennale aims to be a "shared ecosystem where people coexist without a nucleus".
Mario D'Souza, the Director of Programmes, along with Ananthan Suresh, Mashoor Ali, and Rebecca Martin, has charted out programmes that will unfold alongside the artworks. D'Souza emphasized the importance of "thinking with people" in today's world, highlighting the need to "find joy, share a meal, grieve, and come to terms with loss". He noted resilience as a key strength in the face of adversity and systemic erasure, honoring caregivers and those who keep hope alive.
The Biennale Pavilion, designed by architect Senthil Kumar Doss, will be the central hub for events. Doss's structure, named "Primordial," was selected by a jury comprising Aric Chen, Bose Krishnamachari, Radhika Desai, Shimul Javeri Kadri, and Tony Joseph. The Pavilion is envisioned as the "beating heart of the biennale, activated by gatherings, events, and happenings".
Some of the highlighted programmes include a lecture-performance by Noor Abed and Haig Aivazian titled "Nothing will remain other than the thorn lodged in the throat of this world," a presentation of Somnath Waghmare's documentary practice, "Imagining Zomia," a conversation with practitioners, filmmakers, historians, and artists to re-examine the highlands of Central, South, and Southeast Asia, and "Statues Must Die" by Naeem Mohaiemen.
The KBF also announced Edam, an exhibition that foregrounds artistic practices and processes from Kerala, curated by Aishwarya Suresh and K.M. Madhusudhan. Set across three venues, it weaves 36 projects by local artists. The sixth edition of the Students Biennale (SB) will bring together 70 artist projects across four venues, mapping a record 150 art schools across the country.
Nikhil Chopra and HH Art Spaces envision the biennale as a living ecosystem where each element shares space, time, and resources, growing in dialogue with each other. They aim to move away from the idea of the Biennale as a singular event, instead shaping something evolving, responsive, and alive. Their inquiry begins with the body–chemical, tender, marked by memory and intimacy–seeing it as a landscape of time, a vessel of labor, joy, and loss.
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale, inaugurated in 2012, is South Asia's largest contemporary art event and the first biennial established in India. It spans multiple cultural sites across Kochi, including Aspinwall House, Pepper House, the Island Warehouse on Willingdon Island, Durbar Hall, and Space.
This year's lineup features artists from the region and across the globe, including Marina Abramović and LaToya Ruby Frazier. The curatorial team stated their invitation to artists was to work with Kochi's climates, conditions, and resource realities, to make time, think nimbly, and collaborate locally. Around 50 new commissions will be created for "For the Time Being," many developed in collaboration with local communities and installed in first-time venues throughout Kochi.
