Against the deep yellow walls of Museo camera, hang pictures encapsulating Naga’s past – of rituals, faces donned in traditional headgears, bird feathers, and gentle smiles. Photographers Pablo Bartholomew and Aditya Arya document their personal journeys in the exhibition
‘The Nagas’ (on till September 18) as they explore the land and their customs from the days bygone.
Closed off in the ’80s, Nagaland was still a mystery to the world. The photographers, during their separate personal projects to the Northeast, captured the traditions and lifestyle of the tribals that perhaps remain long lost. “The exhibition is like a visual anthropology, where people look at these pictures and wonder, ‘So this is what their huts looked like. These were their customs’,” says Arya, also the founder of Museo Camera.
Arya was struck with the idea of collaboration after he saw Bartholomew’s exhibit on Nagaland a year ago. “I was introduced to Nagaland, thanks to the ‘Festival of India’ in 1984. I had read about fascinating accounts of people’s visit to the tribes and visited the land myself over the next seven to eight years. So, when I saw Pablo’s work on display, I thought I must revisit the archives and collaborate with him,” he explains.
Bartholomew’s work on the tribes, however, had family history. The Naga project emerged from the stories of the Naga tribes recounted by the photographer’s father, Richard Bartholomew (of Burmese origin), who fled perceived persecution by the invading WWII Japanese forces in his native Burma [present day Myanmar] to enter India. “Along the escape route, he encountered the Nagas and carried the stories of their hospitality into his new life in India. This planted a seed of curiosity in my mind, and in 1989, I set out to explore the geography,” he says.
Contrasting visions
In a fine juxtaposition, visuals of both artists stand out – as Arya gives a monochrome edge to his vision, Bartholomew depicts it with striking colourful prints. A part of the latter’s collection also gives a glimpse of the modern-day tribes after many adopted Christianity.
One such picture by Bartholomew is of a children’s choir. Standing atop a high-level ground is a group of children dressed in bright yellow robes as a bunch of soft drink packs lay scattered on the lower ground. Their hands are poised mid-air as they sing and dance with an older female solo in the middle of the group, perhaps leading their song. The vibrant picture, the photographer says, is of tribal Nagas, but from a modern perspective. “I have structured the show to depict how the Nagas live now and beyond the modern veneer and the practice of Christianity; they do not lose their tribal roots,” he adds.
While some of Bartholomew’s colourful pictures enunciate the tribe’s jewellery and vibrant attire in red, blue, and black hues, Arya’s black-and-white ones give a glimpse of their customs and rituals. A couple of striking photographs from the latter’s collection – one of human skulls lined up on bamboo shelves and another where a skull is placed in a weary earthen pot – catches the eye.
Glimpse of the past
He chronicled pictures of the Konyaks, an ethnic group known for headhunting and elaborate facial tattoos. Headhunting was one of the most prevalent practices in Nagaland, where leaders of tribes severed the heads of their enemies, Arya says. “A head-taker gained respect and admiration among his peers and villagers. Much more than a way of life surrounded the institution of head-taking which came to an abrupt end in the villages that came under British administration. Head-taking raids, nevertheless, continued outside the British territory in the Naga Hills,’’ Arya explains in his note.
He also captures the Konyak tiger ceremony, wherein a group of hunters and their heads stand before a slain tiger on a bed of bamboo sticks. According to the photographer’s note, the tribes believed that tigers were their distant brothers who were later separated. The big cats, therefore, were not hunted for sport, but only when the villagers believed a familiar was haunting their village.
Importance of archives
The artists believe that documentation is imperative, pointing out the vast difference between the tribes’ present and the past and its fading legacy. “Only some minor animist rituals are practised. Since Christianity is the main religion, much has been lost,” says Bartholomew.
“What you see in these pictures are actual bones and feathers which have been taken from various hunts. Now, the displays are only plastic. They should have been preserved in the museums. Many museums don’t have a detailed background of their lives from back then. It’s important that viewers understand that all the customs, rituals, ways of life have to be documented for posterity,” Arya adds.
Elaborating on the viewers’ takeaway from the exhibition, Bartholomew explains, “The exhibit is for the viewers to understand an ancient Megalithic way of life, experience life as it was, and realise that there are other ways people live and that parts of India are very different from the larger mainstream narrative.”