City NGO committed to preserving Chittara folk art of Malnad's Deevaru community

The Hindu

14-05-2025

Chittara (hase chitra) is an endangered folk art form practised by members of the Deevara community settled in the Malnad region, especially Shimoga, Sagara and Uttara kannada districts, of Karnataka.
Giving extreme attention to details, colour, and symmetry, the art is a tribute to the Earth and its elements, while also being a testament to the deeply respectful and sustainable lifestyle of the community, according to Geetha Bhat, Founder, The Centre for Revival of Indigenous Art (CFRIA), a NGO which has been actively working to revive, restore and preserve Chittara and assisting thousands of artisans involved in this folk art form.
'Every aspect of the community - whether in the way they make use of natural resources, their rituals, or their art - is relevant to the present context, in terms of sustainability, eco-friendliness, and collaboration with the environment,' Bhat told The Hindu.
This folk art involves intricate geometric patterns painted on walls, trays, bamboo or fibre baskets, and is deeply ingrained in the Deevara community's culture and traditions. The art form mostly depicts unity and celebration like festivals and weddings, according to her.
CFRIA has organised a four-day exhibition which concluded on Tuesday (May 13) at Indian Institute of World Culture (IIWC) at Basavanagudi to showcase the nuggets, glimpses, impressions and knowledge the NGO gathered through interactions members of Deevara community of the Malnad region.
'At the exhibition, we were offering a true reflection of the life, culture and occupation of the Deevara community, through their ethnic folk art form, Chittara. It was the result of interactions with the community for 21 years and some three years of research and documentation,' she added.
On the relevance of Deevara Chittara for the urban audience, Namrate Cavale, space curator of the exhibition said, 'It helps to look at the traditional knowledge systems around us, because it allows us to question our actions, its purpose, appreciate and revive these art forms, while also going back to our rich roots.''
Interestingly, although Chittara folk art works are so vibrant and colourful, only four colours, all natural, are used by artists for drawings. These are: red (red soil or crushed red stones), black (charcoaled rice or seed of a particular tree), white (rice flour) and yellow (gurige seed).
Cavale further said, the curation allowed space to reflect on the materials used in creating the art, its significance within the culture, the pigments used and its origins, the traditional activities of the community and its representation in the art, and the importance of women in the rituals of the Deevara's.
The exhibition also saw the launch of a coffee table book: Deevara Chittara-The Artform, the people, their culture, by renowned folklorist, poet, and Padma Bhushan awardee, Chandrashekhara Kambara.
'It is not just a coffee-table book. We want design schools, colleges and researchers to engage with the Deevara community and Chittara. So that the community gets its voice and Chittara some momentum,'' concluded Geetha.