The Paradesi Synagogue: 450 Years of Spice, Prayer, and Hand-Painted Tiles in Mattancherry
Chinese tiles, Ethiopian rugs, a Malayalam clock tower. What if I told you that Kochi's oldest synagogue is a world in one room?
Two young artists reimagine home and habitat. Insects become companions. Rooms become ecosystems. A quiet meditation on where we end and the world begins.
What if insects aren't intruders but neighbours? What if your home is an ecosystem you're only beginning to understand?
Jyothika Byju T M studies at College of Fine Arts Kerala. Nandana Amba is from Government College of Fine Arts.
Metal, cotton, paper pulp and pigments. Ceramic and Jar, Mixed medium
Artshila, Near Parade Ground
This beautiful Kochi Biennale Venue presented by Arthshila is part of their multi-art curations projects across India.
Address: Opposite Parade Ground, Next to entrance of Lily Street
10AM to 6PM (Monday to Sunday)
Till March 31st, 2026
Imagined Ecosystem brings together two young artists asking urgent questions about how we inhabit the world—and what inhabits it alongside us.
Jyothika works where decay becomes possibility. She sculpts creatures from dead cellular matter—using metal, cotton, paper pulp, and pigments to transform ruin into new life. Her insects emerge not as pests to be feared, but as essential companions in our shared ecological story. There's tenderness here, a reclaiming of the overlooked.
Nandana Amba turns inward—literally. For her, home isn't just shelter. It's habitat. Through ceramic, jar forms, and mixed media, she builds domestic spaces as architectural maps of human interiority. Rooms become ecosystems. Walls hold desires, agonies, and quiet wisdoms.
Together, they create something neither could alone: a meditation on where we end and the living world begins.
The Students' Biennale, running alongside the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, has always been a space where tomorrow's artistic giants take their first bold leaps. This year's edition brings together young artists from art schools across India—each with stories that demand to be heard.
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