Kader Attia to Curate Seventh Edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale

The Kochi Biennale Foundation has announced internationally acclaimed artist and curator Kader Attia as the curator of the seventh edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, scheduled to open in December 2027. The announcement was made by Jitish Kallat, president of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, at a special event in Venice on Friday.

Kader Attia was born in Dugny, France, in 1970, and is an internationally recognized artist, curator, and professor at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg. His practice engages deeply with questions of history, memory, repair, and the enduring legacies of colonialism.

As the curator of the seventh edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Attia will begin a process of curatorial research and dialogue towards developing the framework for the 2027–2028 edition. Attia said he has dreamed of coming back to Kochi and building connections between the many intertwined influences that are at the core of this culturally multi-layered city.

The committee was drawn to the poetic range and generative potential of Attia's proposal, and to the flexible curatorial framework it offered for bringing multiple artistic practices, histories, and publics into meaningful relation in Kochi, said Jitish Kallat. The sixth edition of the biennale, curated by the artist Nikhil Chopra with HH Art Spaces, concluded on March 31.

The Kochi Biennale Foundation will now begin preparations for the seventh edition, with Kader Attia expected to start his curatorial research and dialogue in the coming months. The foundation will announce further details about the biennale in due course.