The inaugural edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale ran from 12th December 2012 - 13th March 2013 and was curated by Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu. The first edition had a total of 89 artists from 23 countries who exhibited and performed in over 60 spaces across 14 sites for 96 uninterrupted days making the biennale the largest of its kind in South Asia.
The Gujral Foundation supported the construction of the Outset Carnoustie Pavilion to host the ‘Let’s Talk Series’, an interesting collection of talks, discussions, presentations, performances, etc. by internationally and locally acclaimed artists for the entire duration of the three months of the Biennale.
The Let’s Talk pavilion was home to many talks by eminent artists and personalities including Dr. Venu V, I.A.S., Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, who presented a talk on “Public-Private Partnerships in Heritage”, Chris Dercon, Director of Tate Modern Chris Dercon spoke about “The Importance of Public Investment in Art: Museums and Public Art Galleries”, Mumbai-born artist Atul Dodiya discussed Kochi, his ideas for the biennale and the need for alternative spaces for contemporary art in India and Dr. Shashi Tharoor, the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, presented a talk on “Globalisation and the Human Imagination”.
The book release of the first Kochi-Muziris Biennale book ‘Against All Odds’ edited by Sabin Iqbal was released at the Outset Carnoustie Pavilion on 26th December 2012.