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I first met Annah Chakola as the curator of the Kochi Muziris Biennale Kada. She had brought together the work of inspired creatives, skilled artisans and a host of brilliant objects crafted by them, to make it much more than any other ‘art show/museum/gallery’ shop. I confess that I spent more time at the shop than I did looking through the exhibits at the last Kochi Biennale. Suffice to say, I was sad knowing that it was a temporary fixture, since it had somehow made my favourite part of my home city, even more special.
Over the last two years, I’ve continued to interact with Annah, at cultural events and chance meetings. And every time we do meet, the conversation often turns to how we came home to the city we grew up in, in our own time and found our creativity sparked by it in a million ways, every single day. When Annah told me that she would finally open her curated space, I was beyond excited. After a few months of 'Kada' (which literally translates to shop in Malayalam) opening, I had the chance to visit and take in all that it had to offer.
As she rightfully said, every time we’ve met - it has been a long string of conversations that have flowed between us. We talked about how she hated being boxed in - to being a jewellery or fashion designer. While Boho Gypsy, her brand and persona of the early aughts continues to be, she has done so much more through her work and many iterations of that are showcased at her Kada. When it comes to her original designs, there are also her signature breezy garments - silk slip dresses printed with natural dyes in botanical prints to upcycled uni-sex shirts crafted from vintage sarees. There are also beautiful tapestries that have become beloved part of her label, crafted from fabric scraps or carefully sourced from traditional artisans on display here.
The Kada can be dubbed as one filled with cabinets of curiosities like the Biennale shop was, but there is a lot more of Annah as a creative and curator that is reflected here. From vintage owl brooches and bone-carved necklaces she bought off eBay a decade or so ago, to pieces she has created with talented traditional artisans from locales like Srinagar and Faridabad, and more; there is a lot to experience here. This also extends to elements and finds from her travels and experiences dotting the Kada - tribal jewellery she has picked up on her trips to woven hats from Bhutan - all coming together to make the Kada an extension of herself.
But Annah is a Kochi person, through and through. Considering the lucrative location of her shop, right on the tourist-favorite Princess Street, and soon moving to Quiros Street, she has curated and worked with artisans to create Kochi-themed keepsakes that are unique and far beyond the typical Sadhya magnets and Fort Kochi beach promenade postcards. This ranges from ceramic magnets that depict the State bird Great Hornbill or Kerala-rooted motifs like Coconut Tree or Banana Blossoms, to affordable postcards depicting commonly seen flowers of Kerala - Heliconia, Frangipani, or Golden Trumpet. From Shea Butter and Red Sandalwood soaps to those made from the best quality Coconut Oil, or Candles crafted exclusively even the soaps are rooted and crafted using ingredients that are common to Kerala. There are also original affordable artworks - Linocuts to watercolour paintings of Kerala Monsoons - that one can find here.
Look further, and you’ll come across seed and palm leaf-based jewellery crafted by artisans from around Kerala, to Kerala-rooted curios that go beyond the norm - from Frankincense sticks that remind us of our grandmother’s house to lucky seed-embedded or Kerala spices cast jewellery that has always been Annah’s signature. Her dedication to reducing waste in the production of lifestyle products is something that has continued to be part of her physical space as well. The scrap fabrics from making her pieces are used to wrap the organic soaps that she sources from a maker in Malabar side, or they are used to make the pouches for the jewellery you buy from the store.
If you’re in Fort Kochi, and looking to experience it through conversation and objects that go beyond the usual, Kada by Annahmol is a destination that you have to add to your list. As you go around and around the store, I guarantee you that you will continue to discover new objects that catch your fancy. But more than that, if you get a chance to speak to Annah Chakola, she’d be sure to fill you in all the little details of the store that she has crafted like her own home - finds from her travels, remnants of her earlier experiments with design and curation, her latest discoveries, her design intervention projects, and pieces she has crafted in collaboration with artisans to offer a slice of Kochi that goes far beyond the traditional offerings at a lifestyle store in an otherwise tourist-y part of the locale.
Follow Annahmol here.
