WITH FURNITURE BRAND TRIBOLT, AJUNG YADEN AND ATEM LONGKUMER FIND THEIR CALLING TO RECONNECT WITH THEIR NAGA HERITAGE.

In Nagaland’s Dimapur, a soft golden light from sunsets and lamps illuminates unvarnished, raw designs in a minimalist studio.

- NEERJA DEODHAR

The wood-on-wood look and white walls invite the visitor to take in the details, minor and bold—from the textured top of tables to earthy vases. Here, Ajung Yaden and Atem Longkumer are busy at work marrying tradition and modernity through Tribolt, their young furniture and interiors venture.

While Longkumer, a former fashion stylist and DIY enthusiast, has an eye for design, Yaden is good with his hands. Once a bureaucrat, he now draws on his early lessons in woodworking from his father, which nudged him to make his first piece of furniture when he was all of 13. In May, the couple brought their distinctive hand-hewn tableware and furniture to Mumbai’s Artisans’ gallery (which represents Tribolt’s work), as part of a curated exhibition titled Elemental—their first showcase outside their home state. Artisans’ founder-director Radhi Parekh recalls meeting them for the first time in early 2025 in Nagaland and being struck by their thoughtful design sensibility, which is respectful of their Naga heritage.