4 anthems in their lifetime: Panjeri Artist Union's art of divided history at Kochi-Muziris Biennale

Kochi, Dec 17 (PTI) Those above the age of 75 years at Habra in West Bengal are people who have sung four different national anthems in their lifetime.

This uniqueness forms the core of the works by the Panjeri Artists' Union at the sixth edition of the ongoing Kochi-Muziris Biennale here.

On display at the 110-day festival are stories of their own community, forced to witness their lives being divided repeatedly even after partition, a statement said here on Wednesday.

Their lives have unfolded across shifting national identities: from British India to East Pakistan to Bangladesh and, eventually, to independent India.

The artworks by the Panjeri Union are exhibited at the Coir Godown at Fort Kochi's Aspinwall House as part of the Biennale.

This four-year-old art collective, with its origin in Banipur not far from Kolkata, comprises 14 artists drawn from diverse fields, including visual art, design, literature, cinema, photography and music, it said.

Jute is the primary raw material used in the artworks. There is a reason for this, says Bhaskar Hazarika, a member of the collective, founded in February 2022.

For centuries, jute cultivation was the main source of livelihood for the people of the region, he said.

Then, from the mid-19th century, industrialisation began--first under the imperial British and later with the arrival of modern products in the market.

Eventually, globalisation since the 1990s dealt a severe blow to the jute industry, according to the collective.

The 1947 partition meant that this community became residents of East Pakistan. Twenty-four years later, the 1971 India-Pakistan war led to the birth of Bangladesh.

Amid a surge in the civic conflict in the nascent nation, the community members crossed the border to arrive in India's West Bengal as refugees.

"These lived hardship have deeply influenced our artworks. Net-like grids recur frequently in the works, symbolising an unstable and uncertain life," Bhaskar said.

Bright, shimmering garments draw from Hindu ritual art in Assam, which emerged as a form of resistance by the people against Brahminical dominance.

"Through this, oppressed castes assert a cultural resistance, claiming their own right to radiance and splendour," he noted.

Each artist in the collective has transformed chapters from their personal life experiences into works of art.

The Panjeri Union will remain part of the biennale over the next three-and-a-half months, its organisers said.

Beyond the exhibition, they seek to communicate their ideas to art-lovers and, through them, to the wider public, using video works, performance art and presentations, they added.

The sixth edition of the festival here, organised by Kochi Biennale Foundation, is curated by multidisciplinary artist Nikhil Chopra with HH Spaces, Goa.

On from December 12, the event is being held in 22 venues in the twin towns of Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, besides downtown Ernakulam and the Willingdon Island across the creek.

It features work by 66 artists and collectives from over 25 countries, reflecting a broad spectrum of contemporary practices, the statement added. PTI LGK KH