All posts filed under: ARTISTS

Explore Local Artists and Know Their Stories

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Losing Our Hearts to Nagaland’s Very Own John Mayer | Imliakum Aier

Published by Shweta Rao

“Poise, prose, and passion make a great musician,” goes a famous saying. Nah! We just made that up. But it’s true! Most of our favorite artists today have struck a chord with millions of fans not just for being good singers. They gotta have the looks and be completely invested in their music beginning from lyrics, to costume, and even their Instagram posts. It’s what the music industry calls ‘a whole package’. Somewhere amidst the bustling, vibrant city of Kohima, Imliakum Aier is strumming a guitar whipping up a new tune for his brainchild, a young band of funky young musicians aptly named The Electric Cool Kid. Aier sports a pair of Lennon round sunglasses, a funky Hawaiian shirt and a pensive look that would put John Mayer to shame. One cannot help but think that Nagaland’s music scene has found its whole package. We spoke with Imliakum to get to know him and how this budding artist weaves magic through his simple lyrics. Tell us about the musician in Imliakum Aier. When did realise you wanted …

Meet the Artist Who Turns People Into Ridiculously Cute Doodles | Awele Kapfo from Nagaland

Published by Shweta Rao

Everybody loves doodling. There’s just something about an idle moment and a blank page that sparks ideas on our minds. When words fail to convey an idea, an ingenious doodle can blaze through our cognitive minds and set the world alight. Our featured artist for the week, creative doodle illustrator, and watercolor artist Awele Kapfo brings beautiful artwork to life. Let’s get to know her! Awele, 21 is a final year Economics student from Nagaland, whose cute and quirky illustrations are creating quite a buzz on social media. Your doodles look pretty awesome! How did you get started? My love for doodles began when I discovered an app called ‘Doodlr’ on Google Play. The app resembled Instagram – but for artists. Unfortunately, the developers could not keep up with the expenses of the server and it closed down this February.  That’s when I decided to (finally) join Instagram, and start putting up my watercolor illustrations resembling the doodles I used to make on ‘Doodlr’. I had started experimenting with watercolors after I saw the posts by a German water colorist …

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Artist Who Etches Memories on Canvas and Plates | Dina Hazarika Chowdhury

Published by Pooja Ghose

Have you ever felt envious of individuals who can capture stunning moments and sights in a tangible way, allowing them to preserve and share them with others? We certainly have. That’s why we love to showcase the work of talented artists like Dina Hazarika Chowdhury, a fine artist from Assam who creates beautiful paintings on canvas and ceramic plates. Dina hails from the cultural hub of Assam, Tezpur. She grew up in a small family but was deeply influenced by the traditions of a large, extended family. Dina fondly recalls attending family gatherings at her father’s ancestral home in Sibsagar. Currently, she resides in Gurgaon after marrying two years ago. Dina Hazarika Chowdhury specializes in taking nostalgic memory snapshots of cities and rural landscapes and transforming them into beautiful artwork. Tell us how you arrived at this point – as an artist who is happily running her own venture from home. Well, I explored many (career) paths before settling on this one – into the world of fine art. At one point, I wanted to …

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Meet Mangka Mayanglambam – An Inspirational Manipuri Folk Performer.

Published by Shweta Rao

Indian classical music has reached international fame and recognized at a global level. But, the Indian folk culture, talking of the existing in predominantly rural communities today, does not enjoy the same celebratory status. Partly, because tribal and folk music is not taught in disciplinary formats similar to Indian classical music. Fortunately, that’s changing today, as Indian youths are picking up folk music to express themselves on various platforms and sustaining their roots and culture for the ages to come. Today at R&L, we showcase an important folk performer, Mangka, who’s a musical revolution that state youth forums are rejoicing over. She has put Manipuri folk singing on the international map and is the voice that has popularized Manipuri folk song form, Pena. Meet Mangka Mayanglambam – Folk Song Artist and Performer at the Laihui Ensemble from Imphal, Manipur. Mangka acquired the knowledge of folk music from her father, Mangangsana, a renowned Pena artist and recipient of Ustad Bismilah Khan Yuva Puraskar in 2008. Mangka started learning Moirang Sai and Basok (a rare traditional female performing …

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Spilling Intricate Poetry on Paper : Tialila Kikon on her new release ‘Paper Cranes’.

Published by Roots & Leisure

“There’s nothing more rare, more precious than a heart that can appreciate and uplift another” – Tialila Poetries are unstoppable gateways to innumerous human emotions and feelings that otherwise don’t find an outlet within us. These spontaneous creations go on to hold even more importance when they stand to represent a collective cause. One such important Indian contemporary poet, is Tialila Kikon. Kikon’s work picks up twigs of life, love, hope and humanity, and builds simple yet sanguine poetry with them. Her poems were published in ‘Feminist Voices Across Cultures: A Poetry Anthology‘ and some of her Tanka poems appeared in ‘Winter Writes: Poems, Stories & Sagas’. She also has a Kindle eBook published by the Whitesboro Group of Writers, New York. Her poems ‘Indeed’ and ‘Children of Conflict’ were selected among 300 other poems submitted by poets from around the world and displayed at the Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre, Vancouver, Canada on 12th March 2016 at the WIN-UNESCO World Poetry Month Celebration on the theme of Love and World Peace. In this short …

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On Reality, Records and Rap | Borkung Hrangkhawl

Published by Shweta Rao

Times are a-changing. India’s underground rap scene is gradually making an appearance with artists passionately rapping about social issues. Fans in the movement have quickly favored rants placed neatly around American hip-hop beats, and addressing issues like corruption, identity crisis, poverty and human rights. We had the pleasure of interviewing Borkung Hrangkhawl, better known as BK, a standout talent in the hip-hop scene. BK is among the rare glitch-hop rappers in India, blending elements of hip-hop and dubstep with a bold lyrical style and fearless musical delivery that have truly shaken up the Indian music scene. BK started out performing with New Delhi’s hip-hop group Dropsquad, and went on to release his debut album in 2013 along with Ina (his DJ), Lima Kichu (bassist), and Emmanuel (guitarist).  From winning “Superstars ” and VIMA Music Awards, to having one of the fastest spreading Indian indie videos on the internet, BK has never looked back. For an artist who is independently moving forward on a musical endeavor, BK is big on bringing other local talents to the limelight. …

Meet Ankita from Unees Bees | Textile Artist from Gujarat

Published by Roots & Leisure

We are super delighted to feature Ankita from Unees Bees – as our first artist from Gujarat. Unees Bees is an independent clothing label from Vadodara. They make beautiful handcrafted sarees, stoles and clothing using traditional methods like block printing and tie and dye, and combining them with contemporary prints. Here we chat up with the lovely lady to know more about Unees Bees. Hi Ankita! Super delighted to have you here as the first Gujarati artist on R&L. So tell us something about yourself. What was the inspiration behind the launch of the brand ‘Unees Bees’? I was brought up in Vadodara (in Gujarat) and had always been more creatively inclined than Academic. Plus, growing up, my mother would always take me along to fabric shops around the city as she had an appreciation for textiles and garments – and that I picked up my my interest in garment making . When the time came to choose a career, clothing design was a clear choice. So I did my Bachelors in Fashion Design from M.S. University Vadodara, which …

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Photos and Video | Ziro Festival of Music 2016

Published by Roots & Leisure

Some of our readers have shared some lovely photos for those of us who couldn’t make it to the festival. The location is beautiful and it definitely looks like a lot of fun out there! Check out the photos and a video. Hope you enjoy it 🙂 Waiting for the shows to begin! And there’s food as well! Oh just in case it’s not obvious, our friend (Sukesh) is trying to eat a grasshopper. Slurp!   Members SOFYIUM and Koloma bands warming up before the show. Italian band Gramlines playing at the fest Photo courtesy : Naren Jamatia, Rohan Abraham

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Meet Asibu – Maker of Glamorous Jewellery

Published by Roots & Leisure

Lately, we have been witnessing some pretty awesome jewellery designers coming up from every corner – especially from the vibrant state of Nagaland. And we’re very proud to showcase each and every one of them. One of the most recent one to join the growing band of upcoming jewellery entrepreneurs is Asibu Yhoshu Peseyie, an NIFT graduate. We came across her jewellery brand  ‘Asibu‘ and they are absolutely gorgeous! No wonder everyone’s talking about them. If you haven’t yet come across them , fret not. What else are we here for? : )   Asibu has worked as an Assistant Designer for Amritraj Bora Couture, fashion brand that has styled for the likes of Malaika Arora Khan and Madhu Sapre. She has also worked alongside the renowned fashion stylist Mahima Shukla as an Assistant Stylist. Her career has now taken the natural turn by launching her own jewellery brand, Asibu. And, we can’t have enough of it! Tell us a little more about ‘Asibu’ and the design mantra behind it? Asibu is a handcrafted home-based jewellery brand that …

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Na Lemtur – Nagaland’s Hottest Fashion Photographer Right Now

Published by Roots & Leisure

We chatted up Temsuna Lemtur (aka Na Lemtur) who is currently creating rifts in Dimapur, Nagaland with her fashion photography. Lemtur decided to gain a better insight into photography after leaving Delhi, where she worked as a freelancer for a while. Almost at the same time her younger brother Moanungsang Lemtur aka Shinobi (who we covered a short while ago) was finding a footing in the creative design arena. #ArtistSiblings for the win! Na Lemtur’s creative journey since then has taken her places and to newer heights. Here’s presenting the pretty and very talented, Na Lemtur. Why did you choose photography as a career option? Photography just happened to me and I went with the flow. There definitely wasn’t a “eureka” moment as such but my interest in photography developed alongside my growing interest in fashion. I began it as a hobby with a Yashica compact digital camera and I remember being fascinated by a photograph’s capacity to suggest my subjects’ personality and bring out the life within them for everyone to view. That’s how I …