Art & Architecture

A Flag, a Story and a Nation

One of the first women to ever weave the Naga national flag, Lathon Kemp, passed away on the 5th of January, 2021. The news of her death brings to mind the flag and the very important place it holds in the life of the Nagas. Although, it was hoisted for the first time on the 22nd of March in 1956 in the Parashen-Rengma region, the Nagas believe the flag to have a divine origin and not designed by any mortal. A red, green and yellow rainbow is spread out against a field of blue which represents the sky.

Warding off the virus with Corona Drishti in Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Floor drawings, especially those made by variously connecting a grid of dots using white rice flour powder or paste, are often seen at the entrance of people's homes in Tamil Nadu. Known as the kolam, these designs are typically executed by women as part of early morning household chores and renewed daily as a recurring motif of everyday life. This kolam depicts the coronavirus as the evil eye that will protect, but equally harm, if not heeded.

Weaving luntaya acheik (2): The Making of Myanmar Traditional Dress

The Saunders Weaving and Vocational Institute accepts trainees on per year/per month basis. There are regular as well as other vocational training options. In case a local organisation wants to set up a training school, then it can get in touch with the Institute. The educational qualification requirements of the Institute are limited to matriculation, middle and primary school levels. The trainees must be single and under 25 years of age. The numbers of trainees accepted vary between 5-50 depending on the course.

Traditional House with Bamboo Matting in Htan Taw Village

The housing pattern is usually with bamboo matting in Htan Taw Village. The people in Htan Taw village depend mostly on natural products like this kind of bamboo matting for their housing pattern rather than artificial products. On the other hand, in contrast, these kinds of natural products are more perishable than artificial. They have to cope with this problem with their intuition. Some of them apply emulsion paint, oil rust and the substance that drive the insects away on these bamboo mattings to protect the roof from insects and the climate condition.

Tattoos and Patriarchy

For the Konyaks, tattoos are associated with traditional customs and culture which have their own distinct origin and significance and are called Huhtu or tatu in their language. The word ta means body, tu means to prick and ‘huh’ means ‘thorn’, which translates to pricking the body with thorns. The word huhtu is more commonly used among the Konyak Nagas over tatu.

Indigo as Pedagogy

Starting 2012, the TNUA Centre for Traditional Arts (CTA) initiated a series of field courses, including indigenous boat making, bark cloth making, banana fiber crafts, ritual parades etc.; the course of ‘Natural Dyeing’ was one of them. These courses aimed to bring students out of the classroom to learn from the soil and different people who give life to traditional arts, and to learn how traditional arts are related to the society and their generation. The 2013 course of ‘Natural Dyeing’, conducted with many partners, was divided into three main stages.

To Image Blue Through Making: Preparation Vat of Indigo in School

Many of us may have seen or bought indigo products from market. Seldom do we have the privilege to explore the beauty and hardship of a craftsmanship, know the process and knowledge of it from school. For the semester of Spring 2019, there is a course "Blue Across Boarders", which provided students a brief understanding of indigo, from plants, process of making indigo dye to dyeing, also provided them a chance to witness the process and experimented with dyeing by themselves in school. 

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