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Kalamkari
Context:
The once-thriving Kalamkari art form is now facing survival challenges in modern times, largely because of the increasing use of power looms and higher costs of raw materials.
About Kalamkari:
- The name is derived from the word ‘kalam’ meaning pen, referring to its intricate hand-painted style.
- It is a widely popular form of hand-painted or block-printed cotton textiles and paintings.
- It originated in Tilang, present-day Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during the reign of Qutb Shahis at Golconda in the 16-17th century.
- It primarily depicts scenes from sacred texts like the Mahabharata and Ramayana on cloth.
- It uses natural materials such as cotton cloth, dried unripe fruit, milk for the mordant, charcoal sticks, etc.
- The final colours are earthy tones of reds, blues, greens, yellows and browns. Using red, indigo, and yellow dyes, the artist mixes pigments to create secondary colours; for instance, applying indigo dye on yellow areas produces green.
Two Main Styles of Kalamkari:
Srikalahasti, known for freehand drawing, from Chittoor district.
- This style uses a traditional pen with a brush to create designs.
- Artisans primarily produced hand-painted cloth for temples, used as backdrops for deities or on chariots.
- The art, originating in the temple town, features mythological figures.
Pedana or Machilipatnam, which uses block-printing techniques, from Krishna district.
- It involves vegetable-dyed block printing on fabric.
- Artists use hand-carved wooden blocks to print outlines and main features of their designs.
- Traditional motifs, influenced by Persian culture due to Mughal and Golconda Sultanate patronage, include interlacing leaves, flowers, cartwheels, and lotus forms.
- This style has received a Geographical Indications tag.
