New Model Coir Society

2021

Formerly owned by the Bombay Company, the New Model Co-operative Society building is being adaptively restored into the Museum of Labour Movement in the Alappuzha Heritage Project. The Society's godowns, which have since fallen into ruin, were formerly bustling with people involved in the production of various coir products. Spalling, rotten timber embers, hairline cracks, and broken joinery, among many other issues, were properly treated and restored. The concept is to conserve these historic buildings to enable them to educate people about the rich history of the formation of trade unions in Kerala.

The Museum is designed to depict the growth of the global labour movement and the history of Kerala's labour movement through photographs, documents, and other exhibitions. It will feature a massive collection of papers and exhibits that moulded labour movements across continents and had an impact on Alappuzha, the country's labour movement's birthplace, in particular, and Kerala in general. They will also showcase the importance of coir or the Golden Fiber in the region. The complex houses a living coir museum, library and cafe. It would also provide visitors with a one-of-a-kind learning experience of the processes at a coir factory, from coir warping and beaming through the weaving of coir mats and other goods, via the live coir museum. Thus, they will be restored as an asset to Alleppey’s heritage.