Kochi Biennale Co-Founder Leaves The Show

Bose Krishnamachari, co-founder of Kochi Biennale. Image courtesy: Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0/ Fotokannan

Bose Krishnamachari, one of India’s most well-known artists who co-founded the highly successful Kochi-Muziris Biennale, resigned as the president of the biennale and as member of the board of trustees of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, citing “pressing family reasons.”

He resigned on January 14, 2026, Wednesday, barely a month after the 6th edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale opened in Kochi on December 12, 2025.

It came as a great surprise to all members of the art fraternity as Krishnamachari resigned in the middle of the ongoing, successful biennale; this edition o the biennale runs through March 31, 2026.

With Krishnamachari’s exit, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale is now left without its two co-founders; the other co-founder, artist Riyas Komu had resigned in 2018 following #MeToo allegations. Krishnamachari and Komu had jointly founded the biennale and co-curated it’s inaugural edition in December 2012.