Cheriyal scroll paintings come alive through AR at Hyderabad Litfest

Club Artizen is showcasing an augmented reality installation inspired by Cheriyal scroll paintings at the Hyderabad Litfest. The immersive project blends traditional folk art with modern technology while highlighting ethical practices and artisan recognition.

Hyderabad: Club Artizen, in association with One Immersive, is presenting an immersive augmented reality (AR) installation inspired by the traditional Cheriyal scroll painting form at the Hyderabad Litfest, scheduled from January 24 to 26 at Sattva Knowledge City.

Conceived as a highlight of the three-day festival, the installation reinterprets the narrative richness of Cheriyal through augmented reality, enabling visitors to experience characters, scenes, and storytelling sequences layered over hand-painted scrolls. The work offers an interactive entry point into folk narratives while preserving the integrity, authorship, and cultural context of the original art form.

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The project is layered on ‘Virataparvam,’ an intricate artwork by D Nageshwar. The scroll painting depicts the period of the Mahabharata, where the Pandavas were in disguise while in exile.

The project forms part of Club Artizen’s broader initiative to develop ethical and scalable AR/VR-enabled cultural experiences, with a strong emphasis on artisan attribution, intellectual property recognition, and equitable value creation.

Anita Hariharan, CEO of Club Artizen, said, “Cheriyal has always been a living, narrative tradition—designed to be seen, heard, and experienced. Augmented reality allows us to extend that storytelling vocabulary without altering the soul of the art.”