Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts showcases traditional utensils from Northeast India

For many visitors walking through the galleries of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), the exhibition on traditional utensils from Northeast India is likely to evoke something more than admiration for craftsmanship, it may stir memories of kitchens, family gatherings and ways of life that are slowly fading away.

The exhibition, Living Heritage in Metal, Bamboo and Clay: Traditional Utensils of Northeast India, opened at IGNCA on Tuesday, bringing together an extraordinary collection of everyday objects once central to life across the eight northeastern states. Crafted from bamboo, clay and metal, the utensils tell stories of communities that lived in close harmony with nature, relying on locally available materials long before stainless steel and plastic became commonplace.

Inaugurating the exhibition, Padma Shri awardee and social worker Techi Gubin recalled his own childhood, when large clay vessels were a common sight in homes and metal utensils were considered symbols of prosperity. Today, many such objects have disappeared from daily use, replaced by mass-produced alternatives.

Yet the exhibition suggests that these are not merely relics of the past. Each bamboo basket, clay pot and bell-metal vessel on display reflects generations of knowledge about food, health, sustainability and community life.

“We are moving away from our traditions,” IGNCA Member Secretary Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi observed during the inauguration. He noted that traditional utensils, and even the names associated with them, are gradually vanishing from Indian households. According to him, earlier generations developed highly evolved systems of cooking and utensil-making that were rooted in practical wisdom and an understanding of nutrition and well-being.

The exhibition arrives at a time when conversations around sustainability and environmentally friendly lifestyles are becoming increasingly important. Long before such concepts entered popular discourse, communities in the Northeast had perfected the use of biodegradable materials such as bamboo and clay in everyday life.

Gubin also stressed the need for greater awareness of Northeast India’s cultural heritage among young people. He suggested that the region’s traditions, crafts and way of life should find a place in school curricula across the country, helping students understand a part of India that often remains underrepresented in textbooks.

Alongside the exhibition, IGNCA released two monographs—Bell-Metal Craft of Assam and Chiteri Art of Bundelkhand, as part of efforts to document and preserve traditional knowledge systems.

The exhibition, which runs until July 2 at IGNCA’s Darshanam Galleries on Janpath, offers visitors a chance to look beyond museum objects and see how ordinary household utensils can serve as vessels of memory, identity and cultural continuity. In an age dominated by machines and mass production, the display is a reminder that some of India’s richest stories are hidden in the objects people once used every day.