Why the Bihar Museum Biennale matters for cultural diplomacy, South-South solidarity
This edition of the Biennale, titled 'Global South: Sharing Histories', expands its reach beyond India's borders to encompass eight other nations: Sri Lanka, Mexico, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Peru, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Ecuador. It builds upon the legacy of its earlier editions. The inaugural, in 2021, was conducted entirely online due to the Covid pandemic restrictions, with the theme 'Bihar, India and the World: Connecting People, Connecting Cultures In Changing Times'. Even then, it brought together some of India's most respected institutions, from the Assam State Museum to the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in New Delhi. The second edition in 2023 was the first fully on-site Biennale, drawing participants from over 15 countries and incorporating the G20 art exhibition Together We Art.Now, in its third incarnation in 2025, the Biennale deliberately pivots towards the Global South, connecting histories and collections across Africa, South America and Asia. Its curatorial ambition is to trace the networks—maritime, cultural and intellectual—that have historically bound these regions. Through aesthetics, mythologies, indigenous and contemporary art forms, crafts, belief systems and performing arts, the Biennale seeks to weave together narratives that celebrate both shared heritage and rich diversity.The opening day unfolded as a choreography of formalities and encounters. Nitish, after unveiling the emblem, symbolically cut the ribbon to inaugurate the temporary exhibitions. These ranged across themes as varied as festivals and performances, symbolism and celebration, initiation ceremonies, archaeological excavations, beauty and aesthetics, and wellness traditions.advertisementRepresentatives from participating countries mingled with curators, visitors and artists, while Bihar Museum director general Anjani Kumar Singh guided dignitaries through the galleries, elaborating on each display's significance and its place within the Biennale's thematic arc.Singh, a former IAS officer who has served as Bihar chief secretary in the past, described the Bihar Museum Biennale as a celebration of awakening—a place where cultures meet, converse and recognise one another's splendour. 'It invites the world to step inside and feel the depth, grace and resilience of human creativity. Here, museums are not silent halls but vibrant forums, where curators and thinkers share challenges, trade ideas, and imagine solutions, so that our shared heritage can continue to light the way forward,' said Singh.Within the exhibition spaces, each country's contribution told a distinct story. Sri Lanka's presentation explored the interplay of identity, beauty and struggle through contemporary artworks. Mexico offered a dual perspective—Maya-inspired visual pieces from artist Eva Malhotra and a collection of pre-Hispanic artefacts, textiles and photographs that evoked the country's diverse cultural layers. Indonesia's Bridge of Civilisations celebrated the enduring connections between the archipelago and India, from shared Sanskrit vocabulary to parallel epic traditions. Ethiopia's Mihiretu Wassie constructed hypnotic narratives from buttons and leather, drawing on the textures of traditional dress.advertisementThree premier Indian cultural institutions also anchored the programme. The ICCR's (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) Vishwaroop Ram: The Universal Legacy of the Ramayana assembled artefacts, traditions and performances from 20 countries, revealing how the ancient epic travelled across oceans and languages, shaping moral codes, art forms and communal memory from Bali to the Caribbean. The NGMA's Our Worlds and Ourselves explored identity and solidarity across the so-called periphery while the IGNCA's (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts ) Spiritual Crossing delved into the significance of masks and the symbolic, performative and ritualistic dimensions of this age-old art form.A day before the event unlocked a cultural door, the city itself became part of the Biennale through a heritage walk that stitched together Bihar Museum, Buddha Smriti Park and Patna Museum. This was more than a tour; it was a gentle reminder that cultural heritage is not confined to vitrines but lives in streets, courtyards and shared memory.advertisementThe calendar of exhibitions stretches over the coming months, ensuring that the Biennale is less a passing event than a sustained cultural season. September will bring Argentina's photographic journey through the lens of Pablo Katlirevsky and a retrospective of Patna Kalam painting—one of the earliest art traditions to place everyday life on canvas.October will see Peru's textiles and pre-Inca ceramics alongside Kazakhstan's deep historical survey of power and nomadic culture. November will open with Home in a Space Left Behind, reflecting on diaspora and memory, and Ecuador's Origin of Cacao, tracing the crop's 5,500-year journey from Amazonian domestication to global commodity. From November 7 to December 31, the Mehrangarh Museum Trust will present Shakti—The Supreme Goddess, a miniature-painting tribute to the Divine Feminine in her many forms.Running parallel to the exhibitions are the Biennale's discursive and performative programmes. In early August, two days of seminars brought together scholars, artists and curators to discuss subjects as varied as music as a vessel for migration and resistance, the political and sacred dimensions of masks, gender and power in sacred art, and the architectural embodiments of myth.The Biennale is not without its symbolism. To convene such an event in Patna—a city that has long wrestled with the weight of its ancient past and the unevenness of its modern growth—is to assert that Bihar's cultural capital is not a relic but a living, dynamic force. The museum, in its architectural grace and curatorial ambition, signals a confidence in the state's ability to host and shape international cultural discourse.advertisementFrom its inception as Nitish's vision, the Bihar Museum Biennale has grown into a rare platform for cultural diplomacy, interdisciplinary exploration and South-South solidarity. It asks visitors to see beyond political borders, to recognise in a Sri Lankan mask or a Peruvian textile not just an artefact but a thread in a larger weave of human creativity and exchange.As the exhibitions and conversations unfold over the next five months, the Biennale will continue to draw in artists, scholars, students and the simply curious. Beneath the metaphorical branches of its Tree of Life, it offers a space where narratives of trade, devotion, migration and resistance intertwine—rooted in Bihar's soil, yet reaching out across oceans. In this, the Biennale embodies exactly what its founder imagined: a museum, and a state, not content to merely preserve the past but determined to participate in shaping the cultural conversations of the present.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends
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India Today
16 hours ago
- India Today
Why the Bihar Museum Biennale matters for cultural diplomacy, South-South solidarity
The grand hall of the Bihar Museum in Patna, on a humid August evening, thrummed with an energy that was equal parts ceremony and quiet anticipation. It was here that the third edition of the Bihar Museum Biennale opened its doors to the world—an event whose reach now extends from the Ganga plains to the far edges of the Indian Ocean and chief minister Nitish Kumar, on August 7, unveiled the Biennale's emblem—a stylised Tree of Life—it marked the reawakening of a vibrant Bihar: the ancient capital of wisdom now a powerhouse of culture, reaching out to embrace the global arts community and offering a platform for shared emblem's design fuses the sturdy trunk of the African baobab, the sacred peepal foliage of Asia and the vibrant biodiversity of South America rendered in Otomi and Lliclla textile motifs. More than a mere logo, it is a manifesto of interconnectedness—rooted in the Global South's shared mythologies, belief systems and artistic Bihar Museum itself—and, by extension, the Biennale—was the brainchild of Nitish, part of his broader vision for Bihar's cultural renaissance. From its earliest conception, he imagined not just a repository of artefacts but a living institution, one that would safeguard the state's archaeological treasures while also situating Bihar within a global conversation on heritage and identity. Today, the museum stands as a shining emblem of Bihar's cultural reawakening, a place where the past converses fluently with the present. This edition of the Biennale, titled 'Global South: Sharing Histories', expands its reach beyond India's borders to encompass eight other nations: Sri Lanka, Mexico, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Peru, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Ecuador. It builds upon the legacy of its earlier editions. The inaugural, in 2021, was conducted entirely online due to the Covid pandemic restrictions, with the theme 'Bihar, India and the World: Connecting People, Connecting Cultures In Changing Times'. Even then, it brought together some of India's most respected institutions, from the Assam State Museum to the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in New Delhi. The second edition in 2023 was the first fully on-site Biennale, drawing participants from over 15 countries and incorporating the G20 art exhibition Together We in its third incarnation in 2025, the Biennale deliberately pivots towards the Global South, connecting histories and collections across Africa, South America and Asia. Its curatorial ambition is to trace the networks—maritime, cultural and intellectual—that have historically bound these regions. Through aesthetics, mythologies, indigenous and contemporary art forms, crafts, belief systems and performing arts, the Biennale seeks to weave together narratives that celebrate both shared heritage and rich opening day unfolded as a choreography of formalities and encounters. Nitish, after unveiling the emblem, symbolically cut the ribbon to inaugurate the temporary exhibitions. These ranged across themes as varied as festivals and performances, symbolism and celebration, initiation ceremonies, archaeological excavations, beauty and aesthetics, and wellness from participating countries mingled with curators, visitors and artists, while Bihar Museum director general Anjani Kumar Singh guided dignitaries through the galleries, elaborating on each display's significance and its place within the Biennale's thematic a former IAS officer who has served as Bihar chief secretary in the past, described the Bihar Museum Biennale as a celebration of awakening—a place where cultures meet, converse and recognise one another's splendour. 'It invites the world to step inside and feel the depth, grace and resilience of human creativity. Here, museums are not silent halls but vibrant forums, where curators and thinkers share challenges, trade ideas, and imagine solutions, so that our shared heritage can continue to light the way forward,' said the exhibition spaces, each country's contribution told a distinct story. Sri Lanka's presentation explored the interplay of identity, beauty and struggle through contemporary artworks. Mexico offered a dual perspective—Maya-inspired visual pieces from artist Eva Malhotra and a collection of pre-Hispanic artefacts, textiles and photographs that evoked the country's diverse cultural layers. Indonesia's Bridge of Civilisations celebrated the enduring connections between the archipelago and India, from shared Sanskrit vocabulary to parallel epic traditions. Ethiopia's Mihiretu Wassie constructed hypnotic narratives from buttons and leather, drawing on the textures of traditional premier Indian cultural institutions also anchored the programme. The ICCR's (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) Vishwaroop Ram: The Universal Legacy of the Ramayana assembled artefacts, traditions and performances from 20 countries, revealing how the ancient epic travelled across oceans and languages, shaping moral codes, art forms and communal memory from Bali to the Caribbean. The NGMA's Our Worlds and Ourselves explored identity and solidarity across the so-called periphery while the IGNCA's (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts ) Spiritual Crossing delved into the significance of masks and the symbolic, performative and ritualistic dimensions of this age-old art form.A day before the event unlocked a cultural door, the city itself became part of the Biennale through a heritage walk that stitched together Bihar Museum, Buddha Smriti Park and Patna Museum. This was more than a tour; it was a gentle reminder that cultural heritage is not confined to vitrines but lives in streets, courtyards and shared calendar of exhibitions stretches over the coming months, ensuring that the Biennale is less a passing event than a sustained cultural season. September will bring Argentina's photographic journey through the lens of Pablo Katlirevsky and a retrospective of Patna Kalam painting—one of the earliest art traditions to place everyday life on will see Peru's textiles and pre-Inca ceramics alongside Kazakhstan's deep historical survey of power and nomadic culture. November will open with Home in a Space Left Behind, reflecting on diaspora and memory, and Ecuador's Origin of Cacao, tracing the crop's 5,500-year journey from Amazonian domestication to global commodity. From November 7 to December 31, the Mehrangarh Museum Trust will present Shakti—The Supreme Goddess, a miniature-painting tribute to the Divine Feminine in her many parallel to the exhibitions are the Biennale's discursive and performative programmes. In early August, two days of seminars brought together scholars, artists and curators to discuss subjects as varied as music as a vessel for migration and resistance, the political and sacred dimensions of masks, gender and power in sacred art, and the architectural embodiments of Biennale is not without its symbolism. To convene such an event in Patna—a city that has long wrestled with the weight of its ancient past and the unevenness of its modern growth—is to assert that Bihar's cultural capital is not a relic but a living, dynamic force. The museum, in its architectural grace and curatorial ambition, signals a confidence in the state's ability to host and shape international cultural its inception as Nitish's vision, the Bihar Museum Biennale has grown into a rare platform for cultural diplomacy, interdisciplinary exploration and South-South solidarity. It asks visitors to see beyond political borders, to recognise in a Sri Lankan mask or a Peruvian textile not just an artefact but a thread in a larger weave of human creativity and the exhibitions and conversations unfold over the next five months, the Biennale will continue to draw in artists, scholars, students and the simply curious. Beneath the metaphorical branches of its Tree of Life, it offers a space where narratives of trade, devotion, migration and resistance intertwine—rooted in Bihar's soil, yet reaching out across oceans. In this, the Biennale embodies exactly what its founder imagined: a museum, and a state, not content to merely preserve the past but determined to participate in shaping the cultural conversations of the to India Today Magazine- Ends
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Social media star Farhana Bodi's journey beyond borders
Indian-origin millionaire and social media star Farhana Bodi, best known for her stint in reality show Dubai Bling, is a woman who transcends borders. Raised across Africa, India, and the Middle East, she has built a global brand that's equal parts heritage and high fashion. Social media star Farhana Bodi(Photo: Instagram) From the sets of reality TV shows to red carpets around the world, the businesswoman and content creator embodies the art of celebrating where you come from — while never standing still. 'I've been surrounded by such diverse beauty and tradition. My style is a reflection of that. I love mixing global trends with heritage pieces — whether it's a silk sari-inspired silhouette with a modern twist or a bold African print paired with high fashion,' she says, adding that choosing one culture over another is never the goal; it's about honoring all parts of herself through her style. While social media made her a household name, the constant scrutiny can be taxing. 'Staying 'on' all the time can be exhausting. But real life has off days, and I think it's important to show those too,' she admits. No matter the platform, her Indian heritage remains at the heart of her identity. 'It's my way of saying, 'I know where I come from.' That touch of India is not just fashion — it's memory, pride, and emotion woven into every thread,' she says. 'Indian fashion has taught me how to be bold, how to wear colour with confidence, and how to embrace femininity in all its strength," she says. Looking ahead, she sees herself as a bridge between Indian craftsmanship and the global stage. 'Indian fashion is going global. I see myself championing fusion and wearing our culture with pride.' If Dubai fuels her ambition, it also inspires her creativity: anything feels possible. 'It's bold and always just like me.' Farhana's most personal project, I Woman of the World, aims to spark change for women everywhere. 'I wanted to build a space where women could connect, rise, and own their voice. It's about breaking barriers — cultural, societal, personal.' At the core of everything she does is a commitment to showing up authentically. 'For me, authenticity means showing up as I am, even when it's not picture perfect. In a world that profits off insecurity, choosing to be real is a radical act.'
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
5 epic festivals that are worth crossing the globe for
All over the world, festivals have a unique way of bringing people together to celebrate art, music, and culture. Some of these are legendary events which draw travellers from all over the world to feel the electric energy in the air and also get to know more about the culture of another country. Each of these festivals brings a sense of togetherness that transcends borders and shared joy where the nations do not matter but only memories of a lifetime in the moment. Let's take a journey through the world and celebrate some beautiful festivals: Carnival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil This is the largest carnival in the world and around two million people are on the streets during the celebration. The modern Carnival in Rio is famous for its Samba parade which is organized by the city's samba schools, which are large social clubs that organize large parades with floats, dancers, and themed costumes. This carnival is a blend of African, Portuguese, and other indigenous influences, and samba music also plays an important role. This festival is held annually before Lent and starts on the Friday before Ash Wednesday and ends on Ash Wednesday. "Blocos" are street parties with music, dancing, and revelry, often organized by samba schools or other groups. These are a major part of the carnival experience, with thousands of people participating. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Accounting Help Made Simple legal directorate Learn More Undo Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany This is the world's largest Volksfest, a beer festival and travelling funfair, which is held annually in March. This festival originated in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen; even the citizens of Munich joined in the festivities. This event is now conducted from mid or late September to the first Sunday in October and lasts for 16 days. This event attracts almost six million visitors each year and most of them have travelled from outside Germany. Large beer tents are placed here that are operated by traditional Munich breweries, and what adds to the vibe of the festival is the Bavarian folk music, parades, carnival rides, and traditional foods. Tomorrowland, Boom, Belgium This is one of the world's largest festivals and is famous for being an electronic dance music festival. It is held each year in Belgium since 2005. Tomorrowland is known worldwide for having elaborate stage productions and beautiful themes; each year they feature a unique storyline adapted into a stage design. What makes this festival unique is that all top international DJs perform here, which attracts a lot of visitors. This goes on for two weekends in late July, and the tickets sell out very quickly. The festival is recognized for promoting a sense of unity through its "People of Tomorrow" community. Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, Fes, Morocco The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music is a vibrant annual music festival held here since 1994 and is mostly held for 10 days in early June. This festival features musicians from different spiritual traditions like Sufi music of Islam, Christian gospel and chant, Jewish music, Hindu chants, and other sacred and traditional genres. The best part about this festival is that it was founded to promote intercultural dialogue and peace through music. Glastonbury Festival, Somerset, UK This festival of contemporary performing arts is a five-day festival held near Pilton in Somerset, England. This festival was founded in 1970 by Michael Eavis, and the first event was influenced by the hippie and free festival movements. This is the largest greenfield festival in the world that features contemporary music, dance, comedy, theatre, circus, and other arts. Mainly, the musical genres played here are rock, pop, electronic, and folk, with world-famous artists headlining each year. This festival is mostly held in late June, and the Pyramid stage is the most iconic venue of this festival. This event focuses greatly on social causes, as the profits earned are donated to charity organisations. What makes this festival unique is that it focuses mainly on environmentalism, with recycling and sustainability initiatives in place.
