Amsterdam, January 15, 2013. Shri. K.C. Joseph Minister for Culture Government of Kerala Room No: 358 B, 1st Floor - Main Block Secretariat Thiruvananthapuram Kerala, India Dear Mr. Joseph, As international colleagues we would herewith like to express our support and sympathy for the Kochi Muziris Biennale, India’s first biennale of contemporary art, initiated by Riyas Komu and Bose Krishnamachari. The Kochi Muziris Biennale in Kochi is internationally welcomed as a valuable new arts initiative in India, and its first edition already regarded a success. A biennial traditionally is the result of a collective effort and concentrated investment poured into a single outcome, and it often emerges from (and is a response to) a context where there is a lack of mature contemporary art institutions to run high-quality programs year-round. Indeed, some of the most relevant biennials today take place in emerging scenes such as Dakar, Havana, Istanbul, Gwangju, Porto Alegre, São Paulo, Taipei, or Sharjah, where there is a burgeoning circuit of artists, a significant audience, and a lack of infrastructure for contemporary art. The truly relevant biennial today is a phenomenon of the global South, relying on independence, creativity, and ingenuity from its organizers, and drawing crucial connections between different locales and productions. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is wonderfully fitting in this picture. As colleagues and colleague institutions internationally, who all recently convened at World Biennial Forum No1 in Gwangju in South - Korea, we would herewith like to ask you to continue to support the Kochi- Muziris Biennale. Yours Sincerely, Marieke van Hal Director Biennial Foundation www.biennialfoundation.org www.worldbiennialforum.org See next pages: Supported by: Ute Meta Bauer, Dean of Fine Arts, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom Hou Hanru, Independent Curator, USA/France/China Yongwoo Lee, President Gwangju Biennale Foundation, South –Korea. Elke aus dem Moore, Head of Visual Arts, Ifa- Institute für Auslandsbeziehungen, Germany Sabina Santarossa, Director Asef - Asia-Europe Foundation, Singapore Alisa Prudnikova, Artistic Director Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Russia Alia Swastika, Curator Jogja Biennale, Indonesia Bige Örer, Director Istanbul Biennale, Turkey Dolgor Ser-Od & Marc Schmitz, Co-directors Land Art Mongolia LAM 360˚, Mongolia Caroline Turner, Founding Director APT- Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Australia Evelyne Jouanno, Director Emergency Biennale, Chechnya /France Fang-Wei Chang, Director Taipei Biennial at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan Eriko Osaka, Director Yokohama Art Museum and Yokohama Triennial, Japan Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi, Director Sharjah Art Foundation Biennial, United Arab Emirates Jonathan Watkins, Director Ikon Gallery United Kingdom Ritsuko Taho, Director Kobe Biennale, Japan Ou Ning, Curator Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, China Wang Huang Sheng, Director CAFA Art Museum, Beijing and former Director of Gangzhou Triennial, China Wato Tsereteli, Director Tbilisi Triennial, Georgia 2 Tarek Abou El Fetouh, Director Meeting Points, Arab World Zhang Qing, Head Curatorial and Research Department of the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, and Former Director Shanghai Biennale, China Ursula Zeller, Director Zeppelin Museum and Triennale Oberschwaben, Germany Marie Le Sourd, Secretary General ‘On the Move’, Brussels Kim Hong-Hee, Director Seoul Museum of Art, South – Korea Hyungmin Pai, Curator Gwangju Design Biennale, South- Korea Beck Jee-sook, Artistic Director Anyang Public Art Project (APAP), South –Korea Jinsang Yoo, Artistic Director Seoul Mediacity, South - Korea Zheng Yan, Deputy Director Today Art Museum, Beijing Shahidul Alam, Arist, Director Chobi Mela, Bangladesh Basak Senova, Independent Curator, Turkey Lian Ladia, Independent Curator, Philippines Mauro Petroni, Curator, Biennale of Dak’Art, Senegal Alya Sebti, Artistic Director Marrakech Biennale, Morocco Quynh-Anh Tran, Curator, Saigon Open City, Vietnam Raphael Chikukwa, Curator National Gallery Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Andrea Cancellato, Director Milan Triennale, Italy Dag Aak Sveinar, Director Nordic Biennale Momentum, Norway Ekaterina Degot, Curator Bergen Assembly, Norway Bernardo de Souza, Curator Mercosul Biennale, Brazil 3 Evelyn Holm, Director Bergen Assembly, Norway Gabriele Horn, Director Berlin Biennale, Germany Renate Wagner, General Manager, Berlin Biennale, Germany Joseph Backstein, Director Moscow Biennale, Russia Lewis Biggs, Curator Folkestone Triennale and Aich Triennale, United Kingdom/Japan Margarita González, Deputy Director Havana Biennale, Cuba Nevenka Šivavec, Director Ljubljana Graphic Biennale, Slovenia Sally Tallant, Director Liverpool Biennale, United Kingdom Shihoko Iida, Curator Aich Triennale, Japan Alnoor Mitha, Director Asia Triennial Manchester, United Kingdom Suzana Sousa, Curator Luanda Triennale, Angola Helena Kontova, Co-Director Prague Biennale, Chech Republic Susanne Boecker, Art Critic, Kunstforum, Germany Rafal Niemojewski, Dean of Curatorial Department, Chelsea University of the Arts in London, United Kingdom Adrian Notz, Director Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, Switzerland Veeranganakumari Solanki, Independent Curator, India Daniel Rangel, Artistic Director ICC, Sao Paolo, Brazil Shengtian Zheng, Managing Director Yihshu Journal, China 4 .