Beyond Ornamentation: Decoding Cultural Meaning in Bengal’s Broto Alpona for Contemporary Design

Traditionally created by women undertaking religious vows, known as Brotis, using white rice paste on earth-plastered floors, Broto Alpona is a ritual floor-painting tradition of Bengal. Its designs depict vows, associated deities and symbolic elements of the local environment. Although historical documentation and practitioner interviews have recorded this art form, little is known about how contemporary viewers interpret its motifs, limiting their culturally responsible adaptation in design practice. This study examines contemporary Bengali viewers’ meaning-making processes, identifies culturally recognisable motifs and explores the implications for design adaptation. A two-stage qualitative study combined consultations with three practitioners and archival sources from Kolkata to select three designs—Mandal, Bhaduli Broto and Sholo Ghor—and an online, open-ended questionnaire. Of the 30 responses received, 25 were valid. The data were analysed using Peircean and Barthesian semiotics and Hall’s encoding/decoding theory. Recognition declined as motifs became more abstract: 40% of respondents recognised the Ashtadal Padma (eight-petalled lotus) as a flower, and 56% identified the human figures in Bhaduli Broto, while none recognised the spiral cell in Sholo Ghor as a house. Although respondents often identified motifs’ visual meanings, their ritual connotations remained largely unrecognised. The study contributes to visual semiotics and culturally responsive design by distinguishing visual recognition from cultural understanding. It interprets this gap as indicative of possible cultural-code erosion and advocates contextual motif adaptation supported by relevant cultural narratives, illustrated through a proposed sling-bag design.

Keywords: Broto Alpona; visual semiotics; intangible cultural heritage; cultural memory; heritage-based product design; Bengal folk art.