Second edition of Dr. Jungmayangla Longkumer’s poetry book Gift in the Pot-Earth Poetry launched in Dimapur, honouring Ao women potters.
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DIMAPUR — The second edition of “Gift in the Pot-Earth Poetry”, a poetry book authored by Dr. Jungmayangla Longkumer paying tribute to women potters of the Mokokchung district, was launched by writer Abokali Jimomi at Tia Ki Nagaland Art Space in Dimapur on Saturday.
The book is published by 6th Finger Publishers, and photographs of the potters featured in the book were taken by Temjenmenba.
The second edition of the book was published after 12 years. In the words of the author, “in the intervening years some of the potters who have been featured in the book have passed away”.
“The potteries made here are not refined works of art but rather objects of utility. The technique and the implements are still the same as those used ages ago," she noted, adding that the distinctive feature of pot making as a craft is that it is exclusively carried out by women. From digging, collection, and transportation of the earth to the making of the pot, every step of the process is performed by women only.
“These potmakers are my muses, and they are the connection to the earth that inspires the creative energy, giving me the focus and the passion to write. The simple pot in the hands of these awe women is the most beautiful blessing that I have received," she wrote.
According to the author, the poetry is a celebration of rich cultural heritage that has prevailed across time and generations of women craft-makers from Changki, Longjemdang, and Japu.
Longkumer acknowledged that these women have ensured the craft is not relegated to history books or museums or turned into a vague memory, describing it as a living tradition that gives a distinct identity. She paid tribute to the grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, and nieces whose knowledge, hard work, and resilience kept alive the craft of pottery.
Jimomi expressed pleasure at launching the book that celebrates women who shape the earth to nourish others by transforming the mundane into the extraordinary, observing that the poems and images in the book make visible the human behind the work.
“This book is a powerful work of affirmation," Jimomi said, noting that it affirms how, for many generations, women of Changki, Longjemdang, and Japu worked daily, nurturing their families.
She added that it affirms how they loved fiercely so that their descendants might survive through the items they made with their bare hands as makers, artisans, caregivers, farmers, seed keepers, weavers, and mothers.
Jimomi pointed out that their labour was often invisible, which remains true for much of the work women do today. “They may not appear in our genealogies, where we so often find only fathers and sons. But we know they lived, and their lives and their work mattered," she said.
She conveyed that the author has created an opportunity through verse and photographs to imagine the lives of these women, their relationships with nature, their friendships, hardships, fears, and hopes.
“They dug and carved the gifts of motherhood so that we might survive. Now we dig and carve out our sense of meaning and hope from the gifts this potter women left us," Jimomi said, adding that the book pays tribute to makers and doers who deserve respect and reverence.