Two decades ago, when homemaker Santha K V took up threads of different colours to weft and wrap the vibrant images in her mind with her loom, the Beypore native might not have imagined that one day she would be part of Kerala’s prestigious art fiesta, The Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB). Currently, the 55-year-old is busy preparing her majestic tapestries that depict the abstract forms of village life and the flora and fauna, to showcase at the event that begins on December 12.The self-taught artist, who has featured her works in different countries including the International Triennale of Tapestries in Poland in 1995, is a soft-spoken craftswoman, who began focusing on the art as way to alleviate her grief after her husband passed away when she was just 35. “I never thought I would be called an artist; it all just happened,” says Santha, who is popular for her handmade tapestry art named Tasara.The fourth edition of Biennale, curated by artist Anita Dube, will provide space for more women like Santha. In fact, for the first time, more than half the featured artists are women, and it will also see the participation of significant women empowerment pillars such as the Kudumbashree Mission, Women in Cinema Collective and Guerrilla Girls.Anita, who is the first woman curator of the art fiesta, says it was a conscious decision “to slightly tilt the balance to the women’s side”. “When I started curating, symbolically I wanted works of more women than men to be featured. I don’t think any exhibition in the world has an equal representation of both genders. So, I felt we should. This Biennale would be an eye opener to those who think that women aren’t great artists and that’s why there will be a few more women than men,” she says.Some of the female artists featured in the upcoming edition that has the theme ‘Possibilities for a non-alienated life’ include Rehana Zaman from Pakistan, Sue Williamson from South Africa, Bracha Ettinger from Israel, Tania Candiani from Cuba. Indian artists such as Anju Dodiya, Sambhavi Singh, Madhvi Parekh, Nilima Sheikh, Chitra Ganesh and Annu Palakunnathu Mathew will also be showcasing their works.“You will see a lot of aged artists who would break the idea of the young and the new. We have side-lined many wonderful artists as I found it important to bring these talents forward and let everybody enjoy their work,” Anita explains.Apart from the featured artists, the Biennale will also see a strong women presence in a wide array of programmes throughout the year. The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), which was formed for the welfare of women artistes in Mollywood, will be curating films in the Artist’s Cinema section. Film editor Beena Paul, one of its prime members, says she hopes to use this platform to bring more visibility to the works of WCC members. “I am planning to screen the works of our members that will include films, narratives, documentaries, photographs and so on. There are many remarkable crafts that never made it to the mainstream. I am sure this opportunity will help us take them to the international audience,” she explains.Meanwhile, the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) and Kudumbasree Mission is planning a collaboration, which will have activities such as community kitchen, merchandising and skill development workshops.S Harikishore, executive director, Kudumbasree Mission, says being Asia’s largest women movement, Kudumbasree is honoured to be part of the “women’s biennale”. “We are extremely excited to involve in every activity of the KMB. Kudumbasree members will be volunteers, they will be organising art exhibitions, programmes and performances,” he says.In addition, the KBF’s project Varayude Penma, an instructional workshop that aims to nurture the hidden artistic talents of the Kudumbasree women, that began in the previous edition will continue this year too. Soya Thomas, Kudumbasree Programme Manager, Gender and Balasabha, says, “Varayude Penma empowered our members a lot last time. They are now creating art works like professionals and it is helping them achieve financial stability.”More surprises are in store with Guerrilla Girls, the anonymous group of feminist female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world, also being featured in this edition of Biennale at a time when the #MeToo movement is in full swing130 artists will participate this year in KMB from 31 countries. There will be five infra projects and one among them is Aqui Thami’s Sister Library that features all the books ever written by Indian women writersKMB 2018’s pavilion will be built in Cabral Yard and be open for public to organise programmes. People can have reading sessions, interactions, perform and it will be a democratic space to showcase talentsThe third edition of Students Biennale will feature exhibition, education forum and field-based research in art education. It will see the participation of students from India and other SAARC countries. This year’s curators are Sanchayan Ghosh, Shruti Ramalingalah, Krishnapriya CP, Shukla Sawant, KP Reji and M P NishadTalks on subjects ranging from art and history to development and economics will be organised throughout the year. There will be talks by Barthelemy Toguo, Sue Williamson, Jitish Kallat, Lisa Premke, Vicky Roy, BV Suresh and Ajay Skaria, amongst others.Being a platform for carefully curated and radically alternative cinematic expressions, this year, the session will see the involvement of Women in Cinema Collective as well.The second edition of the programme aims foster creative thinking in children by having an inclusive approach to arts education

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