The Irulas are famous for one thing: catching squiggly little creatures on the ground, getting their essence out, and putting them back where they caught them, so the snakes and the people around them can thrive.

Artisan women with the founder

Perhaps the ladies of Irula hamlets in Kunnappattu, Anna Nagar and MGR Nagar in Mamallapuram are inspired by the snake catchers among them. For they too take the squiggly kolam drawn on the ground and capture its essence on cloth.

Nageswari with her kolam work in progress.

The project started in 2012 with Curtis John Degler, an American philanthropist, and Kala Viswanathan, a tailoring teacher skilled in embroidery based in Mamallapuram coming together, to explore alternative livelihood opportunities for the Irula community. John had already worked with some of the hamlets to provide basic assistance: constructing pucca homes and water systems and enabling after-school education, etc. Soon, he also helped the women access a livelihood through an interesting project called Kanimar, named after their tutelary goddess.

Club Artizen partners with them on a line that spotlights ‘sikku kolam’ a unique style of rangoli where lines are drawn around the dots, and not using them. Creating the kolams on fabric is not easy, say the artisans. ‘Unlike in real life, embroidering the dots is more difficult than the lines,’ says Kanimmal, one of the artisans.

They train on cloth, and then stitch them into pouches, bags, and other products. Club Artizen is working with the group to especially design and launch a line of stationery and other products.

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