Do you have roots in Chennai?” Ajung Yaden asks this writer, perhaps our surname leading to the query. Having spent seven years in the South Indian metropolis, the artist is understandably curious. And just like that, a conversation about artistic traditions digresses into food. “Ajung makes the best sambhar in Dimapur, in case you want to drop by,” laughs Atem Longkumer, wife and co-partner in Yaden’s project. But South Indian delicacies are not the focus of our conversation. Rather, it is their first exhibition in the city of Mumbai. The exhibition, Tribolt: Furniture Designer Makers of Nagaland, is an homage and a creative evolution of the Naga tradition of woodworking.

Atem Longkumer and Ajung Yaden amidst their works at the gallery. Pics/Atul Kamble