On May 8^th as part of the “Thinkfolk” launch, children and adults who had gathered at the Ethnic festival at Newton started coloring a stunningly beautiful Kalamkari monochrome drawing on a large 6x4 bill board. This past Saturday, a beautiful summer evening at the Newton Center green, adults and kids colored to finish the exquisite peacock billboard while listening to music at the beautifully painted “Artful Piano”.   

Maria Arvello, a resident of Newton had worked tirelessly for months to bring a piano to the each of Newton’s villages, as part of the Artful Piano Project for the Festival of the Arts.  Each of the nine pianos was painted by a different artist and residents enjoyed playing the pianos when they visited the village squares through the month of May.  The beautifully painted pianos were a wonderful addition to the community and the one in Newton Center remains in the green for people to enjoy while others have found homes within the community after the festival. On Saturday, lilting bhajans were rendered by Maritza Henriquez from Venezuela to the accompaniment of Tabla playing by Kumar Challa, a Newton resident. All through the evening kids sat calmly coloring alongside adults soaking in the lilting songs, tabla playing, piano recitals by drop in visitors and other instrumental recitals. The monochrome black and white peacocks turned into reds, pinks, orange and blue green.  This is very different no doubt from the resist dyed indigos and mordant painted madder of the traditional Kalamkari paintings but an absolutely wonderfully vibrant variation.

Kalamkari textiles were traditionally used as temple hanging used to tell the great legends Ramayana and Mahabharata through images in strips and combined often with text.  There is evidence that the hand painted textiles of the Coramandle coast  were also traded  through Arab merchants  as hangings and prayer mats in the 12century , in 16^th century European traders seemed to have  used Kalamkari textiles mainly as an exchange for spices in Indonesia and Thailand where they were considered priceless and used on ceremonial occasion. “Chintz”  as Kalamari trade textiles came to be known reached European and English shores via the European traders and the East India company as  curtains, bed covers and  wall hangings  later the hand painted cloth became very fashionable wear among the ladies, and as  babies hats, mitts  and even men’s gowns. The highly skilled painters of the Coromandle coast adapted their art to the different tastes and blended it with their own aesthetics making a range of exquisite textiles. Samples of these textiles, each telling a fascinating story, can be found in Museums all over the world including Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Peabody Essex Museum in Salem.  Today, in India, after a period of neglect Kalamkari has been revived again through government initiative and especially through the hard work and diligence of NGO’s. 

The monochrome drawing for this coloring project was a contribution from artists at Dwaraka, an organization working with rural women artisans, to revive the hand painted Kalamkari art form and harnesses the capabilities and assets of the women for a means of living.

As the evening wore on the Newton center green came alive quietly and softly, the magic remained, the painting was completed and satisfied attendees took home memories of an especially harmonious time together. The painting stayed on aboard facing the piano in the Newton Center green and the peacocks seemed to be nesting peacefully in a rather busy intersection. Kids and adults who participatedtell us they enjoy seeing their collective artwork and many photos have been shot in front of the vibrant backdrop. We were happy to have celebrated our shared cultural heritage and connected with the community through soulful music,exquisite art and inspiring stories.

This was a was a collaborative and spontaneous exercise conceived between the Mayor’s office of Cultural Affairs Newton, Artful Pianos in Newton and Thinkfolk.Thinkfolk will have a booth at the July 4th celebrations in Newton and at the Lexington Farmers Market on July 5th.

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