Adivasi Arts Trust is selected for a grant to document endangered wooden buildings in Arunachal Pradesh. The grant is from the Endangered Wooden Architecture Programme administered by Oxford Brookes University, (UK). The project will start in mid October 2023 and continue for one year.
The wooden/bamboo buildings that are selected for the documentation are in Kamhua Noknu and in neighbouring villages in the Government Circle Block of Pongchau, Longding District (Kamhua Noksa, Khasa, Jagan, Longkao and Pumao), in Arunachal Pradesh, North East India.(26° 28’ N to 27°30’ N latitude and 95°E to 96°E) We intend to document 15-16 buildings.
Project Summary
The Wancho people are a scheduled tribe with a population of 56,866 residing in the secluded landscape of the Patkai range at the periphery of India, where the international border with Myanmar divides the community. In Arunachal Pradesh, there are 73 Wancho villages in Longding District; some Wancho villages are also located in Nagaland, Assam and across the border in Myanmar. The family homes and community centres of the Wancho cultural tradition are constructed of locally obtained materials: wood, bamboo and palm leaf thatch. The knowledge about the architecture and the building techniques that have been practiced since time immemorial is now threatened and endangered, as the loss of local knowledge is accelerated by the pressures of modernization.
The project is a study of the aesthetics of the important heritage buildings in several Wancho villages of the upper region of Longding District, in Arunachal Pradesh. We will survey and document the traditional male dormitories (Paa) and chiefs’ houses (Wang-kam) in Kamhua Noknu, Kamhua Noksa, Khasa, Jagan, Longkao and Pumao. The traditional buildings are ecologically friendly and suited to the landscape, environment and climate. The architecture is deeply linked and inseparable from the culture, history, rituals, folklore and way of life of the community. It is hoped that by close collaboration with the community the interest that is shown by professional architects towards the local building aesthetics will encourage the younger generation of Wancho people to recognize its value and take the steps to preserve and sustain their unique cultural heritage.
