Creating avenues for Naga craftsmen

Sentila T Yanger speaks during the opening session of the ‘design & technical development workshop on diversified bamboo products’ as Reshmi Shankar, resource person, looks on at the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency (NBDA) in Dimapur on Monday, November 9. (Morung Photo)

Dimapur, November 9 (MExN): A 2-week Design & Technical Development workshop on diversified bamboo products got underway here at the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency (NBDA) on 5th Mile today. The workshop, organised by Tribal Weave, Dimapur, is being sponsored by the office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) and also supported by NBDA Nagaland.
Workshop on diversified bamboo products underway
The resource person at the workshop is Reshmi Shankar, a graduate of reputed institutes like the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai, and National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Addressing the trainees present at the workshop, Shankar briefed a little about what to expect during the 2 week long training. She revealed that she plans to find out the skill level and capabilities of the participants and then split them into groups and allot them to different crafts. The resource person will teach the participants how to make stationery items, lampshades, shopping bags, paper holders, newspaper holders, CD pouches and room dividers from bamboo.
An interesting part of the training curriculum is the use of natural dyes which will be used to colour the bamboos. Shankar assures that they plan on using chemical-free dyes with the intention of being eco-friendly while also helping to reduce the market price of the products thereby making it affordable to the laymen. She emphasised that the whole objective of the workshop is for product diversification, and to teach people to make crafts from easily available resources which are cost-friendly, like the bamboo, and which in turn also prove to be pocket-friendly for the consumers.
Sentila T Yanger, workshop coordinator for Tribal Weave, expressed, “Nagaland has an abundance of woodcraft, bamboo and textile. The workshop plans to merge the three elements and make different handicraft items. Let’s work to make these our speciality.”
Participants at the workshop have come from different districts of Nagaland including Dimapur, Kohima, Mon and Longleng. Besides, they are also from varied backgrounds. Take for example Zholto Pusa, who owns Pusa Craft Center and Training Institute Handicrafts, both in Jharnapani, and also the Nagaland Bamboo Common Platform Market. Meren, an artist and sculptor, is also among the participants, while others are from self-help groups, Kohima and the NBDA. The workshop will continue till November 21 and timings are scheduled from 9:30am to 4:00pm daily.