More than two months after the resignation of artist Bose Krishnamachari from the Kochi Biennale Foundation, it has now emerged that the decision came after a complaint of sexual harassment was filed against him with the Internal Committee (IC). At the time of his resignation, Bose, who was also co-founder of the Kochi Muziris Biennale, had cited family reasons for his resignation.
V Venu, chairperson of KBF, has confirmed to TNM that Bose's resignation follows the IC complaint from a woman who had worked under him.
The complaint was filed on January 3 in which it was said that the incident took place on December 28 last year, when the woman was invited to Bose’s home in Fort Kochi for work-related purposes. However, when she visited, Bose allegedly made inappropriate sexual advances even as the woman repeatedly insisted on leaving. She said she felt trapped and violated and had at no point given her consent to physical contact or remarks or advances. She tried to de-escalate the situation and leave, she said.
A source said that since Bose was her reporting supervisor he was asked to remove himself from the premises during the IC investigation, as per the guidelines of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act or POSH Act. “However, Bose felt that he should not continue with the Biennale and resigned from his position,” said the source.
Bose was quoted by the Indian Express as saying that the allegations were misleading and unsubstantiated and taken out of context. He has asked his lawyers to take legal action, he said.
After his resignation from the Biennale, Bose was appointed as the Cultural Curator of the city of Kochi, in a project of the Kochi Municipal Corporation, associating with the Mayor Minimol VK and the MP Hibi Eden, among others.
Bose had co-founded the Biennale in Kochi along with artist Riyas Komu in 2012 and had been one of its curators since the first edition. Riyas Komu had earlier stepped down from his management position of the Biennale following allegations of sexual harassment.