Dimapur: A photography exhibition titled “Time Travel to Nagaland, 1979: A Japanese Photographer’s Record of Life and Tradition” was opened at the Museum Annexe courtyard in Kohima on Wednesday, showcasing the cultural heritage and way of life of Nagaland as documented by Japanese ethnographic photographer Yuzo Morita during his visit to the state in 1979.
Organised in collaboration with the National Museum of Ethnology (NMoE), Osaka, Japan, the exhibition also featured the launch of the Database of Naga Collection housed at NMoE and the Digital Archives of Morita’s Photography Collection.
Inaugurating the exhibition, adviser to art & culture and treasuries & accounts K Konngam Konyak said the exhibition offered an opportunity to look back at Nagaland through the photographs of Japanese ethnographic photographer Yuzo Morita.
He said the photographs documented the people, traditions, everyday life, landscapes and cultural practices of Nagaland more than four decades ago, serving as valuable records of the state’s cultural memory.
In her address, Emi Okada, associate professor, NMoE, Osaka, said she first visited Nagaland in 2012 and was deeply impressed by the state’s traditional singing and distinctive musical culture.
She said the NMoE houses around 250 artefacts related to the Naga people and that the two institutions had been working together on research, exhibitions and documentation of the Naga collection.
Okada said the photographs taken by Morita during his 1979 visit to Nagaland had also been digitised and made available through a new digital archive.
Commissioner & secretary, art & culture, Bodeno S Colo, said the exhibition was an outcome of the Statement of Cooperation signed on August 5, 2025, between the NMoE, Osaka, and the Nagaland State Museum, reflecting the spirit of friendship, cultural exchange and scholarly cooperation between Japan and Nagaland.
Director, art & culture, Adela Moa, gave a brief overview of the collaboration, stating that discussions on possible cooperation in Naga culture, exhibitions, documentation and academic research began following interactions with representatives of the Japanese museum.