Textile Traditions. Art. Fashion.
The name Kalamkari, originates in the Persian, قلمکار which is derived from the words qalam (pen) and kari (craftmanship) translating to drawing with a pen. And even though the entomology says 'draw', Kalamkari originated as a form to 'document' stories. Stories of everyday life, of folklore, and of mythology. Even today when you talk to an artisan in Sri Kalahasti they 'write' a kalamkari and not 'draw'...
There were two kingdoms only:
the first of them threw out both him and me.
The second we abandoned.
Under a bare sky,
I for a long time
soaked in the rain of my body.
He for a long time,
rotted in the rain of his.
Then like a poison,
He drank the fondness of the years.
He held my hand with a trembling hand.
“Come, let’s have a roof
over our heads awhile.
Look, further on ahead, there
between truth and falsehood,
a little empty space.”
Empty Space, Amrita Pritam
