संवाद / Conversation
15 December , 2025
Riyas Komu
Riyas Komu is an artist and curator who has exhibited his works worldwide, including at the Venice Biennale. His works – paintings, sculptures, videos, photographs and installations – dwell on a range of subjects that include war, migration, civilisational memories, displacement, violence, betrayal, history, conflict, peace, football and the Indian Constitution.Komu is the ideator of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and co-founder of the Kochi Biennale Foundation. He co-curated the first edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2012 and subsequently developed the biennale into a multidisciplinary educational project as the Director of Programmes. He co-curated the first International Football Film Festival in India at the Goa International Film Festival and Trivandrum International Film Festival in 2012. Komu’s critically acclaimed solo projects include ‘Faith Accompli’ (2005), ‘Related List’ (2008) and ‘Holy Shiver’ (2018) which celebrated the art in the Constitution. In 2019, Komu curated the Kondotty Sufi Festival. He is the co-founder of URU Art Harbour, a cultural hub in Mattancherry, Kochi, which promotes artists from the region focused on local culture and maritime history. In 2022, he co-founded Aazhi Archives with a group of academics and scholars which puts the spotlight on Art+Knowledge+People.
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