A Visual Ethnography on Cashew factory workers of Kerala


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Creator/Artist: Arun Raj R S

Category: Product Design

Document: Design Research

Batch: 2012-2014

Source: India,   IDC

Period:  2009-2018

Medium: Report pdf

Supervisor: Prof. Nina Sabani


Detailed Description

Kollam in Kerala is known as ‘The cashew capital of India’. It holds a major share in the total cashew produced and exported. With around a hundred cashew processing factories both managed by the government and private groups, the cashew sector gives employment to more than 40,000 workers. Surprisingly, 95% of them are women. These people have been working in the factories throughout their life and it is carried over by the next generations. The KSCDC Elampalloor factory is around 300 metres from my home and I never got any chance to see what is happening in the factory even though I see lot of women going to the factory for the work. This project is a study on the culture, behaviour and life of the working population in cashew factories.