Year: 2024
Partner School: Cornell University
Community Partner: 1M1B Foundation
Category: Community Development
Problem: Kalamkari is a traditional hand-rendered textile form utilizing natural dyes that is produced in Andhra Pradesh, India. Kalamkari is a traditional South Indian art form that entails an intricate 23-step block-printing and hand-painting process. The authentic production process solely uses organic dyes (eg: turmeric, indigo, mango bark, etc.) – both as “paints” and the final “resin” sealant as well. Thus, most – if not all – of the runoff in the production process is eco-friendly. However, in recent times, many fast fashion producers in India have started duplicating Kalamkari prints through screen printing, using chemical dyes. Coupled with the sheer volume of pieces produced & consumed, this is exacerbating climate change from vulnerable coastal regions.
Solution: The students worked to assist kalamkari artisans by helping them sell their impressive textiles directly to international consumers through an e-commerce platform. This platform would allow them to share their stories, build awareness of their craft, and offer a curated buyer database. This would allow their heritage craft to be more widely available to the global market, and also ensure a reliable income for these skilled artists. By making these textiles more readily available to the public, benefits include less emphasis on fast fashion, an industry that creates a huge amount of waste and pollution, as well as a decreased dependence globally on clothing that has been chemically dyed, while also ensuring that these artists are able to continue practicing their craft and training new, younger artists.
On the community development side, the winning team proposed four community events per year, designed to help get CSC ambassadors into the community to raise awareness of their work and connect those who may need their support.
View the winning slide deck here.
Watch a video of this inaugural Impact Competition at Cornell University here.
