Aravind K

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA will facilitate research and creation of a series of audio-visual documentation and accompanying handbook on ten selected objects from the collection of household artefacts at the Rani Abbakka Tulu Nadu Museum. Alongside, there will be workshops involving the members of the community to explore the culinary traditions of the community. This project is in collaboration with Rani Abbakka Tulu Nadu Museum in Bantwal, Karnataka. The museum is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Tulu Nadu. Named after the queen Rani Abbakka, who valiantly fought against Portuguese colonialism, the museum is a tribute to her legacy and the lush history of Tulu Nadu. Founded and curated by a retired history Professor Dr Thukaram Poojary, the museum houses an extensive collection of artefacts and historical relics that tell the story of the region's past. In addition to the artefacts, the museum houses a library named after SU Paniyadi, a numismatics section, and an art gallery dedicated to Rani Abbakka. Aravind K is the Project Coordinator for this project.

Aravind K works as an assistant teacher at the Government Higher Primary School in Bantwal, Dakshina Kannada. He has 15 years of experience as a school teacher and also ten years as a Headmaster. Apart from this, Aravind has worked as a resource person and content creator for state level programmes of the Department of Education such as Kalika Habba and Makkala Sahitya Sambhrama.  He is also an experienced translator and has translated the brochure of Museum on Wheel from English to Kannada for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS). Aravind has previously been a Project Coordinator under the Arts Education programme, where he worked on illustrated books on nature with children from his school. Apart from his teaching responsibilities, Aravind has a deep interest in the environment and has served as a resource person specialising as a nature educator. He is an avid wildlife and theatre photographer. Given his long involvement in schools, education, community and interests, Arvind K is best suited to be the Project Coordinator for this Foundation Project of IFA. 

The Rani Abbakka Tulu Nadu Museum is a unique museum that tells the story of a community through an assemblage of objects, collected over the years from the community itself. The compelling question to ponder in the case of any such museum, where the objects are not merely an object of beauty or art is: what happens when an object that at one point of time was part of everyday life of a community, belonged to the precincts of their home and daily life enters the space of a museum and resides alongside other objects? Aravind through this project tries to explore this question. Aravind will employ the trajectory of ‘history through objects’ to study objects from the household section of the museum to re-contextualise them within realms of lived histories beyond the static assemblages in a museum.  He seeks to do so by creating multiple entry-points to create a biography of these objects through the lens of historical significance, community history, material history and socio-cultural significance. Aravind intends to explore the histories embedded in these objects by documenting oral history and stories that remain with the founder and curator of the museum, Dr Thukaram Poojary. Alongside, Aravind will also interview and document the narratives of the members of the community. 

Since Aravind is looking at objects from the household section of the museum, the histories, socio-cultural relevance and the personal stories from the community is of crucial significance to be registered. This will also extend the focus on the artisanship, traditional techniques that are inextricably rooted in the community. While looking at the household objects at large, the Project Coordinator will also extend his research to explore the culinary tradition of the community. He will study specific artefacts like the ‘Bisale’ (clay pot used for fish cooking), ‘Kara’ (vessel for making rice), ‘Adye’ (used for preparing traditional snacks), and other tools made from bamboo and wood that were commonly used in Tulu food culture. This phase of the project is designed to be participatory in nature, where Aravind will organise cooking demonstrations and workshops on traditional cooking methods. This foray into the food tradition of Tulu culture will also look into the evolving language in the context of food, for which the Project Coordinator will organise workshops and gatherings with linguistic experts and community representatives. Taking cue from the materiality of the kitchen tools and relevant objects, Aravind will also extend his research to understand how coastal environment, exposure to various trading routes, availability of natural resources like coconut, bamboo etc have all led to development of certain sustainable living and artisanal practices, some of which are still in practice. All the three strands of research will emerge as a series of audio-visual documentation. This will be accompanied by a handbook created out of the research findings, workshops and gatherings. The handbook will allow the visitors to better understand the objects in the museum, and will also serve as a resource for future reference. Aravind throughout the project will collaborate with various artists, technical experts and resource persons.

The Project Coordinator has divided the project tenure into four phases: oral history documentation with Dr Poojary; fieldwork and collection of stories from community members, workshops and public gatherings with linguistics experts, public and school children; and finally, the creation of the audio-visual series and handbook. 

The outcome of the project will be the documentation series about the history, usage, making process and material history of the ten selected objects, a handbook about the selected objects and workshops around culinary practices along with public programming. The Project Coordinator’s final deliverables along with the final reports will be the documentation series, copies of the handbook, and documentation of the culinary workshops and other public programming.

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.

This project is supported by Tata Trusts.