Bringing it down one by one

Pavneet Pal Singh, head of production at the Kochi Muziris Biennale, talks about how, he, along with a group of volunteers and packers are dismantling the works of the 94 participating artists  

Photos: Pavneet Pal Singh; the works of Priya Ravish Mehra in crates 

By Shevlin Sebastian

The normally-unflappable Pavneet Pal Singh is gasping. “It’s really hot,” he says, as he walks around the almost deserted grounds of Aspinwall House at Fort Kochi. As the head of production for the Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB), he is supervising the deinstalling and packing of all the artworks following the conclusion of the art festival on March 29.

“Deinstalling is basically removing it from the walls, or dismantling the installations,” he says. “If there is a big painting, we place it on a layer of foam.” Following that, a team of packers will put it in crates, the same ones in which the artwork was brought to Kochi initially. They had been all numbered and stored in a warehouse.

The team of volunteers is following a schedule that has been drawn up by the KMB. “We have de-installed the works of four or five artists every day for the past two weeks,” says Pavneet. After it is put in crates, it is sent by lorry, train, plane or ship to cities both within and outside the country.

Pavneet, in his bright-red T-shirt and Bermuda shorts, is standing in the hall where the works of the late Priya Ravish Mehra have already been put in crates. “There are 40 works in 13 crates,” he says. “This will go to Delhi. We will also get ready the crates of other artists from Delhi and then send it in one batch.”

However, not all artworks have to be shipped back. The Chinese artist Song Dong’s installation, called ‘The Water Temple’, a glass structure, placed on the grounds, was built on site. Bangladesh artist Marzia Farhana’s work on the devastating Kerala floods in August last year featured refrigerators and television sets that no longer work, as well as books that were damaged by water. “We bought Marzia’s objects as scrap and it will be sold as scrap,” says Pavneet.  

In fact, there is going to be an auction on April 20 where vendors can come and bid for articles which the KMB, as well as the artists, do not need. “This is a two-fold auction,” he says. “One is for construction materials like glass, wood and metal, while the other is for audio-visual equipment.”  

Meanwhile, a couple of photographers of the KMB are going around taking photos of the artworks just before they are packed. The reason for doing this is simple: if there is any damage to the art works during transit, the transporter can be held accountable.

At the moment there are a total of 29 volunteers: 15 are at Aspinwall House and other venues, two at Pepper House while the rest are at the Students’ Biennale.

Interestingly, only one artist among the 94 has personally come to do the packing. She is Lubna Chowdhary from Britain. Her work, ‘Metropolis’ contains one thousand small ceramic sculptures of household items like a telephone, wheelbarrow, table, chair, and clock. “Lubna felt it was easily breakable, so she wanted to do the work herself,” says Pavneet. “In the end, she took three days to pack the entire lot.” However, some, like Shilpa Gupta and Kausik Mukhopadhyay sent their assistants.

A few artists have given specific instructions. The Israeli artist Bracha Ettinger had a lot of small drawings. “So she wanted butter paper between every artwork,” says Pavneet. “Bracha made special boxes for this. She said not to use tape inside, but outside the boxes.”

Interestingly, South African artist William Kentridge’s installation had eight video screens. But they were made locally, of gypsum board and aluminium. However, the two big megaphones on tripods came from South Africa and media players from the Netherlands. “So we will be sending them back,” says Pavneet.

The eye-catching exhibit had been a huge tyre weighing 3.7 tonnes. It was the work of Danish artist EB Itso but the tyre was made by JK Tyres. “This tyre is actually used in the mining industry, where they need big dump trucks,” says Pavneet. “In India, it seems only JK Tyres makes it. So they will be taking it back.”

As Pavneet goes about his work, he feels a sense of closure. “I was there at the beginning when the works were set up, during the festival and now at the end when it is being dismantled. So, I feel the job is getting done.”

He had worked in the previous Biennale, too. And he felt that both Biennales were equally successful. “There were crowds on the weekends, on Mondays when the entry was free, but it dipped a bit during the weekdays,” he says. “But this time, there were a lot of visitors from the art world in Delhi and Mumbai. For them, visiting the festival had become a must-see.”

Early next month, Pavneet, who has an architect’s degree, will return home to Chandigarh. “I will rest for a few days and then decide on my next course of action,” he says. “But the Biennale memories will remain as fresh as ever.” 

(The New Indian Express, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram)