Bose Krishnamachari, an artist and curator who co-founded the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) in 2010, announced his sudden resignation. South First reported the news, with a statement from the foundation citing “pressing family reasons.”
The 6th edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale—India’s first dedicated to international contemporary art and the largest in South Asia—opened on December 12, 2025, and is scheduled to close on March 31. The current exhibition, titled “For the Time Being,” features 66 artists from more than 20 countries, with a focus on “the body, a bearer of memory and materiality, a site of encounter, and a witness to temporality,” according to a statement released in advance of the opening.
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The Kochi-Muziris Biennale has weathered several controversies since the first edition, curated by Krishnamachari and co-founder Riyas Komu, opened in December 2012, from accusations of financial mismanagement and sexual harassment to communication breakdowns with participating artists and organizational challenges.
In early January, the biennial briefly closed due to religious protestors objecting to a painting referencing the Last Supper by Tom Vattakuzhy. (It was on view in a satellite exhibition also organized by the Kochi Biennale Foundation; Vattakuzhy and the foundation ultimately agreed to remove the work from view.)
V. Venu, the former chief secretary of Kerala, who was appointed chairperson of the Kochi Biennale Foundation in 2024, said in a statement to The Hindu that Krishnamachari “has been one of the most influential figures in the growth and evolution of the biennale. The foundation has initiated the process of identifying an eminent person with high credentials in the art world to serve as president KBF.”
