Pulli Kolam: A Traditional South Indian Craft Practice for Representing Data

2026-03-02

AI Summary

This study investigates how everyday data can be physically embedded into the South Indian handcraft tradition of Pulli Kolam without compromising its established cultural practices. Building upon the geometric rules and symbolic meanings inherent to Kolam, this work systematically reconceptualizes it as a medium for data visualization, introducing five mapping strategies—points, patterns, fills, lines, and color. Through an integrated approach combining cultural probes, design research, and hands-on craft practice, the project successfully integrates personal data such as health metrics into Kolam compositions while preserving their ritual significance and embodied engagement. Furthermore, the research proposes material-based extensions to address the inherent ephemerality of traditional Kolam, thereby enhancing its viability as a sustainable form of data expression.

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Data Visualization & Summarization
• Humans and AI: Game Design — Procedural Content Generation & Storytelling
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science

Application Category

• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data visualization
• Security and Privacy: Data transparency and provenance
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Data quality aspects of human-annotated datasets

Abstract

This paper introduces Pulli Kolam, a traditional South Indian craft, as a medium for physical data representation. Grounded in its cultural meaning and embodied practice, Pulli Kolam follows structured geometric rules while allowing creative variation. We identify five mapping strategies within Kolam (dots, patterns, fills, lines, and color) that can be used for representing data physically. without disrupting traditional practice. Through an illustrative scenario of daily well-being tracking, we demonstrate how data representation can be embedded within routine craft practice. We conclude by outlining potential material adaptations that extend Kolam beyond its ephemeral form while maintaining its embodied and ritual qualities.

Problem

• Pulli Kolam
• data representation
• traditional craft
• physical visualization
• cultural practice

Innovation

• Pulli Kolam
• physical data representation
• craft-based visualization
• embodied interaction
• cultural data practice