Pedana is home to a unique variant of Kalamkari, with its own distinctive style and process. The ingredients used in the preparation of colours, the various stages of applying the dye and the designs used are unique to the Pedana school of Kalamkari. The town produces fine textiles and textile goods, bed and table covers, clothing, carpets, rugs, linoleum and other materials that bear its hallmark.
Kalamkari originated from Persian art forms and has many style variations, but the Pedana artisans give all their products their unique identity. These processes are protected from copying.
Pitchuka Srinivas is the son of P. Veera Subbaiah, the doyen of Pedana’s Kalamkari heritage, and in fact the man who founded the art in this town. Mr. Srinivas dreams of taking the Pedana style to frontiers his father could not take, owing to financial constraints and such like factors.
ADVERTISEMENT
Today, as the inheritor of a great legacy, he is fighting to protect the Pedana School of Kalamkari from the inroads of fake goods which copy the style but lack the finesse.
The sore point for him is that the Geographical Indications Registry (GIR) of the Government of India pays no heed to the violation of guidelines on conserving the Pedana style.
Pedana Kalamkari was included in the Geographical Indications Registry in 2012 under the GI of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. As per the GIR user number AU/396/GI/19/12, production of Machilipatnam Kalamkari is geographically permitted only in Pedana and villages around Machilipatnam and Polavaram in Krishna district.
ADVERTISEMENT
The distinctive production processes are protected from copying.
“Despite repeated appeals and communications that Pedana processes are being violated, the GIR authorities have not responded. The art form is in threat of losing its moorings,” says Mr. Srinivas.
“Our Kalamkari art cannot be protected if the GIR authorities do not listen to the voice of artisans. It is sad to see the domination of fake Kalamkari products in our industry, spoiling its credibility across the globe,” says Mr. Srinivas, sole exporter of Pedana Kalamkari products to several European countries.
Researcher on
natural colours
Mr. Srinivas, an avid researcher on natural colours, is also angry that adaptation of screen printing by several units has already impacted the lives of artisans in Pedana, forcing them to quit the industry altogether and migrate to other fields.
Waging a battle against his own fraternity in the town, he raised his voice against adaptation of screen printing, mechanisation and the use of chemical colours instead of natural colours. “Being the son of the founder of the art in Pedana, I’m determined to fight trends that are killing the art form,” says Mr. Srinivas.