LoreKeepers Project: ARPO builds India's leading open video folklore archive

As the LoreKeepers project enters its second year, we are proud to share significant strides in documenting rare folklore traditions and deepening our engagement with communities and cultural practitioners. This work stands a testament to our commitment to inclusivity and the enduring power of collaborative conservation.

To date, we have collected over 1700 lores — comprising folk songs and tales from diverse regions and communities, securing these traditions for future generations. A large number of these are crowdsourced using smartphone technology through community engagement. This makes it India's largest such open folklore archive, as per our knowledge.

ARPO LoreKeepers was supported by the Faizal and Shabana Foundation in the first two years.

You can watch these lores at the ARPO LoreKeepers YouTube channel.

Our recent achievements are marked by a purposeful expansion of our reach. A groundbreaking accomplishment includes the first-time collection of Jenma Mappila folklore from Kodagu, a vital step in broadening the historical record. Our network of collaborators has strengthened, now encompassing the organisation such as Cochin Royal Family Trust, the Vayali Folklore Group, Thudippu Art collective. These partnerships are crucial to comprehensively capturing and preserving India's varied cultural expressions.

We place a premium on the quality and ethical integrity of our digital database. By meticulously refining our archiving processes and broadening representation to include folklore from Dalit, tribal, Christian, Muslim, and linguistic minority communities, we reinforce our core principle of cultural plurality.

Our geographic engagement has expanded, reaching diverse locations like Fort Kochi, Palakkad, and various tribal heartlands, including recent intensive collections in Wayanad and Malappuram. This focused fieldwork ensures we capture the nuances of traditions from communities such as the Kaattu Nayaka, Kurichiya, Jenu Kuruba, Mannan and many others, reflecting an extraordinary array of song types, myths, and rituals.

Beyond documentation, ARPO actively promotes these invaluable traditions. Our workshops and awareness programs amplify local lore, and media collaborations, such as reaching over 130,000 viewers on Instagram with RJ Musafir, extend their resonance. The project has also gained recognition through articles in major publications like Hindustan Times and the Hindu Frontline, underscoring the national importance of our work.

The impact of LoreKeepers is profound: it's not just about preserving the past, but about affirming cultural identities, fostering intergenerational learning, and providing platforms for underrepresented artists. By building these robust digital archives and increasing public awareness, ARPO ensures that India's irreplaceable cultural heritage is actively honored and carried forward by communities and enthusiasts alike.