Inside Kashi Hallegua House, The Historic Kochi Mansion Hosting One of the Biennale’s Most Provocative Art Exhibition

Nestled in the historic Jewish quarter of Mattancherry, the 200-year-old Kashi Hallegua House stands as a testament to Kochi's layered past, a magnificent structure that has witnessed centuries of trade, migration and cultural exchange. This winter, as the coastal city transforms into India's contemporary art capital during the Kochi-Muziris Biennale season, this architectural jewel has been reimagined as Ishara House, hosting Amphibian Aesthetics, an exhibition that seems less like a traditional art show and more like an immersive journey through time and tide.

The timing is deliberate. Kochi in December pulses with creative energy, its historic port city streets alive with collectors, curators and art enthusiasts from across the globe. Yet Amphibian Aesthetics, running from December 13, 2025, to March 31, 2026, offers something distinctly different from the sprawling biennale format. Here, 12 international artists, including luminaries like Shilpa Gupta, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Dima Srouji, have created works that respond directly to the building's storied bones and the oceanic histories that shaped this region.

Where Architecture Becomes Curator

What makes Kashi Hallegua House so compelling as an exhibition venue? Ishara Art Foundation is refreshingly direct about their choice: "Kashi Hallegua House was chosen not simply as a physical venue, but as a site whose material and historical conditions actively shape the curatorial framework of the exhibition." The building itself, they explain, "operates as an active participant in the exhibition rather than a neutral backdrop".

This is heritage space reimagined, not as a museum piece but as a living dialogue. The mansion's Portuguese-Dutch architectural influences, its connection to Kerala's centuries-old Jewish community, and its position in a neighbourhood defined by maritime trade routes all inform how the artworks breathe within its walls. As the Foundation notes, "The works on view respond to the site in varied ways, either through direct spatial engagement or through conceptual reflection on the kinds of histories the building embodies".

The Amphibious Lens

The exhibition takes its conceptual cue from the amphibian, creatures that inhabit both land and water, existing in perpetual transition. For Riyas Komu, Artistic Director of Aazhi Archives and co-founder of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, this framework emerged from years of engaging with Kerala's maritime identity. "Since 2016, along with scholars and thinkers, I have been involved in putting up exhibitions such as the 'Mattancherry Project', and the critically acclaimed 'Sea A Boiling Vessel' (Kashi Hallegua, 2022), which looks at the slave histories, maritime histories, and migratory histories of Kerala," he explains.

His research revealed something profound. "The waters emerged as the key medium of civilisation in this region, in contrast to the terrestrial movement of exchange in the northern parts of the peninsula." Komu continues with striking imagery, "The sea brought in waves of European colonialism; ideas and goods, religions and cultures were washed ashore and transported. All these transformed the cultural, political and spiritual economy of the region."

Asked how the amphibian functions beyond metaphor, Komu responds, "The amphibian perspective allows one to look at things in their intersectionality, fluidity and the constant state of becoming." It's a lens particularly resonant for our moment, as climate crisis, forced migration and cultural displacement demand new ways of seeing.

Beyond the Biennale Model

In a season dominated by the sprawling Kochi-Muziris Biennale, how does Amphibian Aesthetics carve its own space? Ishara Art Foundation is clear about its distinction: "The exhibition's conceptual framework prioritises long-term ecological and social questions, positioning artistic practice as a mode of inquiry rather than display."

The curatorial approach is decidedly ambitious. "Our curatorial process brings together diverse disciplines in conversation with each other - from engineers to artists, space researchers to comic artists, poets to filmmakers and painters to architects," Komu states. More intriguingly, he reveals, "These artworks exist not only within the space of the gallery, but also extend out onto the city walls, to the waters of Kochi, allowing the public to engage more closely with the ideas that artists bring for a closer consideration."

Looking ahead to the exhibition's run through March 2026, Komu reflects, "The most striking aspect of the show is not a single artwork but the generative dialogue opened up by the very idea of amphibian aesthetics." In heritage-rich Kochi, where past and present constantly negotiate their coexistence, this feels like exactly the conversation we need, one that acknowledges we're all learning to live between worlds.