Folkland conducted workshop on traditional crafts using the leaves of coconut palm

Folkland in association with Dort Ketal and S K Pottekkad Cultural centre conducted two day workshop on the making of traditional crafts using the tender leaves of the coconut palm at the campus of S K Pottekkad Cultural centre, Kozhikode, Kerala.

Raveendran Panikkar Vellora, Theyyam artist

Theyyam artists from Kannur, Raveendran Panikkar Vellora, Pradeep Kadannappalli, Ranjith Vellora, Shyju Panikkar, Madhu Kuttooran, K Kumaran and Raju Peruvannan were the trainers in the workshop, who can make different items like peacock, parrot, basket, hat, different types of flowers and decorative hangings, etc using the tender leaves of the coconut tree. They also demonstrated some of the decorative designs used in the making of headgear in the ritual performance Theyyam.

The two day workshop started on 05 Oct 2018 and was attended by around 150 participants. Apart from some ladies and gents from the locality, the participants include school children from three schools, Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Government Girls High School and Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, all from Parayancherry in Kozhikode town.

Maari Theyyam

The workshop concluded on 6th Oct 2018 with the performance of Maari Theyyam by Kumaran and team from Mattool, Kannur district. Maari Theyyam is a ritual performance from Payangadi in Kannur district, which uses tender leaves of coconut tree extensively for costuming the characters. Mural artist K R Babu was the director of the workshop.

Established in 1989, Folkland International Centre for Folklore and Culture is a not-for-profit organization working with the objective of conservation and promotion of cultural heritage, especially that of Kerala. According to Dr. V Jayarajan, Chairman of Folkland, the organization has been conducting many programs to promote the traditional culture and women empowerment through art forms with the support of Dorf Ketal under its CSR initiative.