Fashion & design

“[I]n Arunachal Pradesh change as much through creative innovation as through passive adaptation. […] Cultural change is everywhere apparent: textile designs of one tribe are borrowed by others; local festivals are centralised and refashioned as community events; oral traditions are printed and discussed as ‘cultural heritage’. One tribe regularly holds a ‘Fashion Show’ in which young men and women display the latest innovations in traditional dress. Some traditional practices (such as tattooing) have been banned by tribal organisations, while others (woodcarving, for example) are expanding.” – Research Description “Tribal Transitions at SOAS”
https://www.soas.ac.uk/tribaltransitions/description/
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=9346

“Seats of rural knowledge”: Training centres for tribal youth in crafts design, agriculture and plantations (Sampoorna Bamboo Kendra & Gram Gyanpeeth) – Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh & Chhattisgarh

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Twenty years back, in June 1995, newly-wedded couple Sunil and Nirupama Deshpande picked up a remote village, Lavada in Melghat region as their home. “We wanted to live in a place where people needed us,” says Nirupama, a former MHADA employee and MSW from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. The two wanted to work … Read more

Reviving tattoos: An integral way of life for ages – Manipur

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Tattooing the face, maybe a style fad today, but for certain tribal and indigenous people in the far North East of the country, such tattoos have been a integral way of life for ages. And now, a 27-year-old Naga youth from Manipur is working to revive and give a new form to the traditional tattooing … Read more

Ancestors, social values and clan practices: Cultural identity transmitted through the weaves of the North-East – Seven Sister States

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Folklore, myths and handloom Hidden within the colour, weave and design of tribal textiles are many legends If you were to look beyond the visible landscape of a weave, you would find myriad stories hidden in the colours and designs—tales about human creation, magical deities and kindred forest spirits. These patterns offer tangible evidence of legends … Read more

Use of the body to communicate, sing and tell stories: Challenges to the imposition of an allegedly modern culture on formerly or currently colonised regions

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In many formerly or currently colonised regions like South Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, the American South and Native America, there has always existed a rich, vibrant tradition of oral storytelling, one that was marginalised, often violently, through an imposition of an allegedly modern, white Western language and culture. […] Having grown up within the largely … Read more

How India’s tribal communities meet modern challenges in areas such as health, education and economical development – Press roundup

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Newborns in India have a lesser chance of survival than babies born in Afghanistan and Somalia, according to the latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study published in the medical journal The Lancet. In the GBD rankings for healthcare access and quality (HAQ), India has fallen 11 places, and now ranks 154 out of 195 … Read more