Jitish Kallat Appointed President of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale
47March 17, 2026
The Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) has named Mumbai-based curator and artistJitish Kallatas the new president of theKochi-Muziris Biennale. Kallat, a KBF board member and the curator of the biennale’s second edition in 2014–15, will oversee the selection of the curator for the biennale’s seventh iteration. He takes the reins from Biennale cofounder Bose Krishnamachari, who stepped down from his roles as president and member KBF’s board of trustees earlier this year.
“At an important moment for the foundation, we are grateful to Jitish Kallat for agreeing to chair the selection of the curator for the next edition of the Kochi–Muziris Biennale,” said KBF chair Dr. V. Venu in a statement. “His long association with the Biennale and his international experience in the contemporary art field make him well placed to take this forward.” Related Toleen Touq Will Curate the Twentieth Edition of MOMENTA Biennale Laura Phipps Named Director of Gochman Family Collection
Kallat’s artistic practice encompasses painting, collage, photography, and installation, and explores themes of time, space, measurement, and nature, frequently juxtaposing the historic with the present, and the celestial with the mundane. He has been the subject of several institutional solo exhibitions and has participated in numerous biennials, including the Venice Biennale, the Gwangju Biennale, and the Havana Biennial.
As a curator, in addition to organizing the second Kochi-Muziris Biennale, titled “Whorled Explorations,” he curated the group shows “I Draw, Therefore I Think” for South South, an initiative of London’s Chemould gallery, in 2021; “Tangled Hierarchy” at the John Hansard Gallery in Southampton, England, in 2022; and “Tangled Hierarchy 2,” presented by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art as part of the Invitations Program of the Fifth Kochi–Muziris Biennale that same year.
The sixth iteration of the Biennale is on view through March 31.