Messiahcraft with Tupkar Sisters
“We believe that beauty is multifaceted. It can’t be defined purely by its looks, but rather by its heart and soul.”
Two sisters from Nagaland, India founded Messiah Craft to continue to grow their mother’s jewelry business and also to preserve the Naga and Dhokra tribal artisanal craft and culture that is seeing a decline in recent years. Each piece is carefully designed by the sisters and handmade in India.
When visiting Goa earlier in 2020 before covid flipped the world upside down, I visited the Goa Collective bazar and came across Messiahcraft. Three things I loved about the Tupark ladies, mom and sisters, Seema and Neelam’s humble character but also the beautiful jewelry designs that were on display and that they were one of the only booths that accepted credit cards! Very important fact here, it allowed for our group to purchase more items because of the credit card machine! Yes, happy shoppers we all were at the end of the night. I touched based with Seema and Neelam recently to learn more about Messiahcraft and how others can find out more about their products and purchase them online!
Curito:
Hi Seema & Neelam Tupkar, can you tell us about yourselves?
Seema & Neelam:
We are messiah sister's from Messiahcraft, living in Goa, since 2005. After schooling, the two of us carried on our moms business due to some family and economic crisis.
Curito:
When did you guys decide to start Messiahcraft and what's the story behind it?
Seema & Neelam:
Before the merge of Messiahcraft, our mom had a small businesses, she is a very hard working women, though she is not educated but she tried to bring up her own business. Looking at her hardwork and keeping economic crisis in our mind, we also decided to join with her in her business. She gave us the "key of the lock " and the two of us opened up our brand named "Messiahcraft" in the name of Jesus Christ.
Curito:
Messiahcraft's designs and pieces are inspired from your home state in Nagaland right? What is unique about the tribal Naga necklaces and glass beads?
Seema & Neelam:
Yes, Nagaland is a home of diverse and indigenous tribe. It is one of India's most authentic and colourful tribe. We pursue beauty in all its forms. We believe that beauty is multifaceted. It can't be defined purely by its looks, but rather by its heart and soul. The Naga tribes of North East region of India and also Burma are known for their reach traditions, beliefs and affinity with beauty in its most natural form. The tribes produce everything from what nature provides, from the soil and their surroundings. Their jewelry reflects their rich cultural heritage and their fascinating way of life; depicting strength, bravery, wealth and protection from evil forces. A lot of the pieces contain materials that are carved bones, bronze faces which are believed in Naga culture to provide power to the wearer and to ward off bad luck. It is also a bold expression of beauty!
Curito:
Can you ladies tell us more about this craft that has been passed on for generations?
Seema & Neelam:
Nagaland jewelry was loosing it's popularity and keeping that in mind we decided to bring up our culture and its importance. These are carried on from my mom's brother (uncle) - He is very attached to Naga culture, this is how it's carried on to our mother and from mother to daughters.
Curito:
What were some of the challenges getting your business set up initially? What did you guys learn from this process?
Seema & Neelam:
Our business challenge is to still find and move around the villages of Nagaland to collect the beads and find out the real, authentic and original Naga culture necklaces. And now we have over the last 15 year's a collection of Naga jewelry in our own brand. And still we are trying to bring up another primitive "Dhokra" culture from Jharkhand, Orissa.
Through these efforts we learned that we should never forget our culture and that we should try to bring it up in any form. It also makes sense if you sell something unique of our culture, it works for us as business owners but also to preserve and spread awareness of our culture.
Curito:
What inspires you guys to design and make Messiahcraft pieces and how do you guys come up with your designs? Is everything handmade?
Seema & Neelam:
We design each and every piece by our own self which is inspired by the Naga tribe, the Dhokra tribe and also some of the tribe all over India. India is full of different cultures, traditions and its own beauty.
Yes, everything is handmade and handcrafted be are artisans and by ourselves which makes it more valuable. It's all purely handmade and each piece requires a lot of hours and hard work to produce.
Curito:
What are some of your goals in this coming decade for Messiahcraft?
Seema & Neelam:
Our goal is that both sisters work hard and get our brand known in every corner of the world "Messiahcraft" in the name of Jesus. And to bring up the art and culture of India.
Curito:
For those of us who are interested in buying your jewelry how do we find you guys and how does shipping work?
Seema & Neelam:
We sell online like on Etsy and Instagram and we also accept wholesale orders and we ship worldwide in every corner of the world!
Curito:
Thank you for sharing Naga and Dhorka culture with us Seema and Neelam! Very inspiring to see you two work to preserve and share your culture and tradition and how it inspires your designs! We look forward to continue to follow Messiahcraft’s creations being crafted and reaching all corners of the world! Stay tuned for potential collaborations in the future!
First published on September 22, 2020
