This is a story of a very special child, a young Artist from Aoyimti Dimapur, Imli Sunep a self-taught artist whose earnest work caught the attention of people from Nagaland recently.

Sunep has no educational background, but one thing was definite for him, he was determined to paint and share his stories.

Imli Sunep was born on 28 August 1998 in Aoyimti village, Dimapur District of Nagaland and started painting at a tender age of 12 years.

“I was sitting outside one evening when I noticed the beautiful sunset and it was at that moment that I decided that I would be a painter no matter what. I was determined that even though I cannot use my hands, I would use my mouth to paint,” said Imli Sunep who was born with disabilities and cannot use either of his arms.

The young talented artist has so far painted 60 paintings.

The young self-taught artist from Aoyimti, Dimapur told Nagaland Tribune that he draws his inspiration from nature. “I like painting nature, especially landscapes,” he stated, adding that he rarely uses photography but instead focusses on the colours to create his art.

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The founder of Sunep Art made news recently when he won the first prize at the PwD Startup Competition, a program under Startup Nagaland Policy 2019 organised by YouthNet, State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, and Startup Nagaland, Department of Industries and Commerce.

To top this achievement, Sunep’s painting ‘Ray of Hope’ got sold for Rs 1,05,000 in an online auction initiated by one of the mentors of YouthNet Incubation Centre.

The youngest of two boys of his parents, the artist expressed that his family has always been his support.

Tiakumzuk, Sunep’s father, marvelled at his son’s accomplishments. He said that the family had been concerned for the boy because of his physical condition and that it was heart breaking that Sunep could not get school education but looking at his talent now, they are amazed and grateful.

“I feel great pride for my son,” Tiakumzuk said.

He narrated how in 2020, Sunep wanted to try painting using his mouth and slowly and step by step, he got better at it. At the same time, he hoped that his son would get even better in the future.

Acknowledging the contributions of those who promoted Sunep, he made a special mention of their local church for giving his son the first platform to showcase his art. The father of the painter particularly acknowledged M Jamir for counselling them to encourage Sunep and to promote his God-given talent to the bigger crowd.

Tiakumzuk also pointed out that his son had done a live show at the program organised by the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (SCPD), Nagaland on International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2022 at Kohima. He added that his son had also won the first prize at the PwD Startup Competition and thanked YouthNet for the opportunity and the reward.

Meanwhile, Sunep too thanked YouthNet and said that he felt blessed and proud to be the winner of the competition and that with the prize money he would be able to do more work.

His father made an open request to all to give his artist son platforms in upcoming events and to support his talent.

Further, Tiakumzuk shared that a Person with Disability was not a curse but a blessing and that they deserved to be loved equally. He urged parents not to keep their children with disabilities confined at home but to help them find their own path and support them as they explore their talents. He stressed that one should not discriminate PwDs as “different” or “useless” because God has blessed each person with talents.

“We should believe that the PwDs can do things which we ‘normal’ people cannot do,” Imli Sunep’s father said.

Read more: Painting by Imli Sunep, winner of PwD StartUp Competition, gets sold for over Rs 1 lakh