THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Giving credence to the allegations related to the Kochi Muziris Biennale 2012 (KMB), records submitted by the Kochi Biennale Foundation(KBF) to the State Government has established that M A Baby, former Minister for Education and Culture, accompanied Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu, both artists and trustees of KBF, in their trips to Venice, Paris and Madrid.There were allegations that the Department of Tourism had allowed `5 crore to the KMB at the instance of the Department of Culture, when Baby was the Minister.Page 95 of the detailed report submitted by KBF about their effort and research from August 4 to December 10, 2011 says that Baby attended the 54th Venice Biennale from June 3 to 5, barely two weeks after he ceased to be a minister.It states that “Bose Krishnamachari, Riyas Komu, Shwetal Patel and Elise Foster Vander Elst attended the Venice Biennale professional vernissage week.Accompanied by a representative of Brunswick Arts, they met artists and strategic partners.M A Baby MLA, former Minister for Education and Culture, joined the team in Venice from June 3 to 5.The team spent a few very productive days with Baby and introduced him to potential stakeholders and artists.” On June 5, Baby, an avid tennis fan, went to Paris with Riyas Komu, incidentally on the very same day when Rafel Nadal beat Roger Federer to defend his title in the French Open final at Roland Garros.Both Baby and Komu were in Paris on June 6 too, says the report.Page 96 of the report says: “M A Baby and Riyas Komu went to Paris to visit numerous exhibitions in the Indian Spring festival of Indian events in Paris.” The same page further says: “M A Baby and Riyas Komu went to Madrid to visit the museums there,” (on June 7 and 8).Meanwhile, Baby denied the allegations that he received any favour from the Biennale Foundation
Comments
0 comment