The Nagas

BAAC takes great pleasure in bringing to Kolkata - The Nagas, a project spanning a decade of research and documentation by the renowned photographer Pablo Bartholomew.

The “visual anthropological project” was a personal journey for him. He had heard innumerable stories growing up from his father Richard Bartholomew, who while fleeing Rangoon to escape Japanese persecution as a young teenager, had deeply felt the kindness of the Naga tribes.

Decades later, Pablo Bartholomew retraced his father’s steps to visit the North Eastern terrains of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. The culmination of those trips are encapsulated within the photographs on view. Accompanied by original Naga wooden objects and the woven textile pieces presented in this iteration, the exhibition aims to provide a deeper understanding of the Naga people and their rich cultural traditions.

The exhibition also sees an extension in Dr. Geraldine Forbes’ research on the photographic and textual archives of Rev. Samuel Alden Perrine’s extensive travels in the region through her lecture “Illustrating the Nagas” and her conversation with Pablo
Bartholomew.

In a way, the exhibition ties together the individual journeys made to the remote regions of Nagaland and brings to the fore the many stories to be told from these expeditions - at times from their personal encounters and sometimes through the lens
of others.

We would also take this moment to thank Dr. Anurag Kanoria and The Great Eastern Homes, Byculla for the generous loan of the fascinating Naga objects from their collections, for this show.
Uma Ray
Curator