KOCHI.- Ishara Art Foundation announced the launch of the Ishara House in Kochi, Kerala, with its inaugural exhibition, Amphibian Aesthetics. Located within the historic Kashi Hallegua House and designed by the artists and scholars of the Aazhi Archives, the Ishara House is conceived as a dynamic site for contemporary art, research and exchange. Under the artistic direction of Riyas Komu, this new initiative unfolds through curated exhibitions, public programmes and collaborative projects that deepen Ishara’s commitment to cross-cultural dialogue. The Ishara House marks a significant new chapter for the Foundation, one that extends its mission beyond the UAE, to a city shaped by centuries of maritime movement, cultural exchange and artistic imagination.

Amphibian Aesthetics opens this journey by foregrounding the interconnectedness of the human, aquatic, terrestrial, and avian world, whose habitats and futures remain intrinsically linked. The exhibition reflects on ecology and migration as forces that have historically shaped cultural, economic, and political relations. Through newly commissioned artworks from South Asia, the Gulf, and other regions, the exhibition features 12 internationally renowned artists and collectives. Together, they help establish this new platform as a meeting ground for artistic experimentation, shared learning and imaginative futures, rooted in Kochi yet carried forward by the currents that connect us all.

Artists

Rami Farook, Shilpa Gupta, George Mathen (Appupen), Zahir Mirza, Midhun Mohan, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Shanvin Sixtous, Dima Srouji, Ratheesh T, Kabir Project, White Balance and City As A Spaceship (CAAS)

To deepen visitor engagement with the exhibition’s themes, Amphibian Aesthetics is accompanied by a series of public programmes. View the full opening programme on Ishara’s website.

The Ishara House is supported by Alserkal Avenue, in association with Galleria Continua. Project partners include Aazhi Archives and URU Art Harbour, and media partners include TAKE On Art and Canvas Magazine.

Upcoming
Urdu Worlds
January 16–May 31, 2026

Urdu Worlds marks the first-ever contemporary art exhibition dedicated to the Urdu language in the UAE. Curated by Hammad Nasar, the exhibition is a visual conversation around language between Ali Kazim and Zarina, and the first comprehensive presentation of Kazim’s works in the GCC. The show explores how language provides the tools with which we create and shape our internal ‘worlds’. Words, rather than simply describing our surroundings, give rise to our private lived experiences and shared cultural understandings.

Despite their distinct personal histories and artistic practices, the two artists are united by a profound sensitivity to the Urdu language. Born in Aligarh, India, Zarina’s itinerant life across continents led her to find home in Urdu, weaving its script, proverbs and poetry into her delicate print works. Multimedia artist Ali Kazim, based in Lahore, Pakistan, grounds his ‘Urdu world’ in a sense of place while exhibiting an eclecticism of influences that reflects the composite and layered history of the language.

Urdu Worlds highlights the power of art as a bridge. In different textures, colours and forms, it explores the potential to move from words to worlds. By creating a dialogue between the practices of Ali Kazim and Zarina, starkly distinct in visual presence yet closely connected in their restraint and simplicity, the exhibition opens a passage between two thoughtful and complex inner worlds.

Artworks for Urdu Worlds have been loaned from Cristea Roberts Gallery, Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation, the Ishara Art Foundation and the Prabhakar Collection, Jhaveri Contemporary, Sharjah Art Foundation, and the private collections of Clemy Sheffield, Mrs Fane, Dr Furqaan Ahmed, Hasan Askari, the Jones Family Collection, Keir McGuinness, Sasheen and Shehzad Anwar, Shazad Ghaffar and Moni Mohsin, Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja, Taimur Hassan, and Zafar Ahmadullah and Tarika Singh.

The exhibition has been generously supported by J. Safra Sarasin (Middle East) Ltd., Emirates Insurance, Shazad Ghaffar and Moni Mohsin, and the Taimur Hassan Collection, with logistical support from Jhaveri Contemporary.