John Paleng of Siang: Where Arunachal's Tribal Motifs Meet Modern Jewellery

My name is John Paleng, and I am from Siang village in Arunachal Pradesh. I work in tribal handicraft — jewellery, specifically — and I have been doing it for fifteen years.

I learned through practice and through my own interest, mostly. My mother taught me some of the motifs — the patterns that belong to our tribe, the shapes passed down through generations in Arunachal. I took those and integrated them into jewellery. Over time, I also began incorporating modern design — so what we make now is a kind of fusion: tribal identity expressed through a contemporary form.

I make bracelets, earrings, and necklaces. Each piece of earrings takes roughly four hours to complete. The raw material is sourced locally where possible, and we also import some materials from Burma. I have been training other people in the craft — I believe the skill should not sit with one person.

Our biggest challenge is not demand — it is supply. We have more orders than we can fill. Demand is strong, both nationally and internationally, but we cannot produce fast enough with the hands we have.

Arunachal Pradesh has many tribes, and each tribe has its own dress, its own motifs, its own visual identity. In our jewellery, we try to represent that diversity — to bring Arunachal's many voices into a single piece that can travel anywhere in the world. My dream is to teach my craft to the next generation, so that these motifs continue to live — not just in memory, but in the hands of people who know how to make them.