Jothisey Yobin
Lisu (Yobin) Community
Gandigram village, Vijoynagar Circle, Changlang District, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Project: Craftsmanship of the Yobin (Lisu) community of Arunachal Pradesh
The Lisu (Yobin) community of Arunachal Pradesh are well known for their skilled craftmanship using cane, bamboo, woods and other forest products. However, this highly skilled artistic knowledge is no longer passed down from parents to their children as almost all Lisu children move out of their villages in order to pursue formal education. In this project, Jothisey Yobin, a Lisu community member, has collected hundreds of images and audio-visual texts relating to the extraordinary traditional craftsmanship of Lisu-speaking people in India. Audio-visual recordings have been made of Lisu people weaving baskets and mats, making crossbows and fishing rods, etc. In addition to demonstrating the expertise and virtuosity of Lisu craftspeople, Jothisey’s project is one of the first to publicise the existence, resilience and unique history and present of this little-known Indigenous group of Arunachal Pradesh.