Matr Boomie Bell

Artisan Organization: Matr Boomie

Country: India

Majid, 25, comes from an artisan family of bell makers and has himself been a bell maker for the better part of his life. While his uncle migrated to the city, Majid’s father kept his family in their ancestral village, where he taught his son the craft. Today, Majid is married, and his wife has also become a part of the bell-making tradition.

But what are the bells for? Traditionally used by farmers to identify their livestock, each bell is cut and hammered from lifeless scrap metal, then coated in copper, fired, and tuned to produce its own unique chime connecting the farmer to his herd.