Initiated in 2005, the bamboo lamp project has developed a range of furniture and lamps with indigenous tribes of Nagaland, a remote region in North-Eastern India. The project investigates a new product and material language, which explores the mergence of traditional skill with contemporary technologies. The research focuses on non-powered village production, material and tool development, customization and development of unique locally inspired product identities.

The above lamp uses rattan for the inner structure and treated bamboo for the surface. The rattan structure, which supports the bamboo cross weave, is bent into shape using a local burning technique. Colour variations for bamboo were developed using local herbs and specially constructed vessels to enable quality control and ensure a streamlined production process.

A double-layered overlapping rattan weave wraps the inner rattan ring-structure to form the surface of the lamp above

Locally available wild fern is combined with woven kona grass for the lamp above. Inspired by the grass skirts worn by local tribes, kona grass was explored as an alternative raw material . The resultant products were well received by both the craftspeople and the markets.

Institutional support: Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai and Cane Concepts, Dimapur