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Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Awards for 10 Nagaland artists for contributions in art, music & acting
1 2 Dimapur: The Task Force for Music and Arts (TaFMA), Nagaland, on Thursday honoured 10 artists with the TaFMa Excellence Awards 2025 for their outstanding contributions in the fields of music, art, acting and creativity, which brought laurels to the state by achieving distinction at national and international platforms. The award ceremony was held at the Regional Centre of Excellence for Music & Performing Arts, Jotsoma, Kohima. The awardees are Fifth Note Band, Ruopfuzhano Whiso, Arenla Subong, Lenen Jamir, Tiameren Aier, Nagaland Madrigal Singers, Trance Effect, Bendang Walling, Alobo Naga and Hito Kiho. Hito Kiho was declared the Ultimate Achiever Award winner. This year's edition of the award ceremony was noteworthy as it featured the unveiling of a grand piano gifted to the state by music composer AR Rahman and the release of the 25th Hornbill Music Festival Coffee Table Book. The event was graced by CM Neiphiu Rio as the special guest. In his speech, Rio recognised the exceptional talents of Naga artists who have excelled in their respective disciplines across the world.
The Print
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Print
CM Rio hails Nagaland's rise from ‘headhunters' to global artistes
He also reflected on the state's transformation over the last two decades, crediting it to a vision of youth empowerment, cultural revival, and investment in the creative sector. Addressing the TaFMA (Task Force for Music and Arts) Excellence Awards 2025 here, the CM highlighted the remarkable journey of Nagaland's creative community from obscurity to international acclaim. Kohima, Jun 19 (PTI) Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Thursday celebrated the remarkable transformation of Naga people from being labeled 'savage and headhunters' to emerging as a vibrant society excelling in creative arts. 'Our people who were labelled savage, headhunters and illiterate, celebrate festivals, sing songs for different occasions and also have rich culture and traditions. And therefore, when Christianity came to us about 153 years ago, it brought to us not only Christianity, but education, governance and civilisation,' Rio added. He credited Christianity and education in instilling confidence and a sense of identity in Naga people, emphasising that music and the arts had become key mediums for self-expression and pride. Nagaland has to catch up with the much more advanced world in many areas, but Nagas can excel in select fields like music, arts, and sports through hard work, he said. 'We declared Nagaland the land of festivals — not just in name, but in spirit,' the CM said. Recounting his initial efforts in 2003 to promote skill development and arts, including a proposal to train 50,000 youths in music and sports, Rio said although the plan faced setbacks, it led to long-term initiatives like the Music Task Force, Mini Hornbill Festivals, and district-level cultural showcases. 'Today, we are seeing the fruits — recognition not just at the national level, but globally,' Rio added, announcing that Naga artistes will soon perform in Singapore and Russia, representing India on the world stage. The CM also paid tribute to AR Rahman, calling him a 'true friend of Nagaland' and announcing the music legend's intention to establish a music studio in the state, which he said would turn Nagaland into a destination for music, arts, and filmmaking. Advisor to the Chief Minister and chairman of Infrastructure Development Authority of Nagaland, Abu Metha, echoed the CM's sentiments saying, 'the music and arts fraternity of Nagaland has done us proud — not just here, but across continents.' Metha emphasised the importance of the creative economy, stating, 'Nagaland's musicians and artistes are contributing not just to the cultural scene, but also to economic growth and national prestige.' He praised TaFMA's efforts in creating opportunities for youth to participate in nation-building through their talents. 'Art is the highest expression of human spirit. It captures joy, sadness, anger and beauty. Artistes make the human spirit blossom — and our youth are doing just that,' Metha said. Altogether 10 Naga artistes were honoured for excelling in music, arts and modeling. They received a medal and citation with cash. This year's ultimate achiever award went to Hito Kiho, director of The Nagaland Madrigal Singers. During the function, Rio also unveiled Rahman's gift to the Nagas – his personal piano, releasing Lenen Jamir's music video Itaya Nungu, who became the first artiste from Nagaland to cross 10 million views on YouTube and also the release of the 25th Hornbill Music Festival Coffee Table Book. PTI NBS NBS MNB This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
CM Rio hails Nagaland's rise from 'headhunters' to global artistes
Kohima, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Thursday celebrated the remarkable transformation of Naga people from being labeled "savage and headhunters" to emerging as a vibrant society excelling in creative arts. Addressing the TaFMA Excellence Awards 2025 here, the CM highlighted the remarkable journey of Nagaland's creative community from obscurity to international acclaim. He also reflected on the state's transformation over the last two decades, crediting it to a vision of youth empowerment, cultural revival, and investment in the creative sector. "Our people who were labelled savage, headhunters and illiterate, celebrate festivals, sing songs for different occasions and also have rich culture and traditions. And therefore, when Christianity came to us about 153 years ago, it brought to us not only Christianity, but education, governance and civilisation," Rio added. He credited Christianity and education in instilling confidence and a sense of identity in Naga people, emphasising that music and the arts had become key mediums for self-expression and pride. Nagaland has to catch up with the much more advanced world in many areas, but Nagas can excel in select fields like music, arts, and sports through hard work, he said. "We declared Nagaland the land of festivals — not just in name, but in spirit," the CM said. Recounting his initial efforts in 2003 to promote skill development and arts, including a proposal to train 50,000 youths in music and sports, Rio said although the plan faced setbacks, it led to long-term initiatives like the Music Task Force, Mini Hornbill Festivals, and district-level cultural showcases. "Today, we are seeing the fruits — recognition not just at the national level, but globally," Rio added, announcing that Naga artistes will soon perform in Singapore and Russia, representing India on the world stage. The CM also paid tribute to AR Rahman, calling him a "true friend of Nagaland" and announcing the music legend's intention to establish a music studio in the state, which he said would turn Nagaland into a destination for music, arts, and filmmaking. Advisor to the Chief Minister and chairman of Infrastructure Development Authority of Nagaland, Abu Metha, echoed the CM's sentiments saying, "the music and arts fraternity of Nagaland has done us proud — not just here, but across continents." Metha emphasised the importance of the creative economy, stating, "Nagaland's musicians and artistes are contributing not just to the cultural scene, but also to economic growth and national prestige." He praised TaFMA's efforts in creating opportunities for youth to participate in nation-building through their talents. "Art is the highest expression of human spirit. It captures joy, sadness, anger and beauty. Artistes make the human spirit blossom — and our youth are doing just that," Metha said. Altogether 10 Naga artistes were honoured for excelling in music, arts and modeling. They received a medal and citation with cash. This year's ultimate achiever award went to Hito Kiho, director of The Nagaland Madrigal Singers. During the function, Rio also unveiled Rahman's gift to the Nagas – his personal piano, releasing Lenen Jamir's music video Itaya Nungu, who became the first artiste from Nagaland to cross 10 million views on YouTube and also the release of the 25th Hornbill Music Festival Coffee Table Book.
The Hindu
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Singer-songwriter Abdon Mech's inspiring journey from Nagaland to Budapest
Nagaland-based singer-songwriter Abdon Mech's journey makes you believe that dreams come true, but not devoid of struggles. When Abdon started out as a musician two years ago, he felt drawn to cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi. But over time, he became a part of the growing movement of North East artistes to build their fanbase right from their hometowns. His decision finally paid off, and the singer was recently in Budapest, as part of the Artisjus Songbook Camp 2025, held in May, which also saw a total of 30 artistes from across the world. . Abdon's participation was championed and sponsored by the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), along with the Task Force for Music and Arts (TaFMA)-Government of Nagaland. Abdon says, 'I just realised the importance of what my culture and identity mean to me and how important it is to bloom where you are planted.' He is now driven by the goal to represent and accelerate growth among artistes in Nagaland. The Naga representation started right from his time in Budapest as part of the week he spent in Hungary, where Abdon even sported a traditional Sumi Naga jacket. It has been a five-year-long journey for the singer, who launched his debut single 'Again' in 2020, scored a hit with 'Taking My Heart' in 2022 and recently put together a do-it-yourself open-air concert in March on his home ground, in Dimapur, with thousands in attendance. He credits TaFMA and IPRS for the boost along the way, where at first (like many artistes), he was not sure of what the copyright society did. He lauds IPRS for reaching out to Nagaland artistes and encouraging them to become members. 'For them, coming all the way to the North East and providingaccessibility and inclusivity to someone from this side, shows that they are passionate about the scene as a whole, and not just one part of the country,' he says. Abdon also believes the idea that 'a lack of accessibility' to the North East has changed over the years with more talents taking center stage. 'Over the last few years, the growth has been incredible as far as original music is concerned.' Where cover bands were more likely to draw crowds before, now original music is staunchly supported, right down to artistes printing merchandise and bringing in the sales. 'I think artistes alone cannot take the credit. It also needs to be given to consumers.' At the camp in Budapest, Abdon was exposed to the global music space and 'how different cultures make music differently'. He adds in terms of learnings, 'I appreciate electronic dance music more because there were many of these artistes and producers who were incredible dance music artistes. Just being with them and seeing how they have so much soul into what people classify as soulless music was something I took away.' Put in groups of three to four artistes each day, with a daily task to produce a new song, Abdon was interacting with producers, songwriters and singers. While the singer says he has never worked within that kind of framework and structure to bring out a song in a day, it led to creating several songs with collaborators from the U.S., Hungary and elsewhere. They officially created three songs during their song camp hours, but Abdon shares: 'Everyone was so inspired that after the day was over we would have these unofficial sessions, collaborate and make music till two or three in the morning.' We can expect more compositions coming out later this year as a result of the camp, along with his solo work — bolstered by the creative energy of Budapest.
