Four designers from Kerala are spearheading a campaign inviting contributors to rebuild Chendamangalam, a tiny hamlet in the outskirts of Kochi city. All they want is to help the weaver community of Chendamangalam to bring back its glory lost to the recent floods that ravaged Kerala.
Chendamangalam is one among the four centres in Kerala awarded with geographical indication (GI) tags to denote the uniqueness of their textiles. The Kerala floods destroyed looms, raw materials and stock worth Rs 20 crore and affected more than 600 weavers, putting their future at stake.
Now, designers Shalini James (Mantra), Sreejith Jeevan (Rouka), Indu Menon (Kara Ventures) and Tracy Thomas (The Wardrobe) have joined hands to prevent Chendamangalam from being completely obliterated from the handloom map of Kerala.
With their primary task of saving the drenched stock being succesfully completed, the designers have called individuals and organisations from the investment community to extent their support to revive the damaged handlooms. According to the designers, Chendamangalam Handloom Co-operative Weavers Society Ltd (CHCWS: No. H 47) has 113 looms in total, of which 108 are damaged. While 35 of these are partially damaged, the rest 73 are severely affected. Cost of repairing a partially damaged loom will require Rs 15,000. At the same time, an intensively damaged loom will require at least Rs 44,000. The mission is to raise at least Rs 38 lakh to start the looms running again. Anyone wishing to help set up a loom or contribute towards building one, can write to friends of Chendamangalam.
The group also plans to take Chendamangalam global once the village recovers to its previous glory. "In the next couple of months, once the cluster starts working, we will provide the requisite design support at our end. A dedicated website to showcase and sell their products, a small merchandising team to connect with buyers outside Kerala, branding and communication; are some of the tasks set to be undertaken as soon as the looms are ready. Organisations interested in providing resources for this leg of the operations are welcome to associate with us," the designers stated.
Recently, in an attempt to spread awareness about the plight of Chendamangalam, volunteers had conceptualised ‘Chekutty’ or ‘Chendamangalam Kutty’, a simple doll, fashioned like a child. Made from scrap cloth, Chekutty is a tiny ball for head, rest of the cloth as the body, and a face drawn using sketch pen, and became a symbol for Kerala's resilience during the recent floods.
