In this dance that life is, we often find ourselves drifting towards objects and beliefs that help us stay grounded. To take each day as it comes, to face life with a strong heart, we have to remain connected to our inner selves. At Mirali, we believe that we can put our best foot forward in life if we stay rooted in our identities. Then the question arises: “How can we completely connect to our identities both old and new?” As an answer, we propose the idea of reconnecting to our heritage and thereby finding new anchors to ground ourselves.
The project has two main goals; one is to inspire the youth to embrace their heritage in their own adaptations, and the second is to create paths for the preservation of handloom as a crucial cultural product of Kerala.
In Kerala, Handloom is a huge part of our heritage, with our history and stories woven into each warp and weft. However, our skilled handloom weavers are quickly diminishing in number due to a lack of demand for their products. Though these artisans value and cherish their generational knowledge and experience, they are struggling to make ends meet through this craft. They want a different future for their children as weaving is no more a viable livelihood for them. Our vision is to empower the next generation of weavers of Kerala to have the freedom to make choices for themselves.
With our project MAKKAL - which means “community” in Tamil and “children” in Malayalam - our vision is to embrace and show the world the vibrant new phase of Kerala handloom beyond the conventional ivory and gold. This is our humble effort to help the community of handloom weavers and their successors who can then pass on the craft of handloom weaving to the future generations.
Let’s together secure a better tomorrow - both for the weaving communities and for us all.
If this resonates with you, join us, and embrace your identity by being true to yourself and your roots. Be a part of our MAKKAL movement where we are trying to bridge the gap between our precious inheritance of handloom and its evolving future in a new and refreshing way.