Moranngam Khaling, popularly known as Mo Naga, was all set to pursue a career in fashion design, having trained at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in 2004. It was while exploring various mediums such as plaster of Paris (PoP), wood, chalk, textile etc during his first year at NIFT that he wondered why skin was excluded. After a little discussion with his project partner, they decided to explore tattooing.
An independent researcher and revivalist of the traditional art and design culture of India with focus on Naga tattoos, Mo is currently in Hyderabad at Rock Bottom, a private cultural space in Banjara Hills. Taking a break from consultations with his clients, he settles to prepare his tools and have a quick chat. Known for his expertise in hand-poked tattoos, Mo recalls that day in 2004: “My project partner and I went to Secunderabad and bought a tattoo machine. Before we could even unpack the machine, three of our classmates were ready to get tattooed. I had never tattooed earlier. My friends, however, insisted that they had faith in my illustrations (my classmates were big fans of my sketch work, especially figurines and motifs). That was the first time I had tattooed. After a point of time, I stopped because I wanted to learn about the process of healing, treatment and all the other aspects of the art.”
Mo works freehand, without any stencil; sometimes his needle is the pen and the skin becomes a canvas. “After I understand my client’s requirements and I explain what I am going to do, I have the pattern printed in my mind. So many a time I don’t even make a sketch,” he elaborates.
Having trained in fashion design, Mo also started learning about tattoos as a culture. That was a challenge because he couldn’t find much material on the subject. During his search, he came across pictures of old Nagas with tattoos and decided to focus on tribal tattoos from the Northeast. “Universities abroad have research on various cultures but there is a dearth of information on tattoos. People studied culture without reference to tattoos, which is an important part of the culture.”
Having gained enough knowledge and understanding of tattooing as an art, Mo decided to start tattooing to sustain himself. As a tattoo artist, he has a reason for making a tribal tattoo on his client. “Tattoos on our elderly people are symbols of either their achievements, their clan, to ward off evil or something else that is significant to them. Tattoos are different for males and females. Applying a tattoo on someone just because they like the design or pattern is incorrect. When I make tattoos inspired by Naga culture, it means I draw inspiration from it. Culture includes textile, food, language, music etc and all of it is an outcome of the surroundings that make a community. My tattoos have all these elements and the nature I am surrounded with.”
This way Mo is not just promoting but also preserving an ancient art form. Also, he started hand-poke tattoos to draw attention to the culture. “No better way to make people curious about this art and the work of preserving traditional tattoos,” he added.
Mo, however, says his real craft is tapping tattoos (hand tapped tattoos is a traditional tattooing method done using only thorns attached to a stick to put ink inside a skin), for which he has a long waiting list of clients. Yet he will not do it just anywhere. “In 2015, when I learnt tapping tattoo and was allowed to practise it by the practitioner Peetei in Singha Chingu village in Nagaland, it was a ceremony. That day, 82-year-old Peetei (also the queen of the village) took out her kit after 60 years and we tattooed together. For something so sacred to that community, I wouldn’t want to do it anywhere just because someone wants to pay for it. Everything about it, starting from the tools, is considered sacred and derived from nature, so I want to do it in that region where one can personally observe the process with the right tools and ink. There, the ink is extracted from leaves that have healing properties and the needles are a bunch of thorns from various citrus fruit trees.”
Of late, Mo spends most of his time developing the tattoo village in Manipur where everything (the knowledge of tattoo) is freely available to all. At the village, he will teach traditional tattoos and the indigenous tools that are needed. “The village has all the plants and trees that are needed to make tattoo ink, traditional tattoo tools and the plants and herbs used in healing.”
