Chittara Typecraft—how a floor decoration became a font
Region: Shimoga district, Karnataka
 
Chittara is an artform in which clay paste is used to create geometric patterns on the floors and walls of entrances of houses.
 
This artform, which originated from ancient cave paintings, eventually found its
way to the walls and floors of village homes. The Kannada word chittara (which is related to chittra ) means an image or design. Historically, chittara has been
practiced by women of the Deewaru community in Karnataka’s Sagar district.
Chittara patterns were painted in village homes on auspicious occasions, to
welcome the gods. These paintings are a part of family and community rituals
associated with festivities, and only the woman of the house makes these patterns. Today, Chittara is a languishing craft, with supposedly only five families practising it in the state of Karnataka.
 
Workshops with artisans vary from project to project and is dependent on how
literate the craftswomen are and how much exposure they have had. Since Radha Sullur, whom we worked with is literate in English, it was easier for her to
understand the nuances of letter shapes, although, we had to explain the rules of type design, to her, as well as explore how this specific artwork can be transformed into type. 
 
Craftsperson/Artist: Radha Sullur
Type Developer: Andreu Balius 
Type Designers: Ishan Khosla, Flora Brochier, Aditya Singh Tomar
Craft-Cordinator: Ishan Khosla