Our Purpose
The Kala Chaupal Trust founded in 2018 works in the area of arts, culture and environmental sustainability. We are committed to facilitating collaborations between traditional and contemporary arts; creating conversations that impact an in-depth appreciation of art, and encouraging a confluence of ideas and exchange of knowledge through powerful visual narratives.
Our project approach works from the ground up and engages with sustainable development goals to influence an approach to climate change.
‘Aqueduct Walk’ at the Nahargarh Fort of the participating artists of Jaipur Kala Chaupal 2017
Who are we?
The Kala Chaupal Trust is a not-for-profit organisation based out of India working in the areas of Arts, Culture and Environmental Sustainability.
The Kala Chaupal identifies socially relevant themes and explores them through the lens of visual, performing arts and public space arts, driving a powerful impact in the process.
Discover our Programmes
Arts, Culture and Environmental Sustainability
Climate change and its cascading impacts are being increasingly recognized as a major challenge across the globe. India is both a major greenhouse gas emitter and one of the most vulnerable countries in the world for projected climate change.
India is already experiencing severe changes in its biomes and the impacts of climate change, including water stress, heat waves and drought, severe storms and flooding, and associated negative consequences on health and livelihoods. Critical factors affecting biomes and their distribution are a focus for The Kala Chaupal.
Under future climate change scenarios, biomes of the Indian sub-continent are set to shift from their current state to a different state. For example, 14-18% of India is set to experience biome shifts-from dry to wet in certain areas and vice-versa in others, with dry and xeric habitats being under high risk of change.
Rise4Odisha
Artisans engaged in selling Raghurajpur arts and crafts at Quorum Club, Gurgaon post Cyclone Fani, May 2019.
Rise4Odisha
A Crisis Intervention post Cyclone Fani 2019
Raghurajpur- A Heritage Village
The devastation caused by tropical Cyclone Fani, which ravaged the eastern Indian state of Odisha on 3 May 2019, has refocused attention on the grim outlook for the state in the face of climate change, experts say.Odisha, like its neighbours Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, has seen some of the worst ever cyclones in India’s history.
Between 1891 and 2018, the state was hit by about 110 cyclones, says tropical meteorologist Uma Charan Mohanty, a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar. “That’s a massive number.”
The geography of the state contributes to the development of the culture for the state as it stands as a coastal corridor between the northern and southern India.Dedicated labour of the artisans scattered all over the state has made Odisha a fabulous market of souvenirs and mementoes. Stemming from centuries of exquisite craftsmanship, they are a colourful testimony to the integral life force of the people.
#Rise4Odisha was initiated to raise crisis funds to rehabilitate the artisans from the heritage village in Raghurajpur devastated by Cyclone Fani in 2019.
'Aqueduct Walk' at the Nahargarh Fort of the participating artists of jaipur Kala chaupal 2017
A Cultural Willingness
to Change
- Even if scientists knew unequivocally how climate change will manifest itself, traditional knowledge and practices would need to be accounted for and integrated into responses.
- How can we gain a deeper understanding of climate change by analysing it in a trans-disciplinary approach?
- How are artists from different fields responded to climate change and to sustainability issues?
- How can art support a process of change towards more sustainable societies?
- How is this change possible without a cultural change?
Trish Tillman engages with stuidents and a skilled metal worker to complete 'Water Alter' her artistic installation in JKC 2017, that deconstructs a cyscle rickshaw as a primary water bearing vehicle
Our Approach
- Trans disciplinary-regional and global
- Community centric and inclusive
- Towards Sustainable Development Goals 2030
- To initiate new awareness through Impact driven projects
- To create artistic and interdisciplinary exchanges
An interactive discussion with themountain women of the SHG on water sufficiency at jadipani, chamba, Urrarkhand, 2019
Speaker at the chaupal
Our Collaborators
