A journey across Naga culture through visual arts

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Feb. 4 (EMN): Meren Imchen, an animator-turned-artist, has translated folktales into a series of paintings called ‘Naga’, where he revisits the resilience and irrepressible history of the Nagas.

“No one actually goes back to the past, everyone is moving towards the future. But I think it is also important to know where we came from”, Imchen said in an interview with Eastern Mirror.

To him, viewers should ‘just feel good’ and be instilled with a sense of curiosity on seeing his paintings, particularly the younger generation who might not know much about the past. He would consider his work a success if the images spark an iota of interest in them, he said.

“My inspiration is through the narrative structure. I love telling a story. That sums it up like what I wanted to do and what I wanted to say through my arts. It’s always fishing out for a story; it’s always wanting to tell story. Instead of just copying something and then painting it, imagine something and narrating that story through a visual”, the artist shared. 

Imchen spent one and a half years to complete his ‘Naga’ series comprising 11 portraits, each depicting the practices and traditions of different Naga tribes.

To have devoted so much time focusing on the painting alone was ‘sabbatical’. “I am happy that I made the decision”, he added.

His paintings include ketsie shü (stone pulling), tsüta (fetching water), Angh (chief), aghoche (giving gift), Akhu-mila (tiger soul), kemete (of pure character), sarishi (meat chase), Aling (bamboo splits), rüve (journey).

Narrating how it all started, he said that towards the end of 2018 he began contemplating on doing a series, something he had never done before. In 2019, he started his first piece ‘ketsamiapfü’ (Angami for elderly woman), he related.

“I didn’t think that it was going to lead to a series. I just had this vision in mind of an old lady contemplating about her experiences in life and then maybe reflecting on those experiences, something more of a poetic nature”, Imchen recounted.

As he played around with the painting, he started to read more, explore and did field researches on the subject matter eventually leading to working on the whole series.

“I did not want the subject matter be based in modern Nagaland. I wanted to dig in deeper into the past on how people actually live and then maybe through tell a story through my images”, he said.

He shared his love for the lush flora and fauna of the North Eastern region, which is put across in half of his artwork.  “I’ve really enjoyed doing those plants though it took me a long time”, he added.

Imchen, whose passion was always animation, shared that story telling, and that has been translated in his paintings. To be able to tell a story even through a frame is something ‘really important’, he said.

He also shared how he comes up with basic concepts of his artwork while reading or listening to traditional stories. “I quickly try to sketch a concept, like a thumbnails sketch” and also write notes, which, he said had trained him to process thoughts and process ideas through varying methods.

In his message to the upcoming artists, Imchen encouraged them to follow their voice, do what inspires them, and never be influenced by what other people say. 

“To actually express yourself is to find your own voice and then tell people what you want to say through your art. I just really want to encourage them to define their own path because everyone has their own voice and everyone has their story to tell”, Imchen conveyed.    

Citing some of the challenges, he said that drawing and painting each leaf was the most challenging as his back went for a toss. Also, he had never painted in big formats earlier as it was always in the book, comic or A4 size papers. Thus, painting in big frames was quite challenging. However, he added that he wanted to challenge himself to do in the bigger format because as he had never done that before.

Taking readers to his upcoming projects as animator, he said that he has got a few projects lined up with Pogo channel, a cartoon network, for their upcoming shows.

When asked if he would continue painting, the Dimapur-based artist said that he does not see painting as his career line as he already has one—animation. However, he added that he might just do it again if he is inspired in the future.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio formally inaugurated the ‘Naga’ exhibition on February 2. The exhibition is being organised by Task Force for Music and Arts and is open for public viewing at RCEMPA in Jotsoma from Feb. 3 to 6 from 11 am to 2 pm.   

Imchen has a degree in Animation Film Design from the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. He also has a Master’s degree in 3D animation from the National Centre for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University, UK. He has worked on short films, commercials, music videos, concept art and graphic art. He won the 54th National Film Awards for Best Animation and direction for his work and was a recipient of Governor’s Award for Excellence Art in 2007. He was also a member of the Steering committee at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in 2017.