The Northeast India AV Archive curated the Tirot Sing Museum and Cultural Centre of Indigenous Knowledge, at Nongkhlaw, the abode of the leading freedom fighter, Tirot Sing Syiem, in commemoration of his efforts to resist the advances of the colonisers in the Khasi Hills. The museum also demonstrates the stories of freedom struggle of other prominent personalities like Phan Nonglait, Mon Bhut and Lorshon Jarain. Stones, which compose a colossal aspect of the Khasi culture and which denote symbolic meaning, have been erected in celebratory memory of the unnamed heroes who are not sung about today, yet who had equally important roles to play in the Khasi resistance against the British colonisers.
The museum presents the Khasi culture and history as lived and experienced in Hima Nongkhlaw through the depiction of the kitchen. The artefacts and photographs displayed have been retrieved from the families that live there. Their stories of the Hima in their earlier days and their inherited tales about Tirot Sing and the Anglo-Khasi war have also been displayed in the museum through photographs and interviews of them which have been made available on an interactive kiosk. The advances of the colonisers in the hills and the war have been chronicled through the display of seminal documents, letters and agreements signed between the East India Company and the Khasi chiefs. An artistic installation in the middle of the museum depicts the Anglo-Khasi war.
The lineage of Tirot Sing has been traced alongside the display of the succession of chiefship in Hima Nongkhlaw. The bust of Tirot Sing, the valorous freedom fighter chief is also displayed in the museum. Gifts accorded to the chief by the East India Company were also displayed, along with artillery deployed during the war. Literatures on Tirot Sing along with stamps of the chief were displayed, next to the collection of coins which were minted before and during the colonial period. The museum was finally inaugurated on the 17 th of July, 2024, which was the 189 th death anniversary of Tirot Sing Syiem.
The Tirot Sing Museum and Cultural Centre of Indigenous Knowledge is an interactive space that calls for direct engagement with the objects and their narratives. It encourages reflection, learning and contribution in terms of knowledge and materials. It is a symbiotic space where people, objects and their narratives reinforce each other.
