Kohima, 16 September: A photography exhibition titled “Time Travel to Nagaland, 1979: A Japanese Photographer’s Record of Life and Tradition” was inaugurated at the Museum Annexe Courtyard of the Directorate of Art & Culture, Kohima, on Wednesday.
The exhibition, organised in collaboration with the National Museum of Ethnology (NMoE), Osaka, Japan, features photographs documenting Nagaland’s people, traditions, everyday life, landscapes and cultural practices captured by Japanese ethnographic photographer Yuzo Morita during his visit to the State in 1979. The event also saw the launch of the Database of Naga Collection housed at NMoE and the Digital Archives of Morita’s Photography Collection.
Advisor, Art & Culture and Treasuries & Accounts, K. Konngam Konyak, who attended as Special Guest, said the photographs provided an opportunity to look back at Nagaland more than four decades ago and served as valuable records of the State’s cultural memory.
He highlighted the growing collaboration between the Nagaland State Museum and NMoE, saying the partnership had created opportunities for cultural exchange, research, documentation and knowledge sharing. He added that the digital resources would make cultural and photographic materials more accessible for research, education and future generations.
Commissioner & Secretary, Art & Culture, Bodeno S. Colo, said the exhibition brought together Morita’s extensive photographic documentation from an important period in Nagaland’s history. She said the photographs could help present generations reconnect with their traditions, communities and way of life.
Colo said the initiative followed the Statement of Cooperation signed between NMoE and the Nagaland State Museum on 5 August 2025.
Director, Art & Culture, Adela Moa, said the collaboration involved about six months of work, including identifying Naga artefacts and contributing to the development of the Naga collection database.
NMoE Associate Professor Emi Okada said the museum houses around 250 Naga-related artefacts. She said Morita’s 1979 photographs had also been digitised and made available through the new digital archive.
The programme included folk performances by Rüsokhrie Krotho, Kohima Village, and the Pochury Cultural Troupe, Kohima.
