An article on Nagaland art form of bamboo craft
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Bamboo Pavilion at Kisama was seen flooded with art and artifacts made by the countless artisans from all over Nagaland, during the recently concluded annual Hornbill Festival 2011. (Left) An interesting neck piece made of colorful beads (Right) Earrings made of wood for the style sirens of Nagaland. (Morung Photos)
Dimapur, December 28 (MExN): The Nagas have a rich tradition of art and craft rooted in a lifestyle that has always been in harmony with the environment they live in. Skilled tribal craftsman and artisans have always been the pillars of a tribal society that had, for many centuries, been self-sufficient. They lent their skills to creating items of utility as well those with ritualistic and aesthetic value.
To quote Dr. Verrier Elwin, “they have made their own cloth, their own hats and rain-coats; they have prepared their own medicines, their own cooking-vessels, their own substitutes for crockery…” Skilled craftsmen were employees to carve splendid village gates, house posts and Morungs in Naga villages. Fine storage baskets, wicker drinking vessels and containers were woven by craftsmen whose skills had been inherited from generations of skilled craftsmen.
It was these craftsmen, weavers and artisans who foraged the forest in search of wood, barks, dyes and other resources that were utilized to carve out fine works of art and weave colorful clothes that distinguished each Naga tribe.
The various crafts and art that were known to the early Nagas and are still carried out to this day are;
The making of baskets is an age-old craft of leisure which was practised by the male elders of the family in the traditional rural economy of Nagaland. It was never a profession in the old context, and hence the dwindling of this skill in present times. Bamboo and cane basketry is not art in tribal economies like Nagaland, but an intrinsic part of daily life and activity that produced essential household items like baskets to carry firewood, or bamboo tubes of water, for food and grain storage, vessels, plates, furniture, containers, spoons, and fishing and hunting traps. The craft also extended to personal accessories of adornment and headgear. Bamboo and cane can be found everywhere in traditional homes. The woven craft further penetrates into the realm of architecture and public engineering—in bridges and fencing bamboo and cane are major ingredients along with timber—which traditionally employs basic woven craft skills albeit on a larger scale. It was actually the weaving of bamboo splits or flattened bamboo culms that found application in various ways, causing this unique extension of the craft form.
Fine detailing and varied intricate weaves are the hallmarks of the traditional bamboo and cane basketry of this region. There are hundreds of designs of baskets to be found here, each designed for a specific purpose. Carrying and storage baskets form the bulk of the basketry range. The carrying basket is usually a large, typically tapering or conical form with straps and is used for carrying firewood, vegetables and fruits or water (in bamboo tubes). The open and lidded baskets with or without legs are used for the storage of grain, seed, rice, vegetables, fish, salt and even personal articles like jewellery or clothes. In addition to these types, there are also the cylindrical, rounded, open-weave bags for carrying livestock like chicken or pigs. Open round and square flat trays for drying grain, cane backpacks for hunting expeditions, waist belts for carrying the dao or machete knife, salt and bamboo-shoot solid bamboo containers with cane binding in parts, winnowing trays and fans of varied design and shape, raised woven bamboo and cane tables to support leaf plates (Konyak Naga), dao or knife shields are among the numerous uses that bamboo and cane were put to in the traditional context. The list is endless.
Khophi, a carrying basket made of cane used by the Angami tribe, Khonoba village, in Kohima district
Smoothening the splits
For a basket or headgear, the base is the starting point for the weaving which is basically the interlocking of splits in a pattern and continues first centrally outwards. The ends of the finished base splits are then turned upwards perpendicularly to create the basket walls. The edges are plaited diagonally to achieve a closed structure. Once the desired height is achieved, the ends of the warp and weft are turned down and folded over and into the wall weave. Extra lengths are trimmed.
Starting a closed basket base
Rims are added and finished in many ways by binding half-split cane which is used mostly to strengthen the basket. Many basket designs which are used for carrying heavier loads have extra bamboo slats tied onto the basket surface, or double weaves. The weave patterns and rim designs are numerous. Open and closed weaves and also diagonal and straight weaves bind warp and weft in various patterns depending on the use of the basket. Base and side weaves also differ and many baskets are made using a mould to get the required shape and form.
Headgear
For finishing the basket, a dash of flame is carefully applied to its surfaces which burns the hair bristles of the bamboo. Smoking over the fireplace is the only extra treatment given to the finished product which acquires an attractive gloss and rich colour through constant use and exposure to smoke, besides protecting it from fungus and insect attack. Other traditional methods of treatment include the immersion of bamboo poles in flowing river water for upto four weeks to leach out sugars.
For shorter article refer to the 1 n 2 attachment
this is the longer one
