By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Shillong, hosted its annual cultural fest “Lapongnai 2013” on Saturday. Though a one-day event, the festival was fully packed with a wide array of events buzzing in different areas within the campus.
The events included street plays, karaoke, dance competition, and the Grand Finale of the fashion showcase event – Mo Naga’s body art show.
Twenty reputed institutes from across the north-east participated in the annual cultural fest.
The highlight of the festival was a Guwahati-based tattoo artist Mo Naga, an alumnus of NIFT-Hyderabad. He showcased a collection of tribal art and lifestyle of the Naga warriors from north-east India and Burma. It was presented as a collage of various motifs and design patterns taken from different Naga tribes.
Joint Director, NIFT, Ian Khongmen informed, “The event is a unique celebration of the youthful and creative energy of the student community.”
Ian Khongmen felt, “Mo Naga’s work on reviving the tribal art forms of the north-east through innovative designs is a unique experience and is meaningful to the students of NIFT.”
“Our students, through this collaboration, will gain valuable insight and knowledge from the traditional art forms of the region and the fashion show has surely helped to enrich the students’ knowledge on the role of society and its impact on fashion,” Khongmen added.
Talking about his collection Mo Naga said, “The collection speaks of the time when headhunting was still practiced in the Naga community.”
He also said, “The collection is not particularly about apparels, but is a representation of our tribal art.”
A lot of stalls were put up at the venue and Mo Naga’s stall was a completely unique experience zone for the visitors. He executed a live demonstration of the complete tattooing experience, teaching each and every important aspect of the procedure. Mo took questions from the audience and also talked about safe tattooing standards. Simultaneously, Mo also educated the youth about the tattoos and north eastern tribal tattoo art.