How A Students-led Initiative Is Helping To Revive The Traditional Fabric Art Form Of Kalamkari

Kalamkari, which literally translates to pen craft is an ancient fabric printing technique, which has been in practice in India and Iran for centuries.

In India, the block-printed fabric is mostly produced by traditional artisans of Machilipatnam in the Krishan District of Andhra Pradesh.

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The print which only uses natural and plant dyes is competed with a complicated twenty-three steps process, which makes it labor-intensive and thus expensive than others.

The depictions through Kalamkari on the cotton fabric include stories from Hindu epics and local folklore.

Struggle to keep the art alive

With the change in times, some have used machines and replaced the natural dyes with chemicals, making them easier and lesser expensive to produce.

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But many artisans refused to let go of the traditional methods even now, which has put them in an added disadvantageous position.

Adding to the troubles were COVID-19 and the lockdown, which left many of them with no jobs, income, market, and a huge inventory of goods.

"In Machilipatnam alone there are thousands of traditional Kalamkari artisans who have been involved in this art form for generations. The artisans who are still using the traditional, organic dyes are facing a tough time selling their products. One of them, who runs a Kalamkari unit was forced to shut the production due to the lockdown, and as he could not find any buyers, he was left with an inventory of Rs 12 lakhs," Manav Subodh, the Co-Founder of 1M1B Foundation, an organization that has been working with Kalamkari artists of Machilipatnam told Indiatimes.

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1M1B which stands for 1 Million for 1 Billion is a social innovation and future skills initiative aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Subodh who comes from an engineering background had worked with several tech companies for 17 years before leaving the corporate world.

"I have always felt that if we can support small start-ups, why can't we do the same for small businesses in rural India. So I left my job seven years ago and has been working with several village-based projects," he said.

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During his work former Andhra Chief Minister M Chandrababu Naidu's office, Subodh got introduced to the Kalamkari artists of Machilipatnam and he felt that he should do something to help them.

Leaders of tomorrow solving the problems

"Initially, we tried helping the artists, with funding and marketing support. We also held several exhibitions to promote and popularise Kalamkari. Before COVID-19 struck we even used to hold an event at the UN every year where Kalamkari would be displayed for the world to see. Since the pandemic, we felt that it is time we got younger people, who are the future involved in such projects. We mobilised students from some of the top schools across India, who will be trained to solve such problems," Subodh said.

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That is how ¡®Kalamkari Katha¡¯ was born.

¡®Kalamkari Katha¡¯ is a student-led initiative supported by 1M1B Foundation as part of its program, The Purpose Academy, in partnership with UC Berkeley.

Under the initiative, two students -- 16 years old Syonna Nair, a class 12 student from Ecole Mondiale World School, Mumbai and 15 years old Ritisha Paliwal, a class 10th student of The International School of Bangalore have been working with Kalamkari artisans since January 2021.

Syonna Nair and Ritisha Paliwal

"I had never heard about Kalamkari before this. But once I got to know about it I fell in love with the art form. I believe that Kalamkari, which is a cultural identity of India should be introduced and popularised across the country. As part of the project, we interacted with the artisans to learn about their problems and find solutions for them," Syonna, one of the students involved in the project said.

Since the artisans were sitting on a huge inventory, one of the first things the students did was to find a market for them. Through exhibitions and helping the craftsmen to reach out to more traders.

"We are also making a website for the Kalamkari artisans to display their work. We also want to tell the world, including those who would be interested in buying Kalamkari, but feels that it is expensive, it is not the case.

The students also conducted a fundraiser and collected over Rs 1 lakhs, which was used to help the expansion of a Kalamkari unit in Pedana, which produces organic and traditional products.

Ritisha, a resident of Bengaluru is also helping the artists to find new markets, and bring the potential customers and the artists together.

"We are also organizing exhibitions in Bengaluru, to introduce them to new customers. We are also currently running several social media pages for the artists to expand their markets, by selling their products online," Ritisha said.

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