PEPPER HOUSE
Kochi, Kerala – 2013:
Pepper House Residency is one of the key activities of the Kochi Biennale Foundation and takes place between two editions of the Biennale. The Residency was founded in 2013 to serve as a space for the exploration and evolution of the idea and themes of the Biennale. Other ideals behind establishing the Residency were to create a space of expression and dialogue for artists, to allow art enthusiasts to explore and interact with contemporary art and to provide an opportunity to upcoming and established artists to find new possibilities in various media. Art education is also one of the strong thrusts of the Residency. The Residency is equipped with a full-fledged library and serves as the base for the KMB Foundation’s educational activities, notably the children’s programmes.
An engagement with the location lies at the heart of the Residency. The Residency encourages participants to explore various socio, cultural and historic aspects of Kochi and develop their works in response to it. Through projects that emerge organically from the relationship between artists and local stakeholders, the Residency helps open up communication between artists and non-traditional audiences. The location of the Residency plays an important role in shaping the projects. The studio spaces are located in a historic warehouse adjoining the dock. The historic richness as well as structural limitations of the site pose interesting possibilities and challenges to artists.
Artists are selected for the Residency through open calls, nominations or exchanges resulting in a rich mixture of residents from varied backgrounds and experiences. Exchange programmes with international residencies in Germany, UAE, France, South Africa and Australia are particularly important as they facilitate cross-cultural dialogue and also allow local artists to gain international exposure and thereby energise the local art scene.
Text Courtesy : Space118
Image Courtesy : Pepper House and World Wide Web