Hipfest: The true ‘Window to Nagaland’

Dimapur, Dec. 4 (EMN): Every year thousands of tourists from across the globe flock to Kohima to witness and be part of the much-acclaimed Hornbill Festival. The Hornbill Festival was first started in the year 2000 with a vision to share and present the unique and colourful culture and traditions of the Naga people to the outside world.

Over the years, the festival has gradually grown in stature and has today become one of the biggest festivals in the country and a must visit event for travel enthusiasts all over the world.

However, not all tourists can afford the luxury of staying in Nagaland for weeks, exploring the entire width and breadth of the state, and witnessing the people of Nagaland and their rich cultural heritage.

This is where the ‘Hipfest,’ as one of the events of the Hornbill Festival, plays a vital role in presenting our picturesque state and its beautiful people to tourists and visitors from different parts of the world without the need to physically travel to every part of the state.

‘Hipfest,’ jointly organised by Portrait Enterprises and the department of Information & Public Relations, is a photography competition-cum-exhibition on the theme ‘Colours of Nagaland.’

Hipfest is an annual hornbill event held at Heritage Village, Kisama, and is one of the highlights of the festival. The event seeks to promote not just the photography talents of the state, but most importantly, aims at providing a glimpse of the state as a whole. Like the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words," the pictures exhibited at Hipfest tell the story of Naga people, their cultures and heritage and Naga way of life.

With pictures of the breathtaking landscapes of Nagaland also being exhibited, the event also promotes eco-tourism in the state by essentially presenting locations, which one can visit and experience the natural beauty of the state.

The 2022 Hipfest saw more than a hundred avid photographers submitting their photographs for the competition out of which winners from two categories - senior and junior, were selected by a panel of judges comprising of well-established and renowned photographers.

This year, the judges are Jan Skwara, a renowned documentary and travel photographer from Poland, whose works have been featured in publications like National Geographic Poland, Digital Camera, The Sun, The Mirror, etc; Kekhriezhazo Miachieo, an award-winning photographer whose works are focused on human interests and environmental portraits, and Merimvu Doulo, a professional artist, photographer and graphic designer who is also the proprietor of Artworks Kohima.