Experimental Art and Last Minute Sight-Seeing

Em and my's last night and day were spent in Fort Kochi, the start and end of the southern half of our India journey. By two pm we were on our own, having parted ways with everyone on the tour, including Sanjay. We decided to make the best of our last day and set out to view some more of the Binnale art that was all over the area. 

While I think the idea behind this project is amazing and I love how international it is, I'm not hugely keen on interpretive and super abstract art. There were quite a few installations that had me wondering if the artist was on crack when they created it and if the person that wrote the interpretive blurb was insane. I couldn't read nearly as deeply into some of these works of art as others. I guess my art appreciation is not as finely tuned as it should be. 

Although there were many pieces I didn't get, there were quite a few that I enjoyed or at least found fascinating after learning how they were created or what inspired them. There was a woman that played Beethoven to the moon using radio waves and created a new masterpiece based on the returned waves where parts had disappeared. Another piece was inspired by a man that wanted to stand still on earth; so he got in a fighter jet and traveled in the opposite direction that the earth spins and as fast as its rotational speed.

While being nice and helping some tuk-tuk drivers earn free gas credits (we were offered free rides around town in exchange for going into certain over priced shops and pursuing the merchandise for a few minutes), we were able to find some of the smaller and more obscure Binnale venues, as well as visit the Jade Temple.

Em and I just happened to have arrived at the temple a few minutes before the "Pigeon Show" and therefore were treated to what the practitioners considered sacred. In reality this was where a pray or blessing was said and then everyone was given birdseed to put in their cupped hands as an offering to the pigeons. People considered it and honor for the pigeons to perch on their upraised hands and nibble at the food. Em even attempted this, but there was so much spilled food on the ground that most of the birds were content to eat that and ignored the standing offerings.

On our way out of town and to the airport, we arranged to have a taxi drive us a little out of the way to Tripunithura to view the Hill Palace. The Hill Palace, built in 1865, was the royal residence of the Maharajas of Cochin, before being donated to the state in 1980 and turned into a historical museum and grounds. At Hill Palace one can visit the archaeological museum and see gifts that were bestowed by other countries on the generations of Rajas that made this their home, coins used in the area over time, a royal portrait gallery, some hand carried carriages, a few period piece weapons, and many other delights. If you exit the main building, there are a series of gardens that at one time were well maintained and probably breathtaking. In these gardens sits a replica T-Rex (although it's purpose there eludes me) and a deer park (an enclosed area with spotted deer happily munching on sticks). Overall if was a quaint little detour that made a nice end to our trip.

Until the next adventure...