Project Overview
Balaramapuram project explores the cultural, historical, and class dynamics surrounding the iconic Kerala saree. Rooted in the southern district of Thiruvananthapuram, it investigates how this weaving tradition — once tied to royal patronage — shaped Kerala’s visual identity. The project contrasts this legacy with contemporary shifts in labor, value, and representation, especially in comparison to the cultural aesthetics of Kerala’s northern districts. Through textiles, oral histories, and collaborative design, it aims to revive and reframe balaramapuram’s significance within modern Kerala’s socio-cultural landscape, questioning who gets to define heritage and whose stories are preserved.
Expected Impact
To restore dignity and visibility to the other unrecognised weaving communities, challenging the erasure of their contributions to Kerala’s cultural identity. By unpacking the class and caste dynamics embedded in textile histories, the project aims to shift public perception — positioning the Kerala saree not just as tradition, but as a living symbol of resistance, skill, and survival. I hope it fosters dialogue around labor, authorship, and value in craft, encourages younger generations to re-engage with the weaving practice, and catalyzes systemic support for artisan-led futures.
Applicant Background
Landscapes and layered histories of the region, his practice weaves together fashion, film, textile, and material culture to reimagine heritage as a living, breathing continuum. He is the founder of Monsoon Culture, a design-led research studio and fashion label that works at the intersection of craft, memory, and advocacy. His design process is informed by psychogeography — the emotional and spatial mapping of place — allowing his pieces to carry both memory and geography. This is shaped by a personal lineage: he descends from a family of coir weavers in Vayalar-Cherthala, a region once central to Kerala’s now nearly extinct coir industry. This inherited memory of material labour deeply informs his sensitivity to texture, time, and storytelling. Over the last two years, his practice has expanded in multiple directions — challenging boundaries between sculpture, installation, fashion, imagery, and illustration.