Mattancherry’s Bazaar Road is a hive of activity on a working day, trucks loaded with merchandise jostle for space with smaller vehicles and pedestrians, some of them tourists, warehouses line the water-facing side of the road and a dusty smell of jute sacks and spices hangs in the air.
With the Biennale, some of these warehouses have transformed into art galleries showing art from across the country and the world. Sandwiched between these are teashops and tiny shops selling quotidian merchandise. It is chaotic, but, if you close your eyes for a few seconds you can easily imagine Mattancherry’s past, and present, as a trading outpost.
The wall painting by The Tresspassers at Armaan Collective
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
Quite a few of the warehouses are in varying states of decrepitude, age weighing heavily on them, their facades and parts of some of the buildings are dilapidated. In the middle of all this sits a warehouse with a white and grey facade with an inconspicuous black board that announces Armaan Collective. In the front are a row of six small stores.
It is also one of the venues of the Biennale collateral, Edam, curated by Aishwarya Suresh and KM Madhusudhanan, a showcase of the Kerala artists. The other venues are Cube Art Space and Garden Convention Centre.
A short, narrow passageway leads to the warehouse. And nothing prepares you for the sight… at the far end one can see the waters that helm in Mattancherry and Fort Kochi, and bobbing on them are brightly painted anchored fishing boats. The central courtyard has a lawn with benches around it, facing the waters is a covered space with minimalist benches where you can take in the waters and life on them. The walls which backdrop the lawn has striking images of Kochi-based body builder Bhumika, while the wall facing the waters has art by the Trespassers.
And this is just the first impression, there is a lot more happening in the space.
The brains behind Armaan Collective are entrepreneur/businessman Arun Mooken and his wife, Ria. Arun says, “We [the space] have been part of all the Biennales, including this one. What happens is that warehouses like these open for four months of the Biennale every two years and I felt it was time to change that. I wanted to revive the old Mattancherry, which was a cultural hub and commercial powerhouse of Kerala.” Rather than wait for the Biennale to start something, he decided to do something with this space. Another of their warehouse’s 111 Markaz is also a Biennale venue.
From the Edam show
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
The outsourced stores, he says, are a depiction of some of the traditional industries of Kerala: pottery, spices, tea, coir and, one of Arun’s favourites, chips. Studio Beyond Maya, The Steep House of Tea Stories, Malabar Chips, Coz Cafe and The Yard Pop-up are the brands that have taken space at Armaan, which has quickly become one of the city’s popular hangout spaces with the music performances.
The central courtyard, the chukkukalam (chukku is dried ginger, kalam is the courtyard) has transformed into the prakadana kendram, a performance space, where Arun hopes to hold “kalari, Kathakali and dance performances, the traditional performance art forms.”
The space will open the year through, the stores too. Says Reeja U of Malabar Chips, “We decided to open a store here because, of course, Mr Mooken invited us and also since it gives us access to a wider clientele.” This is the first Malabar Chips outlet apart from the main shop near the Ernakulam South railway station. Studio Beyond Maya has been conducting pottery sessions over the past month at Armaan. Arun plans to make space for a couple of stores more, but post-Biennale.
One of the highlights of Armaan Collective is without doubt the Coz Cafe outlet, Coz Layover. Especially eye-catching is the roof above its seating space made of repurposed doors, which makes it a quirky mosaic of colours and surfaces. Another is the listening room for vinyl enthusiasts, Vinyl Sound Bath Listening Room, also known as the Red Room.
Coz Layover, the coffee shop at Armaan Collective
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
A narrow wooden staircase on the side of the cafe leads to the first floor, where part of the Edam show is being exhibited. The rest of the show is on at the spaces on the ground floor adjacent to the Listening Room.
Edam is on show in the 4,000 square foot gallery space spread across various rooms at Armaan. Arun, however, does not intend to use all the space as an art gallery in the future. “We will use half of that as a gallery space or part of the floor. If I use the entire area…I don’t want the space to be called the Durbar Hall of Mattancherry. I want to promote art and tradition.” He is referring to the Durbar Hall Art Gallery in Ernakulam.
This space, Arun says, “I want to keep it traditional, maintain the ambience and spirit of Mattancherry — a little traditional, a bit rustic and edgy!”
Published – February 17, 2026 02:22 pm IST