The first thing that comes to anyone’s mind when they think about Kochi is the Muziris Biennale. A contemporary art event held every other year where art sessions, art exhibitions, talks, workshops, educational performances, film screening etc are held. But the charm of Fort Kochi doesn’t start or end with the Biennale, even after the 3 month art galore one can still see the art work. So come on, lets go on a Art Walk at Fort Kochi.
Durbar Hall Art Gallery
Our Kochi stay was made memorable with a unique art walk curated by MustTravel. Our first stop was Durbar Hall Art Gallery, where we met K S Dilip Kumar, an ex-journo with a Malayalam daily called Mathrubhumi. He was exhibiting his painting and sketches spanning at least of two decades.
Mattancherry Street Art
Our next stop in the Art Walk was Mattancherry, where we explored street art done by local and international artists. Portraits of people adorns the by-lanes of Mattancherri and shows the expressive part of human emotions. We found many murals, some were in good shape but some fading away due to the rains.
There are no rules in art. It is not monotonous or static, rather its evolutionary. Street art in particular evokes inspiration, it makes people think and narrates the stories of the masses.
OED Art Gallery
We also visited OED Art Gallery, where we got a fading glimpse of the Biennale. This art gallery is one of the pioneers in promoting artists from in and around Kerala.
David Hall
Next on our art trail was David Hall, an old Dutch bungalow turned into an art gallery and a creative space for aspiring artists. After a quick coffee at Art Cafe CGH Earth and discussing the art scene in Kerala, we embracked upon our art journey towards Burger Street.
Burger Street
A lane full of cute cafes and colourful corners, this place is most famous for housing Kashi Art Cafe – a must visit place suggested in every travel guide.
The high point of the walk was the Rains. Exploring art on the empty streets of Fort Kochi was lovely. Trying to balance my camera and the umbrella was a struggle but it was fun too. We were prepared to brace the Kerala Monsoon. 🙂
If you are in Kochi and wants to experience true Kochi vibes then I would suggest that you contact Must Travel. They specialise in curating walks around art, food and culture. We had the good fortune of having Mr.Arun as our walk leader, he is knowledgable and passionate about art. At the beginning of the walk, I told him that my interest is more in street art and he made sure that I saw all the street art around Fort Kochi area.
A big thank you to Mr. Jovial Fernandes and Mr. Arun from MustTravel.in team for hosting us.