<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe113c9c7e80680e0da4cfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1688"/><figcaption>Photos: SURESH L YONJAN</figcaption></figure>Taragaon Next’s ‘Object in Focus’ is a unique series that brings one object by one artist addressing one big idea.Envisioned by curator Roshan Mishra to invite contemplation of contemporary art in Nepal, the series also featured the works of visual artists Koka Vashakidze from Georgia and Alicia Junissaliyeva from Kazakhstan about the origins of Boudhanath next door in a symbolic reprise.Now, Kathmandu’s own Bidhata KC takes centre stage to depict the interconnectedness between daily life, consumerism, globalisation and spirituality.A single installation connects heaven and earth through a metallic pole, like a bridge for elementary particles to commute. Two circular bars spread out, between which are the unmistakable mani prayer wheels.Auspiciously and coincidentally 21 in number, something is different about these wheels – they in fact look like tin cans, with corrugated bands an abstraction for the mantra that traditionally decorate the wheels. For support, oblique rods slant out from the circumference to the base of the pole.‘Object in Focus #6: Out of emptiness’ has a myriad of figures in addition to the mani wheels: a slightly open upside down umbrella, a downward arrow, or maybe a funnel. Such inversion may come naturally, especially with the overall and immediate image of things pointing towards the ground. Yet, the longer one looks, there is a sense of calm, an echo or reflection of shifting perspectives.The viewer may even rotate the wheels and reproduce for themselves the feeling of walking through a sacred shrine, participating in the great cosmic churning of consciousness. One of the many theories behind the mani wheel, after all, is that rotating mantra relate to yogic or Tantric practices whereby practitioners visualise the mantra revolving around their nadi. It is doubly symbolic to consider that the rotations also indicate reading or chanting.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe11409c7e80680e0da4d0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">The exercise in abstraction does not end there. When we consider the material design of KC’s artwork, it opens several other cans of worms (as it were). The use of tinplate cans, steel coated with a thin layer of tin, is climate-conscious art since steel cans are the most recycled closed-loop packaging material. These increase the shelf-lives of products, protect them from damage by light, oxidation, extremes of temperature and contamination, safeguarding flavour, appearance and quality from factory to consumer.Now, transform this thought on to KC’s artwork: this striking marriage of generations-long spiritual traditions and a corrosion-resistant symbol of consumerism with an ecological meaning gives one pause. What is KC trying to say here? One does not arrive at a conclusion, and that may be KC’s intention.Instead, the viewer is asked to think outside the box – or cans. The tug-of-war between history and traditional values, practices, and modern politics, luxury, hunger, etc is often indispensable in Nepali contemporary art. Aptly so, considering the unique position of the country’s many living cultures.KC’s work gives this a little spin: not so much of a tug-of-war here, but something more fluid. Rather than being at opposing ends, KC invites us to consider how culture and modern life may in fact be informing each other, especially among the Himalaya, and people are not so much rejecting one in favour of another, but building practices and lifestyles that incorporate both ideas.“The artwork is inspired by my own experience as a traveller, through my observations and memories,” says KC, who also wanted to see what reaction would bringing a mani wheel to a gallery space evoke. “How does a wheel embossed with prayers compare to a simple tin can?”KC believes that adding embellishment and confounding jargon would limit the art experience. Viewers also take a leap of faith when engaging with the piece, which itself necessitates the act of letting go, without which the boundlessness of a prayer wheel may never be reckoned with.Object in Focus #6: Out of emptinessby Bidhata KCCurated by Roshan MishraWith support from Aakar Kalaghar and Contemporary Art of Nepal FoundationTaragaon Next, BoudhaTill 15 February 2023, 10:00am – 5:00pm

Ashish Dhakal

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Giving prayer wheels an arty spin

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150228/63fe10489c7e80680e0da48fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536"/>Right after entering Siddhartha Art Gallery, a large painting immediately catches the eyes of visitors. ‘Modern Rawan’ an acrylic on canvas by Roshan Pradhan shows a naked figure, orange and brown, crouching with one hand under its chin.Its face is missing, replaced by a pink lotus. The figure wears a golden crown on its head with a swirl of clouds wrapped around its shoulders like an ethereal scarf. Disembodied faces of Albert Einstein, Michael Jackson, Steve Jobs, Da Vinci, Stephen Hawking, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13102#.Y9yu7HZByJA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Karl Marx</a>, even Adolf Hitler, hang on both sides.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150228/63fe104c9c7e80680e0da490jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1536" height="2304">Pradhan’s striking depictions of cultural motifs and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/traders-barter-tradition-for-modernity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">traditions in conversation with modernity</a> are at once a reflection and diversion. In a time when AI-generated digital art is in vogue, centuries-old practices hang uncertain.An android is a central figure in ‘New World’, with metallic limbs and closed eyes. Honeycomb is another prominent motif which calls to mind the laborious bees, hive-mind, as well the notion of clockwork-like colonies.Pradhan is concerned with the questions of free-will, human intelligence, culture and nature, and what we take into the future. Or, rather, is anything from the past worth saving and acknowledging, when modern ideas and technologies continuously inform our choices and lifestyle?Pradhan is part of the five-member Pagoda Group, featuring artists Kishor Nakarmi, Pradhumna Shrestha, Mala Shrestha and Rudra Bahadur Pun, whose works are currently being exhibited at Siddhartha Art Gallery. Called Collective Expressions, the paintings cover a wide array of motifs and styles, but have among them a common theme of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali cultural heritage, from monuments to symbols</a>.The variance in style reaffirms Nepal’s unique position as a living culture with diverse traditions, faiths and backgrounds. Experimental in nature, from Pradhan’s futuristic metaphors, Pun’s calming chörten to Nakarmi’s gothic Buddhas, or Pradhumna Shrestha’s blazing Darbar Squares to Mala Shrestha’s expressionistic mudra, the paintings capture the dialogue between creative forces and a sense of spirituality and influence of one’s roots.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150228/63fe10519c7e80680e0da491jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536">A striking example of this is Pradhumna Shrestha’s ‘Shangrila’ series, which focuses on architectural and material space. His paintings depict the Darbar squares of Kathmandu Valley, as seen through a fiery lens, with delicate accuracy.But these are far from simply realistic. There is a discomforting hotness to the artworks, concerned with vanishing traditions and heritage, almost crying out to the viewer: What are you waiting for, how can you sit comfortably as fire rages around you?Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-tale-of-three-cities/">A tale of three cities</a>, Ashish Dhakal<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/painted-walls-and-pieces-of-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Painted walls and pieces of history</a>, Ashish Dhakal<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150228/63fe10559c7e80680e0da492jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1536" height="2304">Elsewhere, Mala Shrestha takes the symbol of nature and life merging a step further. In her paintings, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-delta-of-kama/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">woodcarvings</a> blend with trees, and by extension the earth, their origin. Mala’s works highlight the significance of emotions and thoughts that often bridge nature to the arts and crafts. In ‘Holy Water’ colours and shapes inspire the viewer to look beyond the present reality.<h4>Woodcut prints</h4>The gallery’s other space across the courtyard is currently showing a very different kind of artwork: woodcut prints. Monsoon Printmaking 2023 is the result of an online workshop organised by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/The-solace-of-art-Nepal,2934" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bindu Space for Artists</a> in 2022 and brings together the unique expressions of 35 multidisciplinary artists, including Anusha Thapa, Aman Maharjan, Bidhata KC, Bidhyaman Tamang, Jenney Ghale, Saurganga Darshandhari and Sujita Chaudhary.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150228/63fe105a9c7e80680e0da493jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150228/63fe105e9c7e80680e0da494jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2304" height="1536">Woodcut is a form of relief printing, and this artform highlights the balance between ink and no ink, which the artist cuts away into the surface of a block of wood with gouges, leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts.One can find a variation of tones, from monochrome, duotone to multicoloured prints. Manisha Manandhar’s ‘Lukha Duwa’ pays homage to Newa traditions and architecture while Katyani Rai’s ‘Self Portrait’ depicts a surreal landscape with trees, faces and a crow. Bidhyaman Tamang’s ‘The Older I get, The More I Learn’ shows a letterbox surrounded by cats and rats and a urinating dog while Snellen charts are strewn on the ground: a metaphor, perhaps, of miscommunication and lack of vision.Right next to it sits another very endearing feline, its round eyes like planets peering at coins in the sky. Called ‘Gravity’ by Sony Rai, these symbols for money present the staggering reality of capitalist attractions as a curious creature looks on. Inside, ‘Structures’ by Bidhata KC shows an ambiguous green landscape with no top or bottom – or are we looking at it from above? – as rectangles and squares make out buildings, drawing attention to the dialogue between the earth, the trees and the skies, and humans.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe10619c7e80680e0da495jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1536" height="2304"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe10669c7e80680e0da496jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3931" height="5898">Rubi Maharjan’s ‘In the Blues’ appears like a raging sea, but looking deeper there is a profoundly beautiful sadness in between the spaces, which is, inexplicably, also hopeful.Together, both exhibitions occupy a kind of a liminal space between the seasons, where it feels as though all meanings are possible. Experimentation of styles draws attention to many challenges and expressions that define our lives and experiences, but, here, there be no easy answers.Collected Expressionsby Pagoda GroupTill 17 February 2023 Monsoon Printmaking 2023By Various Artists Till 18 February 2023Siddhartha Art Gallery, Baber Mahal RevisitedSunday – Friday: 11:00am - 05:00pmSaturday: 12:00 - 5:00pm

When art unites what divides us

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140216/63e3a0fa9c7e80680e0d7061jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4032" height="3024"/><figcaption>All photos: ASHISH DHAKAL</figcaption></figure>Contemporary videographer and photographer Aakash Pradhan’s latest show at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/muses-of-the-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wind Horse Gallery</a> in Jhamsikhel comes across as being a quiet affair. But Corny Clouds, curated by Ujen Norbu Gurung, is far from the mawkishly sentimental.It leads the viewer through the glass doors into a dimly-lit corridor which has a calming atmosphere – quite literally, as on the walls one finds variously sized photography-on-canvases of the sky.The first are part of a triptych, ‘Nothing But Good Energy’. Large canvases as blue as the word ‘clear’ itself. The colour gradient shifts concentrically around a brilliant sun, as amorphous clouds trail in. The canvas in the middle shows a snowy mountain peak rising from the bottom-left corner. But what hour is it -- early morning or late afternoon? There is no telling, and, at the same time, perhaps it does not matter. What we are asked to view here is the sky itself, in its many forms and moods.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140216/63e3a0fe9c7e80680e0d7062jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3024" height="4032"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140216/63e3a1039c7e80680e0d7063jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3024" height="4032">Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/on-screen-mountains/">On-screen mountains</a>, Sahina ShresthaRight across are two more canvases ‘Was Good Till It Lasted’ which show markedly different skies in juxtaposition to the striking blue. The colours are warmer, with swirling shades of pink, orange and purple, like the ether in twilight or breaking dawn.A sliver of the crescent moon sits in one while a brilliant golden dot in another, as a mass of shaded clouds gathers under them. If ‘Nothing But Good Energy’ gave one a sense of an impending adventure, a flight, ‘Was Good Till It Lasted’ reminds one to pause, consider oneself, and be grateful for the beauty around.Elsewhere, a group of three smaller canvases present an almost cinematic look at the city. ‘5’o clock in the morning’ appears as though one zooms out from the brilliant yellow orb in the sky above dark hills to find an array of high-rise buildings and houses under the sky. While from the right, it is the exact opposite direction. There is, of course, no right or wrong motion: one either moves deeper into the vastness of the sky or reckons with the sprawling civilisation around us.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140216/63e3a1079c7e80680e0d7064jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4032" height="3024">Drawing in from Pradhan’s vast experience in photography and videography, the exhibition is an intriguing cross-genre excursion. At the centre of the gallery, a video of clouds in motion is projected on to the wall, and in the adjoining chamber a series of nine works displaying absorbing experimentation with form and content. Clever collages, almost psychedelic in nature, ask the viewers to interact with spirituality and consciousness. Declutter your mind, they seem to say, and open yourself to a dazzling alteration of themes.The saying 'The sky is the same everywhere' takes on an interesting tune among Pradhan’s works. One look above and we immediately become aware of the expanse, whether from Lalitpur or the Base Camps or anywhere else in the world. Sometimes it is overcast, sometimes it is absolutely still and clear. But there is a sense of common experience.Read also: <a style="font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.15px; background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-other-attraction-the-night-sky/">Nepal’s other attraction: the night sky</a>, Himali Dixit<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140216/63e3a10c9c7e80680e0d7065jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4032" height="3024">Generations of humans have turned to the sky, adding and uncovering meanings in its folds and colours, sometimes worshipping its vastness. We too share in this experience, as the clouds rearrange themselves in various shapes and sizes. Here a rabbit, there a yaksha, each a different story than the last.Pradhan's works are inviting, with a subtle promise of familiar exposures. Then then they quickly become more: one must exercise one’s own imagination. The artist shows the door but we have to walk through it ourselves, processing, discovering connections and interpretations.Corny CloudsBy Aakash PradhanCurated by Ujen Norbu GurungWind Horse Gallery, JhamsikhelTill 4 February 2023, 11am—6:30pmRead also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/between-sand-and-a-hard-place/">Between sand and a hard place</a>, Ashish Dhakal<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-by-night/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal by night</a>, Anil Chitrakar<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-sky-can-be-this-clean-every-day/">Nepal’s sky can be this clean every day</a>, Ajaya Dixit

The sky is the limit for photography on canvas

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413110/63722e8a9c7e80680e0c24cejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2500" height="1667"/><figcaption>Nepali art makes Venetian debut. All photos: RICCARDO TOSETTO.</figcaption></figure>Through the windows of a traditional Venetian building, one catches a glint of bronze. Drawing closer, it begins to take shape: a dramatic knot of hands and feet, in various mudra, with coils curling around and through them. It floats in mid-air, like a yellowish-red mass of cloud – defying gravity, defying expectations.Muted Expressions is one of three components of <a href="http://nepalinvenice.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the inaugural Nepal Pavilion</a> at the 59th Venice Biennale this year. Further in is a loom installation Entangled Thread which weaves together the rich stories and languages of the artisans behind Nepali rugs and textiles. Then in the back is Views of Luxation: 24 canvases that together show a fragmented Garuda – a playful spin on iconography with frames that hold eyes, limbs, beaks, a vajra, all in a puzzling order.Together, the pavilion is titled ‘Tales of Muted Spirits – Dispersed Threads – Twisted Shangri-La’, curated by Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung, and exhibited by artist <a href="http://www.tsherinsherpa.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ang Thserin Sherpa</a>. The project is co-commissioned by Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the Nepal Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and the <a href="https://www.siddharthaartgallery.com/siddhartha-arts-foundation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Siddhartha Arts Foundation</a>, with lead global support from the <a href="https://rubinmuseum.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rubin Museum of Art</a> in New York.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413110/63722e8e9c7e80680e0c24cfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2500" height="1667"><figcaption>"Muted Expressions" in the foreground, peeking from behind which stands "Entangled Thread". At the back, far-left, is "Views of Luxation".</figcaption></figure>The ongoing Biennale is hosting 202 exhibitions, and Nepal is among the 82 countries to have <a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2022/nepal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">national shows</a>."Ours is a modest pavilion in comparison to other countries, many of whom have permanent pavilions in Venice,” says Chancellor of NAFA, Kanchha Kumar Karmacharya. “Regardless, it is a matter of great pride that Nepal could participate this year. We feel that our pavilion was able to represent the state and history of Himalayan art."In 2019 Nepali art was also featured at the Weltmuseum in Vienna, one of the most renowned ethnographic museums in the world. This was a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first-of-its kind exhibition</a> to bring the best of Nepali contemporary and traditional art to the global audience, and the first major exhibition of Nepali art outside Nepal showcasing 100 artworks by 37 Nepali artists, including Ang Tsherin Sherpa.“And because Venice is close by, we also got the opportunity to go to the Biennale that year,” says Sherpa.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413110/63722e919c7e80680e0c24d0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2500" height="1667"><figcaption>Ang Tsherin Sherpa</figcaption></figure>There were several first-time pavilions that year, from Pakistan, Ghana, Madagascar and Malaysia. “We wondered how we could possibly have Nepal participate in the Biennale, especially as it would shed a huge spotlight on Nepali art scene,” Sherpa says of the time.But Sherpa was also aware that it would be difficult to get funding domestically. Given that art is not often prioritised, he was not sure the government would be willing to set aside a budget for the project.In Spring 2021, Sherpa and his gallerist <a href="https://www.rossirossi.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fabio Rossi</a> approached the Rubin Museum in New York where, back in 2010, he had had his first international exhibition. Sherpa himself was also appointed to the Rubin Museum Board of Trustees this week.Says Jorrit Britschgi, the executive director of Rubin: “When we heard of the project, we realised that it aligned with what we are trying to do as an organisation, to further the understanding, to promote the Himalayan art.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413110/63722e959c7e80680e0c24d1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2500" height="1667"><figcaption>Details of "Muted Expressions".</figcaption></figure>The objective of the pavilion is not about a single artist getting the spotlight. With focus on collective memory and the rejection of the fetishisation of a spiritual highland, it is rather that Nepal, as a centre of art, the confluence of multiple ethnicities, indigenous cultures and histories, take ownership of its voice and identity.“The driving question behind the pavilion was what story we wanted to tell about Nepal, and from what angle,” explains Sherpa. “Wherever we are today is rooted in the past.”Indeed, contemporary and traditional art forms co-exist, reacting to one another. To this effect, Sherpa collaborated with local artists Vijay Maharjan, his team, Mt Refuge, Asha Rai and Sunil Bahadur Moktan, to create, with curators Rajbhandari and Gurung, a striking response to the contradictory conceptualisation of Nepal, challenging the stereotype of it being both an impoverished backwater and a Shangri-La.In the last few decades, Sherpa adds, the artwork, metal craft, wood carvings have all been commodified and collectively termed as 'handicraft' and ' souvenirs'. “But that is not who we are, and even though these industries have economic value, that is not what our art is limited to,” he says.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413110/63722e999c7e80680e0c24d2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2500" height="1667"><figcaption>"Entangled Threads". The loom is a 60-year-old original from Chyalsa in Phaplu of Solukhumbu region.</figcaption></figure>So, Sherpa worked with sculpture, metal work, painting and weaving, which complete the Pavilion, although he was unable to add wood-carvers due to the tight schedule.But paperwork and bureaucratic dillydallying were not all the challenges. How would they transport a 214 x 68.5 x 61cm bronze sculpture all the way to Venice? Or the 60-year-old traditional loom and tools originally from Chyalsa in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-building-a-highway-to-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Phaplu</a>? Even the canvases would not be easy cargo.“Further, our space was in an old house where we could not add nails to the walls,” adds Sherpa. “But we were lucky that the place we found looked exactly like a house in Nepal, with exposed bricks and everything. People thought we had created it ourselves, and this worked really well with the works on display as well.”Britschgi agrees: “I think the curators have come up with a great way to display the works and collateral materials in space to highlight the context of the project.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413110/63722e9d9c7e80680e0c24d3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2500" height="1667"><figcaption>"Views of Luxation"</figcaption></figure>The venue is a strategic choice as well, on one of the main access points between the two foci of the Biennale: the Venice Giardini and the Arsenale – where visitors passing between the two locations are most likely to see the Nepal Pavilion.“The variety of objects shown directly relates to the diversity and richness of art practices in Nepal,” Beatriz Cifuentes Feliciano, assistant curator of international art at <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tate Modern in London</a> told Nepali Times. “This is an important introduction to the arts of Nepal for those who might not know the country’s heritage and current artistic trends in detail. For those more familiar, it is a great showcase of the high-quality artworks being produced in Nepal.”She adds, “The visual vocabulary shared across the artworks is unique to the Himalayan region, and as such Nepal has a fantastic opportunity through this Pavilion to capture international audiences hungry to learn.”This is in line with the concept of the pavilion and speaks to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/redefining-art-at-kathmandu-triennale-2077/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the interest in decolonisation of the artistic canon</a>, moving away from the Euro-centric view of art and art history.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413110/63722ea09c7e80680e0c24d4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2500" height="1667"><figcaption>"Muted Expressions", a dramatic tangle of mudras, hangs in mid-air, defying gravity, defying expectations.</figcaption></figure>Chancellor Karmacharya also noticed that walking around Venice he was reminded of the narrow streets of Bhaktapur and centres like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/rebuilding-kathmandu-after-the-1934-quake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Indra Chok</a> or Mangal Bazar – except for the canals.He says: "One finds art in every corner in Venice, in every wall, even between houses over the canals. In Nepal we need to come up with a mechanism, from the government and the community, to support and appreciate our artists in the country, and showcase their work."At the 60th La Biennale di Venezia in two years' time, Sherpa hopes more Nepalis will take the initiative and participate. He says art is not just for an artist, but also the community.Nepal Pavilion at La Biennale di VeneziaSant’Anna Project Space OneCastello 994Fondamenta Sant’Anna 30122 Venice, Italy.On View till 27 November 2022 Open Tuesday through Sunday, 11AM to 7PM.

Nepal’s pavilion afloat in Venice

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101116/6372083f9c7e80680e0b54d8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4231" height="2744"/><figcaption>The curators of the Nepal Pavilion set to make its Venice debut in April (from left) Hit Man Gurung and Sheelasha Rajbhandari with the exhibiting artist Ang Tserin Sherpa. All photos: CHHIRING DORJE GURUNG.</figcaption></figure>Nepal is set to make its debut at the 59th International Art Exhibition (<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en">La Biennale di Venezia</a>) with the inaugural pavilion titled ‘Tales of Muted Spirits – Dispersed Threads – Twisted Shangri-La’.The exhibition is curated by Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung, and will feature the work of <a href="http://www.tsherinsherpa.com">Ang Tserin Sherpa</a>. The project is co-commissioned by Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the Nepal Academy of Fine Arts and the Siddhartha Arts Foundation, with support from the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rubin-to-return-nepal-antiquities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rubin Museum of Art</a> in New York.“There is a lot of projection onto Nepal internationally, and often our own voices are not taken into account,” Sherpa told Nepali Times on Friday. “The main agenda behind the<a href="https://www.instagram.com/nepalinvenice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Nepal Pavilion </a>is to express these projections and their impacts in our own language, and take ownership of our own voice and identity.”The pavilion will focus on the contradictory conceptualisation of Nepal and the broader Himalayan region brought about by the ‘fetishisation of a spiritual highland’. The multimedia installation will feature Sherpa in collaboration with local artists across the country to expose the intricate reality of interconnected communities with shared experiences of loss and displacement beneath the Shangri-La of bliss and longevity.The Nepal Pavilion will also explore the systemic oppression and exclusion of the many indigenous groups of Nepal by colonial and regional powers in the 19th and 20th century.‘International understanding of Nepali art remains plagued by a Western conceptualisation of the Himalayan region,’ Sherpa said. ‘A pervasive, romanticised vision that frames Nepal as static, pure and untouched by time and modernity. We need to create a space to reflect and re-evaluate these biases.’Indeed, the Himalaya has often been seen through the lens of exotic mysticism that masks the complexities and diversity that give the region its identity. The communities of Nepal are often portrayed as wise but primitive, sturdy but poor, lacking in historical data but rich in spiritual wisdom.“While it has been encouraging and inspiring to see the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/thamels-new-art-street/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">art scene thrive in Nepal</a> at present,” says co-curator Rajbhandari, “there is still a disconnect in dynamics between the global art world and Nepal. Venice can be a platform to mediate that lack of communication.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637208449c7e80680e0b54d9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2592" height="1944"><figcaption>The Nepal Pavilion in progress.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/The-world-beyond-thangkas,3139">Ang Tserin Sherpa</a> was born in Kathmandu and trained in thangka painting by his father Master Urgen Dorje. Influenced by his own experience in the Himalayan diaspora and the nomadic history of its peoples, Sherpa’s œuvre has grown to feature a rich vocabulary of Buddhist iconography paired with pop-culture references, to reflect the interplay and tension between what is sacred and secular, and what is traditional and contemporary.This is related also to the increasing commodification of traditional art in Nepal whereby artworks have been reappropriated as mere objects to be marketed and showcased.“These are our cultural heritage as well,” says Sherpa. “We cannot rely on other people to uphold and preserve our culture, our history when we ourselves overlook and forget them.”To renegotiate and reexamine this trend is a larger theme with Sherpa’s work at the Biennale. He adds, “My plan is to collaborate with many Nepali artists and artisans, and initiate a dialogue about our heritage, skills and contemporary art.”The application process for Nepal’s pavilion at the Biennale began in June 2021, and was pushed forward by seed money from the Rubin Museum in New York. But because of various delays, it was not until November that the work finally began.“In Nepal there is no proper support system for artists to get international exposure,” Sherpa added. “But this is not a one-time thing. Funding is still an issue but hopefully this initiative can inspire artists, communities and corporate bodies to be involved together.”This resonates with the burgeoning push for the global visibility of Nepal’s contemporary art scene in the international arena, as was seen at the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal Art Now exhibition at the Weltmuseum Wien in 2019</a> and the ongoing <a href="https://www.kathmandutriennale.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu Triennale 2077</a> set to begin on 11 February.“The inaugural Nepal Pavilion at the Venice Biennale is a historical moment for the contemporary art of the region,” said Fabio Rossi of Rossi &amp; Rossi who represent Ang Tserin Sherpa. “Though Tsherin will be the focus of the pavilion, it will also be a collaborative effort which will bring greater visibility to the diverse artistic and curatorial expressions that can be found in Nepal.”Jorrit Britschgi, the Executive Director of the Rubin Museum of Art, believes that the pavilion will help to raise the Nepali profile as a vibrant country for the production, promotion and presentation of contemporary art.He said in a statement: ‘The Nepal Pavilion will provide artists with an invaluable international platform to showcase their work whilst positioning the country to contribute to a broader narrative on contemporary art that moves away from a Eurocentric art history and discourse.’First founded in 1895, La Biennale di Venezia is one of the most visited art exhibitions in the world today. The Nepal Pavilion will be presented at Sant’Anna Project Space One, located on Fondamenta S. Anna in the area between the Arsenale and Giardini – the two main venues of the Biennale, which will run from 2 April through 27 November 2022.Ang Tserin Sherpa is hopeful of the precedent this attendance sets. “It is not that there are fewer artists in Nepal or less production of art, but that there are fewer avenues,” he said. “Venice is a first and I believe this can inspire our second involvement to be an even more organic event, bringing together communities, artists and institutions.”

Nepal art debut in Venice

<figure><img width="1080" height="1079" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161132/636d19999c7e80680e0ac82ajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Kuthu Math. All photos: ROBERT POWELL/TARAGAON MUSEUM</figcaption></figure>Robert Powell’s drawing of the courtyard façade of Kuthu Math in Bhaktapur is a prime example of his singular style: light enters from the left and the contrast between surface and shadow accentuate the depth of the carvings, guiding the viewer’s eyes.The windows are the many eyes on the wall, some open and some closed, some watchful and some resting. The blackness behind the openings contours the face and enhances the intricate latticework. There is a stillnessto the painting, but wait: is that a flying pigeon frozen in time under the second-floor window? The retrospective exhibition at <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nepali-times-buzz/taragaon-museum-boudha,1609">Taragaon Museum</a> is a tribute to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/robert-g-powell-1948-2020/">Robert Powell</a> who died in Thailand on 16 December 2020. It is also a celebration of talent that sheds light on the artist’s unique visual range, subtle playfulness and an austere dedication to detail.There are 30 of Powell’s works on exhibit, including the museum’s recent acquisition: the artist’s rendition of the 17th century Licchavichaitya at Vambaha in Patan. Individual pieces of the original chaitya date to the 7th century and was only later assembled. This is an intricate drawing of an exquisite sculpture, and Powell’s brush strokes add to the superior craftsmanship of its unnamed master. Directly beneath the dome sits a Buddha flanked by two ferocious lions looking in opposite directions. The fiery tails of the lions rise to frame the niche where the Buddha meditates and are swallowed by Kirtimukha above, who then regurgitates water, signifying rain.Where is the line between the opposites – fire and water? Where does one begin and the other end? Meanwhile wide lotus leaves jut out of the tails on each side. The details are immaculate, each curl of the tails and manes rendered to perfection.The drawing captures the essence of the sculpture in minute scale, carefully measured and rendered on paper. The chaitya itself is of special interest because unlike other Lichhavi era sculptures in Kathmandu, where the niches are empty, this has the Buddha meditating in it. <img width="288" height="560" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161132/636d199d9c7e80680e0ac82bjpeg.jpg" alt="">Powell does not just portray what is literal. These are hyper-realistic impressions taken to another realm by his artistic genius. There is an added dimension inaccessible to the human eye, or even to the camera. Reality mingles with the artist’s own impression.Take, for example, his drawing of Taka, a Magar village in Rolpa, which depicts a 3-storeyed structure seen from above. The surface appears as if in motion with the viewer almost hovering overhead, as the hat-like granaries on the flat roof leap out of the frame. The rows of houses represent the Magar marriage system in architectural form: matrilineal unions between cousins across 3 lineages.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mustang-in-shadows-and-light/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mustang in shadows and light</a>, Kunda Dixit<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/niels-gutschow-leaves-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Niels Gutschow Leaves Home</a>, Ashish DhakalThe painting of a temple with an overgrown pipal shows the carved arch interlocked between the Kirtimukha and the trunk, both vying to devour it. Much of the front façade has crumbled and the bricks lie about as the tree lifts the shrine. Inside is a solitary shivalinga, displaced or at home among nature, one cannot say.The interaction between natural and human structures is what ties together Robert’s work, even though the paintings themselves are not peopled. The houses, windows, lonely temples, and even thowo (row of piled up stones) – all are either placed amidst nature or built of natural materials. Earthy pigments of ochre, yellow, white, colour the canvas in thin effervescent layers. <figure><img width="1114" height="630" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161132/636d199e9c7e80680e0ac82cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Chorten and Lhato, Tangbe</figcaption></figure>The lack of people could make the structures appear forlorn. A house in one of the drawings has visible cracks on its brick wall, looks worn out and abandoned, ready to give up. There is a sense of melancholy, but an aesthetic one. The landscape revels in its objective existence, seen as themselves. Robert is careful not to overlay his own influence onto the canvas, his point of view is reflected solely by what he selects to draw.This is architectural documentation at its best. Historians and conservationists draw lines with sharp pencil or ink, without using a T-square, aiming to depict an objective reproduction of the artefact without manipulating it, or completing the missing details. Powell famously counted the bricks in the courtyard of Kuthu Math in Bhaktapur and meticulously painted each of their colour, texture and size.Such exactitude adds a layer of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5455#.YXjm6lVBypo">poetry to Powell’s art</a> which aims not to influence but to uncover what was previously unseen or unnoticed, giving a more holistic image of the structure with surgical precision and mythic elevation.The Taragaon exhibition showcases Robert Powell’s powerful narrative quality that augments an archival contribution to architecture and ethnography, full of aesthetic and historical significance. The eyes on the windows watch us as we pass, and their doors open to remind us of the cities of the old from where we have come. These drawings are vessels for memory, since only the material world is transient. Robert Powell Exhibition<a href="https://taragaonmuseum.com/">The Taragaon Museum</a>, BoudhaTill 12 November 2021+977-01-6201035<a href="mailto:museumdirect@taragaon.com">museumdirect@taragaon.com</a>Pictured right, Rob Powell in his Koh Samui studio.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161132/636d19a19c7e80680e0ac82djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1334" height="1000">

Remembering Robert Powell

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161132/636d19729c7e80680e0ac81djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533"/><figcaption>The art festival was inagurated by noted Nepali actor Rajesh Hamal (second from right). Also pictured, general manager of Turkish Airlines Abdullah Tuncer Kececi (first from left). Photos: MONA</figcaption></figure>More than 1,500 children in Nepal are diagnosed every year with some form of cancer. Many of them are treatable, but because of the lack of timely diagnosis and proper treatment, many young lives are tragically lost.Help from them has come from an unexpected quarter: Nepali artists who have been representing the country’s social issues on canvas, sculpture or digital art.Earlier this month, 33 of Nepal’s most prominent artists from all genres took part in a live painting performance at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-first-private-art-museum/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Museum of Nepali Art</a> in the Kathmandu Guest House premises in Thamel. Part of the proceeds generated from the sale went to the oncology ward of the Kanti Children’s Hospital.Less than 30% of Nepali children have their cancers diagnosed on time, but many of even those are unable to afford expensive treatment.The art festival was inaugurated by noted Nepali actor Rajesh Hamal, who kick-started the event by painting his own contemporary piece ‘No smoking’ under the guidance of noted artists Kiran Manandhar and Lok Chitrakar.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161132/636d19759c7e80680e0ac81ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533"><figcaption>Renowned contemporary artist Kiran Manandhar with participating artist Sangee Shrestha.</figcaption></figure>As the artists warmed up to the performance, it was evident that they were producing a diverse body of art with differing techniques. It ranged from traditional pauba and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/vibrant-mithila-art-thrives-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mithila art</a> to abstracts embodying cubism and conceptual art forms.But they were all sharing the space and participating in an exercise that aimed to help underprivileged children with hope. Access to diagnosis and treatment is literally a matter of life or death for many young patients.The art festival coincided with the inauguration of the Kathmandu Guest House (KGH) by renowned <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-far-sighted-eye-care/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ophthalmologist Sanduk Ruit</a> with founder/director of the Museum of Nepali Art (MoNA) <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/i-m-a-g-i-n-a-t-i-o-n-by-uttam-nepali/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rajan Sakya</a>.“We are committed to conducting similar events annually to promote art for a cause so that it serves those in need,” Sakya said.Following the main event on 7 October, the paintings were exhibited at MoNA in the presence of Bishnu Rath Giri, head of the oncology unit at Kanti Children’s Hospital.Lately, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali art has been getting the recognition</a> it deserves with many of them being exhibited at famous museums, art galleries and private collections worldwide. These pieces fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars in the international art market, and yet it is rare for contemporary Nepali art to shine at home.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161132/636d19779c7e80680e0ac81fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161132/636d197c9c7e80680e0ac820jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>MoNA aims to be a crucible for Nepali art, so that the gallery is an ‘art hub’ in Kathmandu’s bustling Thamel neighbourhood. Such art hubs are common in developed countries including France, Italy, China, and Japan.Established in 2020, MoNA is Nepal’s first museum dedicated to preserving and promoting <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/jeevan-rajopadhyays-untitled/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali art</a>, especially those of living artists. And this is the first time that a live art festival has been held to support a cause.“This event is the start of the crucial process of bridging this social and intellectual gap between artists and the general public,” says Sakya. “One need not be an art historian or critique to recognise creativity and beauty, and artists do not differentiate between ethnicities. Art is tangible culture and a living expression of us Nepalis.”Sworup Kant AdhikariPaintings can be viewed online <a href="https://www.mona.com.np/art/art-fest-2021">here</a>.

Art for a cause

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111128/636cd2dd9c7e80680e08f938jpeg.jpg" alt="Jagdish Moktan exhibition"/><figcaption>Jagdish Moktan works with soil to paint his memory.</figcaption></figure>After nearly a year of closure, Siddhartha Art Gallery is putting up two new shows. Jagdish Moktan’s <a href="http://www.siddharthaartgallery.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=category&amp;layout=blog&amp;id=42&amp;Itemid=73" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Way Home is Away from Home and Priyanka Singh Maharjan’s In the Realm of Recollections </a>showcase art they worked on during the pandemic.The artists received the Himalayan Light Art Scholarship Awards, a joint grant created by Chinese artist Zhao Jianqui and Siddhartha Art Gallery’s Director, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/sangeeta-thapa-siddhartha-art-gallery,1999" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sangeeta Thapa</a>.Although both Moktan and Maharjan have taken part in group shows at their university’s  <a href="http://kuart.edu.np/bfa-show-at-art-council/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BFA exhibitions</a>, <a href="https://angkor-photo.com/apf-programme/the-passage-of-time-and-what-remains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Angkor Photo Festival and</a> <a href="http://www.kochimuzirisbiennale.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kochi Biennale</a>, they were very anxious about the reception they would receive in Nepal. “When you work on your own, you have to be your own judge. But when the work gets on display for viewers, the anticipation is somewhat different,” Moktan said after the inauguration at Baber Mahal Revisited last week.There is an array of Moktan’s 108 frames of charcoal on paper along the walls at the Siddhartha Art Gallery. The series is called ‘Fragmented Clouds’, and depict skies hemmed in by densely-packed buildings where the clouds are reflected on window panes. <figure><img width="1447" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111128/636cd2e09c7e80680e08f939jpeg.jpg" alt="Jagdish Moktan's reflection of clouds"><figcaption> Jagdish Moktan painted the reflection of clouds as seen on a neighbour’s window, during the lockdown.</figcaption></figure>“Crammed in my room in Bhaktapur during the lockdown, looking from one window to another, I often wondered how it might be to see beautiful clouds from my ancestral hometown in Ramechhap,” he says. “Although I was born and brought up in Kathmandu, my sense of belonging has always been associated with Ramechhap.”Moktan calls his work an attempt to explore his feelings of alienation, and finding the road home. The art is unrestricted in form of medium, and consists of realistic portraits in oils and coloured soil—faces he paints from memory, exploring his relation to his ancestral home.While Moktan's works on the ground floor showcase his hyper-realistic vision, the first floor of the gallery also carries the theme of ‘home’, but to a polar opposite level. Maharjan’s exhibit, ‘In the Realms of Recollection’, is grounded in nostalgia out of which she weaves patterns.Maharjan creates art out of memory, scanning old family images, and transferring them on to fabric. She picks a set of black and white images, and embroiders on them, the variations of different stitches amplifying her own experiences of those memories.   “I learned hand embroidery from my grandmother. My father, who was working in Hong Kong then, often sent pictures via posts. Those photos and my grandmother’s embroidery skills have always been close to my heart,” says Maharjan.Her work transforms the ceiling into an amalgamation of images and colourful stitches that instantly embrace the visitor in the warmth, associated with the idea of home. She was studying chartered accountancy and increasingly unsure about her career path, when a friend suggested applying to Kathmandu University.  <figure><img width="750" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111128/636cd2e49c7e80680e08f93ajpeg.jpg" alt="Priyanka Maharjan exhibition"><figcaption>Priyanka Maharjan embroiders colourful designs to old photographs to amplify her childhood memories.</figcaption></figure>While the two exhibitions are juxtapositions in terms of projection, thematically, they converge in their sense of belonging. While Maharjan accumulates an abundance of family memories, Moktan pursues the idea of a distant home.  <figure><img width="942" height="1291" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111128/636cd2e79c7e80680e08f93bjpeg.jpg" alt="Priyanka Maharjan exhibition Siddhartha Art Gallery"><figcaption>“My grandmother taught me embroidery, it has been a skill close to my heart,” says Priyanka Maharjan.</figcaption></figure>Himalayan Light Art Award tries to give space to emerging artists in Nepal with the potential to go big with an original personal style. Prithvi Shrestha, Lavakant Chaudhary, Man Gurung and Subhas Tamang are artists who have been recipients of the scholarship in the past.The Foundation’s Justin Zhao says, “Through this scholarship, we want the artists to hone their skills and help them organise exhibitions.”Sangeeta Thapa of Siddhartha Art Gallery wishes there were platforms like the Himalayan Lights Scholarships when she was an aspiring artist herself.  “As an art curator, my job is to see the potential in the artists and display their work. It is about promoting these budding artists and making them known to the viewers,” Thapa told Nepali Times. She adds that Maharjan and Moktan’s works are representations of how the two artists worked through the lockdown and amidst the uncertainty of the pandemic.  Being sequestered at home for such a long period may have inspired them to create new versions of ‘home’.  The Way Home is Away from Home and In the Realm of Recollections will be on exhibit at Siddhartha Art Gallery, Baber Mahal Revisited, till 15 February 2021.

Memories of home

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151124/636a67049c7e80680e0599b7jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Lavkant Chaudhary</figcaption></figure>As they enter Lavkant Chaudhary’s Masinya Dastoor exhibition at the Siddhartha Art Gallery, the visitors are strongly drawn to one particular work on display.  They are three canvases titled DDT depicting circles within circles in the first one. Chakra, the circle of life, but it is also a bullseye, and the tiny figures of animals and people are rendered in the style of a traditional Tharu folk art. The figures are the size of an adult mosquito, and a greyscale exterminator points directly at the centre of the target, ready to spray dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.The other painting are lifelike paintings of three DDT cans amidst a backdrop of insects, and the third is of a colourful cloud of butterfly silhouettes. <figure><img width="1500" height="1476" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151124/636a67089c7e80680e0599b8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>DDT</figcaption></figure>Chaudhary says the American-supported <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-mosquito-that-changed-nepals-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eradication of malaria</a> from Chitwan and the Tharu homeland in the Tarai destroyed not just mosquitoes but but also the Tharu people. The paintings, he says are the “silenced histories of the Tharu community.”The Tharu were genetically immune to malaria, but once the disease was eradicated by killing mosquitos, settlers came in to clear the forests, land was bought at a pittance from Tharus unable to read the land deeds.The Masinya Dastoor is expression through art of an aboriginal people the rulers in Kathmandu treated as expendable. The works are housed in two floors with earthy acrylic on canvas paintings (pictured below), land title copies with ink superimposed, wood carvings, an art installation and video. Each artwork across these various medium connect back to the historical persecution of the Tharu people. <img width="1500" height="1573" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151124/636a670b9c7e80680e0599b9jpeg.jpg" alt="">Chaudhary says he used to be as ignorant about Tharu history as the rest of Nepalis, but was inspired when he began researching his community during a six-month art project initiated by Artree Nepal in Bhaktapur after the 2015 Earthquake.“All I came across were recurring stereotypical ideas about the Tharu. We were just <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tharu-escargots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">water snail eaters</a>  jungle dwellers, alcohol drinkers, and an honest tribe. That was our identity,” he recalls.Sangeeta Thapa of the Siddhartha Art Gallery says some indigenous groups in Nepal were taken as bonded labourers since Lichhavi times 1,400 years ago. Later on, under the Shah and Rana dynasties when the caste hierarchy was codified into the first Mulki Ain of 1854, indigenous groups were placed under the category of paani chalne masinya matawali (touchable but enslavable alcohol drinkers) which made them expendable by the state. <figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151124/636a670e9c7e80680e0599bajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Bullet and Grains</figcaption></figure>Despite slavery being abolished in 1926, the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Modern-day-domestic-slaves-domestic-workers,3785" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kamaiya bonded labourer system</a> persisted until it was outlawed as late as 2004. But by then the Tharu had lost most of their land.One of Chaudhary’s art installations is of small wooden boxes hung from the ceiling, each filled with grain and a single brass bullet. Next to it, the Diary series recreates pages carved into wood from the diary of Jokhan Ratgainya, a Tharu journalist and revolutionary who was killed in June 2001. <figure><img width="1500" height="2078" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151124/636a67119c7e80680e0599bbjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Dastoor</figcaption></figure>In one corner, the Tamasuk series, with pen and ink drawings on Nepali paper, leads into the Dastoor series, stippling drawings of day to day activities on archival paper prints of the dastoor (legal orders).The second floor hosts large striking oil paintings that detail day to day scenes alongside violence: from the conflict years, and the Tikapur massacre of 2015. Another installation is of ghaila pots hanging inside a darkroom which projects light on the walls. On one wall, a video replays a barmasiya folk song and then shows a burning miniature village as eyewitness accounts of violence. <img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151124/636a67149c7e80680e0599bcjpeg.jpg" alt="">Chaudhary writes in a description that he has used art to fill the gaps left by Nepal’s mainstream media to communicate the atrocities: “I found strength in unearthing what has remained silent and kept silent by the Nepali media, the state, and civil society.”His art speaks volumes about displacement and resistance, easily comparable to the struggles of indigenous peoples in the subcontinent and beyond. The mix of mediums, attention to detail and the historical narrative woven into each work makes for an exhibition that is an experience, one that sheds light on Nepali history and the indigenous peoples who have been silenced.Masinya Dastoorby Lavant ChaudharySiddhartha Art GalleryUntil January 9 2020

Atrocities against Tharu expressed in art

<img width="538" height="541" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a402b9c7e80680e04a606jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Though the medium is oil on canvas, Mann Gurung employs only sepia tones in his paintings, evoking the era of old photographs. Indeed, his artwork harks back to an older, more innocent time in Nepal. The  women still wear the fariya choli, and the men are in patuki and dhaka topi.Gurung’s second solo exhibition, Lost in Transition, is on at Siddhartha Art Gallery in Baber Mahal Revisited from 9 May - 9 June. Though most of the works are oil paintings, there are also graphite and ink drawings. They differ from his previous solo exhibition Power, Politics and War, which was predictably focused on politics. This time around, the emphasis is on a visual depiction of social change.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-karnali-on-canvas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Karnali on Canvas</a>, Sewa Bhattarai  <img width="640" height="920" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a402d9c7e80680e04a607jpeg.jpg" alt="">Gurung has captured women who collected milk in wooden theki, and have now turned to plastic Coke bottles. Though they cling to traditional dresses, they cannot help wearing Crocs on their feet. He has captured the dhyangro hand drum, an important instrument in his community that seems torn and neglected, and an old record player that looks like it hasn’t been used in a while.  These portraits are from Khorla, a mountain village in Gurung’s home district of Gorkha. Collectively, the impression is of a bygone era: of a place caught in transition as traditional values are fast being replaced by modern ideas. Gurung’s paintings capture the reality of most of Nepal today. With the youth migrating out, the elderly and women are left to fend for themselves. It is an uphill battle to cling to their traditional lifestyles.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-art-now-in-vienna/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal Art now in Vienna</a> Gurung believes he has captured the last of a generation that carries our identity, as younger Nepalis are ‘already fitted out in denims and pride themselves for embracing western culture’.“They have already made a transition from madal to box speakers, rodhi to mp3 players, hand sewn bags to polythene ones, handmade garments to imported polyester, bamboo baskets to zebra bags, and from sanduk to flatscreen TVs. We will soon lose the older generation, erasing hundreds of years of our identity, tradition and culture,” laments Gurung.His paintings force us to ponder identity, how we can hold on it, and whether it is even possible. The paintings are a testament to a lost time, and present Gurung’s concern for his own heritage, which he seems powerless to conserve. But at least he has preserved and documented a part of his culture in his art. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-craft-of-art/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Craft of Art</a>, Sewa Bhattarai <img width="1052" height="584" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a402f9c7e80680e04a608jpeg.jpg" alt=""> Lost in TransitionSiddhartha Art Gallery, Baber Mahal RevisitedUntil 9 June

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