New Delhi-based fashion and cultural collective NorBlack NorWhite, known for fusing traditional Indian crafts with contemporary streetwear, debuts its new multidisciplinary art practice AMMA Studios with an installation titled Church of Palm at the 2026 Kochi-Muziris Biennale.
Founded by Amrit Kumar and Mriga Kapadiya, NorBlack NorWhite traces its roots to long-standing relationships with artisans and craft communities across India. The duo has spent more than fifteen years reimagining age-old techniques like bandhani, ikat, and zardozi within modern silhouettes, bridging craft, culture, and fashion. AMMA Studios extends that sensibility into installation, tapestry, spatial design, and the poetry of everyday objects, weaving together image, movement, and sound in collaborative forms.
Church of Palm, AMMA Studios’ debut at the biennale, honours Kerala’s iconic coconut tree—a symbol of both sustenance and spirituality. The work reinterprets the ordinary, transforming the repetition of palms and utilitarian objects like chairs into meditations on beauty, community, and reverence. Within the installation, hand-dyed textiles, fishing nets, drapes, and immersive soundscapes conjure what the artists describe as “a temporary world created to honour the palm tree and the spiritual feeling of witnessing the common sunset.”
Chairs become central to this landscape. Arranged in symmetrical patterns, they embody silent witnesses to rituals of gratitude, evoking the rhythm and calm of a sacred space while reminding viewers that within everyday repetition lies the potential for transformation.
The project brings together an interdisciplinary team of collaborators, including sound design by Colombian-Canadian musician Lido Pimienta, 360-degree reflective sound speaker design by Mumbai-based artist Akash Das, and metal and stone sculptures by Jaipur-based artist Kichu Dandiya.
“We have quietly been working on our art practice over the years and are honoured to have the opportunity to debut AMMA Studio at Monsoon Culture for Kochi Biennale,” said Mriga Kapadiya, co-founder of NorBlack NorWhite. “Learning across forms for over 15 years with NorBlack NorWhite, it only felt natural and timely to translate everything we have learned into a multi-disciplinary practice.”
Church of Palm stands as both a continuation and evolution of NorBlack NorWhite’s vision, turning the textures of everyday life, material, and memory into sites of beauty and collective reflection.
Image Credits: Naveed Ahamed | Presented by Monsoon Culture
Athmaja Biju is the Editor at Abir Pothi. She is a Translator and Writer working on Visual Culture.
