Tracing the livelihood histories of the Malabar

In the pursuit of tracing and curating an experience about the livelihood histories of the Malabar region, we would like to connect with individuals, families, or communities who have stories to share about the changing landscape of industry, trade, and arts in Kozhikode.

Did you or your family member work with the Comtrust?

Or your grandparents tell you stories about their education…

Have you missed weaving on the handloom since 2009?

What do you remember about the early printing presses of Calicut?

How has the community of tile factory worker families shaped your identity?

…

The intention is to reimagine the cultural narratives of Kozhikode, the first City of Literature recognised by UNESCO in India, and a significant trading port, through the lived histories and economic evolution of its people over the last century. Collaboratively, we can write a new chapter of belonging to this city, marked by growth and interdependence, driven by skilled work, technological evolution, and community-building at the workplace.

Objects can be mass-produced, but histories cannot be!

Share your stories or thoughts by Tuesday, 30th December 2025.

Share your Stories here

What is this project for?

In collaboration with Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Kerala Literature Festival 2026, and the Long House Collective, an exhibition intends to trace the evolving intercultural narratives of Kozhikode and the Malabar region. There is ample research and scholarship on the historic imprint of the settlers. However, a sense of public history remains unknown. How have different employment initiatives benefited the families? How have the changes in custodianship affected the production and trade? What are the emotions associated with various industrial livelihoods today, a century later?

Initiatives in teaching, healthcare, and creating employment in the fields of printing, tile manufacturing, and weaving, and a rise in trade from the early 1800s, have had a wide range of implications on the current cultural landscape of Calicut, now Kozhikode. The curatorial exercise is focused on mapping these transformations and narratives by engaging with the community of employees, benefactors, and legacy-keepers. The exhibition will be an invitation to collectively reinterpret the ruins and artefacts that remain today as testaments of the exchanges between different countries, their people, and their constantly evolving identities.

Who can participate?

If you or your family members worked at or were associated with any of these places of interest - The Comtrust Weaving Factory, Commonwealth Tile Factory, Early Printing Presses of Calicut, Feroke Tile Factory, Balmatta Printing Press, or the tile factories in Palakkad or Mangalore.
If you have stories based on lived experiences to share about any of these places.
If you have objects or memorabilia from these places to show and tell stories about, it could be photographs, correspondence, pieces of tiles or fabrics, printed literature, job cards, household objects, or a gift from the community, or anything else that speaks of those early times.
If you have created artworks, performances, or curated narratives about these places and their histories through the lens of people’s lived experiences.

How will your stories be told?

We will read through your materials, and connect with some of you, if not all, and make correlations between different personal histories, curatorial narrative, and the intent of the exhibition.
We will discuss these ideas with you. Perhaps, dig deeper into your stories and visualise them through objects, spatial explorations, and artistic interpretations. All materials that will be presented will be duly credited.
All of you will be invited to engage with the first cut of the exhibition/experience, where we will also hold conversations and activities for community participation. Most of you will be invited to share your stories with the collective on this occasion.
We will also stay in touch with you all to propose the idea of building a community archive, which will last longer and continue to hold new meanings.

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