Young woman wearing a half sari, Tranquebar 1981
The drawing illustrates a young woman wearing a half sari common for unmarried women in the fishing community in Tranquebar in 1981. The half sari consists of a skirt and a long piece of cloth arranged as a sash. She is wiping the floor with a broom made of coconut leaves. In 1985 artist Elsebet Morville produced a series of fourteen drawings for ethnographer Esther Fihl in relation to her fieldwork in Tranquebar in 1981. This drawing is made according to Fihl’s photos and notes.
The fishers make up the majority of the population of Tharangampadi (Tranquebar) and traditionally they depend on inshore fishing. They form their own community in the northern part of the village and they all belong to the Meenavar Pattinavar caste. The majority of the men are engaged in fishing and several women are fish vendors.
