Penli Jamir, ceramic design graduate opens Studio Penli in Kohima to promote artistic pottery and creativity.
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Thejakhrie Metha
DIMAPUR — Pottery is not a foreign concept to the Nagas; however, its artistic dimension remains relatively unfamiliar. Since ancient times, Nagas have used ceramics as essential household items.
Yet today, there has come a time when ceramic products, especially those of higher quality, are no longer commonly possessed or widely used.
Penli Jamir, a ceramic design major from the National Institute of Designing, Ahmedabad, and proprietor of Studio Penli shares her journey and thoughts on ceramic arts in Nagaland.
“I am a, very, hands on person ever since I was young,” Jamir said in a recent interview, highlighting the technical and scientific knowledge as an important requirement and not merely a desire to open the studio.
Her journey with the studio began in mid May 2025. Passionate about doll collection, Jamir dreamed of creating her own designed doll products but, due to lack of opportunities in the country, she ventured into opening a ceramic studio.
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“This was something where I could create something of my own” she said.
She said the purpose was to give people a chance to experience ceramic and tap into their creative side, wishing for “the youths to explore beyond their academics” and be able to give them options.
“I was privileged enough to be able to study outside the state and studying out fed my artistic creativity,” said Jamir, expressing hope to partner with schools and colleges to incorporate ceramic arts into their extracurricular activity to create opportunities in helping them recognise their potentials.
Besides ceramic pottery, the ceramic designer said she plans to venture into glass designs in the near future.
When asked of the challenges faced, she said “Nagaland is a challenging base to open a ceramic studio” enunciating the demographic and socio-economic disparity.
“The older crowd did question, ‘why open in Nagaland? why not work under big corporations?’, out of concern since it seems like an unstable job,” she said.
To such questions, Jamir asserted, “I realised there’s a gap of knowledge which I cannot fill with explanation.”
Further adding, she said, “people are 100 percent interested but have commitment issues,” indicating a lack of importance towards ceramic classes and questioning whether it is valuable to spend money and time on such an activity.
“Ceramic pottery is a career option, but not in Nagaland,” Jamir said, highlighting that India is not particularly supportive in such career options, compared to other countries.
“It can become a side hustle if not a fulltime job for my students and as for the future of ceramic pottery in Nagaland it will take, probably, not five to seven years for it to be accepted as a career opportunity,” she observed.
Despite the lack of a support system for ceramic pottery, she emphasised that “awareness and knowledge” are primarily significant for the community to see this field in a kinder perspective.
Studio Penli at the High School area in Kohima offers classes and workshops for different durations.
The studio also undertakes event bookings for corporates, weddings, birthdays, and other celebrations to impart knowledge and help customers create their own personal pieces.
Additionally, the studio offers custom-made pieces and showcases her own designed ceramic collections for sale
With a social media presence, Jamir shared a step-by-step account of the efforts and resources required to start her ceramic studio, which now operates morning and evening classes. Details are available on her Instagram page, ‘studiopenli.’
Today, ceramic pottery is a budding industry in Nagaland; slow but definitely appreciated by the people.
(The writer is currently an intern at Eastern Mirror)