Let's not be afraid of Utopias : - Resistances and Solidarities from Kochi-Muziris Biennale

Abstract: This thesis seeks to understand the formation and representation of local, national and international identities of nations and their societies by critically analysing a big public international art event, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. It will thus address two complex historical and theoretical problems: first, the role such biennales have had in the nation building process for several Third World countries; second, the established hierarchies in theorizations of contemporary art from the global south. By addressing these problems, it aims to illustrate the issue at the heart of this thesis: to find the praxis which can break the model of binaries and representations established in the concept of modernity.