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Nikhil Chopra, an interdisciplinary artist from Goa whose practice combines live art, performance, sculpture, painting, installation and photography, is the curator of the sixth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale that opened on December 12 and will continue till March 31.

Hosted by the Kochi Biennale Foundation, with assistance of Rs 7.5 crore from the government of Kerala, the latest edition, titled “For the Time Being”, features 66 artist projects from over 25 countries including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Pakistan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Palestine, Italy and the United Arab Emirates. Spread out across the twin towns of Fort Kochi and Mattancherry in Kerala, it invites audiences to engage with the work of Ibrahim Mahama, Marina Abramović, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Naeem Mohaiemen, Abul Hisham, Bani Abidi, Dima Srouji, Prabhakar Kamble, Kulpreet Singh, Lionel Wendt, Shilpa Gupta and Zarina Mohammad, among other artists.

Chopra is the co-founder of HH Art Spaces, which describes itself as “an artist-run movement working with live performance, visual, sonic and installation artists locally, regionally and internationally”. On December 11, he led a preview walkthrough for visiting mediapersons.

Nikhil Chopra. Photo: Kochi Biennale Foundation

As I discovered, he can enchant you with his poetic turn of phrase and have you gasping for more, or leave you utterly confused and tearing your hair apart with his verbal wizardry. The listener’s response is, only partly, a result of Chopra’s doing. What one makes of him also reveals the expectations that one brings along while choosing to witness, interact with, or consume art.

Sample this: “I want you to think with your body and feel with your mind. I want you to smell with your eyes, see with your nose, touch with your tongue, and taste with your fingertips. I want you to experience this in a very........

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