My interest in Naga anthropology was developed when I first started to mingle with Naga scholars here in Delhi way back in 2008/2009. And ever since Dr. Tuisem lends me the book ‘The Naked Nagas by Christoph Von Haimendorf‘, I have always wanted to know more about our Naga culture and traditions.
I remember the night I finished reading the book ‘The Naked Nagas‘ and I was so inspired by the book that I ended up jotting down a 40-line poem, ‘Morung: An Ode’.
It was way back in 2008/09, when I came to know about the Naga database of Cambridge University. And since then, I have been accessing the database from time to time, to look at the beautiful history and culture of the Nagas, and also for research and study purposes. There’s a lot we can learn by looking back at our history and culture.
I have always wanted to do something useful with the Naga database. For instance, to make a copy of the database and organize it properly, and made it available online for public access. Having a copy is also necessary to preserve and safeguard the database in case something goes wrong with the original Cambridge database.
It’s been years since I have been thinking of starting the project of preserving our Naga database. And finally, today I have taken the first initial step by creating MorungMuseum.com, a virtual Naga museum.
What is Morung Museum
Morung Museum is a virtual Naga Museum where images of collectors like Ursula Graham, Christoph Von Hermaindorf, JP Mills, JH Hutton, etc are being displayed. In this initial release, there are 5 Galleries, the Central Gallery, Christoph Von Haimendorf Gallery, Ursula Graham Gallery, JP Mills Galler, and JH Hutton Gallery. At present, these galleries display a few still images from these collectors dating back to as early as 1913.
Room for improvement
This initial release website was made just within 24 hrs. The domain was just registered day before ie on 5th Aug. And there is indeed room for improvement to give a better viewer experience. For instance, the website UI and UX will be much better if the base museum photos are 360-degree photos. Hopefully, I will be updating the website with 360-degree photos for better viewing soon.
Roadmap & the future ahead
There are thousands of images and hundreds of videos available which are yet to be processed and organized with proper captions and titles. In the future, Morung Museum will try to update these collections and properly organize them for better viewing and better, easier, and smoother access to the collections.
Also, notes, diaries, letters, books, etc of these collectors will be properly preserved in both digital and physical copies.
VR will also be incorporated into the website so that people can view the museum in VR headsets.
Support and Contribute
You can also be part of this project by contributing materials, artifacts, audio, and videos to the Museum. You can also provide feedback and suggestions for the Museum. You can also support the project by funding or sponsoring the project.
But more importantly, contribute your ideas and knowledge to this project to make this a useful public museum.
Watch this video on how to view gallery in Morung Museum
Visit Morung Museum
