Traditional craftsmanship

Art Forms of Arunachal Pradesh

• The art refers to the theory and physical expression of creativity found in human societies and cultures from Ancient Time in India. Major constituents of the arts include

1. Literature – including poetry, novels and short stories, and epic poetry;
2. Performing arts – among them music, dance, and theatre; and
3. Visual arts – including drawing, painting, photography, ceramics, sculpting, and architecture – the art of designing and constructing buildings

Performing Art Forms of Arunachal Pradesh

• The performing Art Forms of Arunachal Pradesh domain of intangible cultural heritage includes vocal and instrumental music, dance, theatre, pantomime, sung verse and beyond.
• This domain is inseparably related with other intangible cultural heritage domains; like music is an integral part of many other domains of intangible cultural heritage including rituals, festive events or oral traditions.
• Music can be performed in any situations: marriages, funerals, rituals, festivities etc. Diverse contexts, many dimensions or varied performing occasions make music universal.
• Dance illustrates specific events or daily acts, such as religious dances, hunting or warfare dance etc. The rhythmic movements, steps and gestures of dance express sentiments and moods.
• Traditional theatre performances generally combine acting, singing, dancing, dialogue, narration or recitation but may also include puppetry or pantomime.
• Traditional theatres play crucial roles in culture and society and they are more than simply ‘performances’ for the audiences.
• The performing arts of Arunachal Pradesh are vivaciously colorful. They dance for merriment, festive & rituals, and wars or even for funeral.
• The dances, performed by the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, have been broadly divided into four groups.
• The first group is the ritual dances which are a part of a ritual. This group may again be divided into five subgroups.
• The first subgroup of the ritual dances includes those dances which are performing to secure prosperity, good health and happiness of the dancer, his family, village or the whole community in various rituals.
• The second subgroup comprises those dances performed in ceremonies related to agriculture and domestication of animals to secure a good harvest and increase of domestic animals respectively.
• The third subgroup is associated with the funeral ceremony when the soul is prevented from hunting its old house and guided by the priest to its abode in the land of the dead.
• It is generally believed that if the soul returns to its old home, the family suffers diseases and deaths.
• The fourth subgroup consists of the fertility dances where the imitation of the movements of coition is believed to promote fertility.
• War dances make the fifth subgroup, which are on the decline with the stoppage of the internecine feuds and raids. The war dance used to be prevalent among almost all the non-Buddhist tribes.

Traditional craftsmanship of Art Forms of Arunachal Pradesh

• Perhaps the most tangible manifestation of intangible cultural heritage is traditional craftsmanship, though it is mainly concerned with the skills and knowledge involved in craftsmanship rather than the craft products themselves.
• The objects are varied in form and type- from delicate, detailed art to rugged and sturdy tasks and from used for a short time, such as for festive events to the objects that are passed from generation to generation.
• There are numerous forms of traditional craftsmanship: tools; clothing and jewellery; costumes and props for festivals and performing arts; storage containers, objects used for storage, transport and shelter; decorative art and ritual objects; musical instruments, household utensils and toys, both for amusement and education.
• The people of Arunachal Pradesh present an extraordinary tradition of artistic craftsmanship which manifests itself through their various products.
• From the perspective of art and crafts, the region may be divided into three zones.
• The Buddhist tribes include in the first zone, the second cultural zone occupies the central part from East kameng to Lohit and the third zone is formed by the south-eastern part of the state.
• A variety of crafts i.e. weaving, painting, pottery, smithy work, wood carving, bamboo-work and cane-work are practiced by the people of Arunachal Pradesh.
• The people of the first zone make beautiful masks. Beautiful woolen carpets, woolen and yak-hair caps, shoes, painted wooden vessels and silver articles are the specialties of the Monpas.
• They are also experts at dyeing and painting. Wooden masks are made by the Khambas and Membas.
• In the second zone, the people are skilled in cane and bamboo work.
• The Nyishis, Apatanis, Hill Miris and Adis make beautiful articles from these materials, like Hats of different sizes and shapes, various kinds of baskets and a variety of cane belts and necklaces.
• The people of the third zone, i.e., the Khamptis, Wanchos, Noctes are famous for their wood carving work. The Khamptis make beautiful religious images, toys and other objects.
• The Noctes and Wanchos make beautiful strings of beads with attractive patterns and carve beautiful bamboo pipes and human and animal figures.
• Making silver ornaments is the specialitiy of the Idu Mishmis of Dibang Valley.
• The shawls and jackets of the Apatanis, the Adi skirts or gales, jackets and shoulder bags and the Mishmi coats and shawls are reflective of the weaving talents and artistic sense of these people.

Handloom Making Art Forms of Arunachal Pradesh

Handloom also forms an integral part of the rich art and craft and for most of women in the state, it is the primary occupation.

• Women of 20 tribes and 100 sub-tribes in Arunachal work to manufacture products like skirt (Gale), shirt (Galuk) , cotton shawl, side bag, curtain cloth in different patterns, quality, traditional value, motive and design. Paintings is yet another important art that Arunachal Pradesh is proud of.
• A special type of painting called Tangkha is prevalent in Buddhist dominated areas of the state like Tawang, West Kameng, and Upper Siang Districts.
• The motif of these paintings is mainly a religious subject or that of a traditional value. Carpet weaving in Arunachal is mostly seen in the regions same as that of the painting making.
• The carpets of the state has been acclaimed to be of National & International repute, which definitely adds a feather in the cap of Arunachal.
• Apart from carpets, wall hanging , cushion pad, telephone pad, floor covering etc. are also handmade in the state.
• One of the unique items coming from Arunachal is the Wangcho Bag, which is handmade by the women folk of Wangcho tribe of Tirap District.
• Cotton and acrylic yarn is used for weaving the colourful geometrical pattern on the bag. Today, apart from the the trademark bags, the weavers are designing and different utilities like ladies and gents waist coat and dresses as well.
• The Wangcho women also make grass necklaces with the help of seasonal reed that is found on river banks.
• Along with this, necklace wristband, waist band , head gear and earring are also made in the Tirap district.

Famous Tangkha painting of Art Forms of Arunachal Pradesh Tangkha painting is one of the most artistic craft; it is prevalent mainly in Buddhist dominated area like Tawang, West Kameng and Upper Siang Districts.

• The motif of the painting is mostly religious subject along with traditional value.
• It is a traditional form of Tibetan Buddhist art. Learning this craft can take three years and is part of a monk’s education.
• Monks who have left monastic life can continue painting Tangkhas in craft centers like in Bomdila.