As part of a broader series of international displays, <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auction/28762/lain-singh-bangdel-mountains-and-migration/">‘Lain Singh Bangdel: Mountains and Migration’</a> will be put up at the fine arts auction house and valuer, Bonhams, London till Tuesday. The exhibition turned auction has been held from 11-21 November, and features twenty-four selected paintings by Bangdel, an acclaimed author, art preservationist, and art historian who died in Kathmandu in 2002 at age 83. His daughter, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/complete-projects-of-Dina-Bangdel,977">Dina Bangdel</a>, who was also a scholar of Asian art, died in 2017. &nbsp; The artist’s son-in-law and Dina’s husband Bibhakar Shakya says he is seeking to immortalise the Bangdel family influence, keeping their passion for art alive in the art scene in Nepal and internationally. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/for-arts-sake/lain-singh-bangdel-s-sigh">Lain Singh Bandgel's 'sigh'</a>, Rajan Sakya “The opening night at Bonhams was a huge success and garnered significant attention with a considerable turnout, a testament to Owen Duffy, the curator and the extremely supportive team at Bonhams,” Shakya told Nepali Times over the phone from London.&nbsp; He added: “I was truly delighted at how well the exhibition was received and I know my late father-in-law and late wife would have been proud.” Initially intended for viewing only, the exhibition became an auction in an effort to test the market. One painting, Song of Himalaya, sold to a private buyer for a significant amount, vindicating Shakya’s value of his father-in-law’s works.&nbsp; “Now that we have a record”, he said, of what an original Bangdel is worth, “we can only go up from here”.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023111912110_55d5258fdeec25808e4808b14262ed76a179c600e3065e341b6e10cfff5ff444.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2023111912110_55d5258fdeec25808e4808b14262ed76a179c600e3065e341b6e10cfff5ff444" data-rendition-name="original" width="1674" height="1183" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bangdel"> <figcaption>Lain Singh Bangdel (1919-2002) paints a portrait of Balkrishna Sama in 1975. Photos: AGAINST THE CURRENT</figcaption> </figure>  Born in Darjeeling, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lain-singh-bangdel-s-legacy-lives-on">Lain Singh Bangdel</a> (1919-2002) lived a multifaceted life, embarking on a dynamic journey across continents and cultures. He was a friend of Indian film director Satyajit Ray whom he knew in Calcutta. In the 1960s he was invited to Nepal under King Mahendra’s initiative to bring creative Nepali intellectuals home, and this marked a watershed in Bangdel’s career. He was General Secretary of the Nepal Art Council and fronted a Nepali artistic renaissance, writing many books, one of which, Stolen Images from Nepal (1989), served to return stolen artefacts back to their rightful home.&nbsp; The various socio-cultural influences that surrounded Bangdel's upbringing shaped him into not only a prominent artist, but also an acclaimed author, art preservationist, and art historian.&nbsp; In his early years in art, Bangdel graduated top of his class from the Government College of Art &amp; Craft in Kolkata and continued to pursue his passion at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. The dynamic artistic atmosphere of Europe at the time meant Bangdel encountered and developed connections with celebrated contemporaries like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/lain-singh-bangdel-in-new-york">Lain Singh Bandgel in New York</a>, Ashish Dhakal “These artists had an influence on Bangdel's works in the 50s, one can discern the essence of Picasso's Blue Period, evident in the ‘Lady in Blue’ that employs the palette to evoke a sense of melancholy in the viewer,” explained Shakya. He added: “Bangdel conveyed traditional Nepali concepts through the medium of modern art. This unique harmonious fusion of traditional and modern themes, represent the structures and landscapes that shaped his formative years and highlight inspiration he drew from peoples and culture in Nepal.” Dina Bangdel was a respected expert of Asian art and had her father’s passion for Nepali art as well as a commitment to championing emerging Nepali artists. Her early demise in 2017 created a significant void in the South Asian art scene.&nbsp; Dina had a strong wish to continue the legacy woven by her father and wanted to hold exhibitions of her father’s art. “Tragically, that could not happen,” recalls Shakya.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023111912110_cf3e51425f718d4fc152d87256ceaae52229043119b93d94ccb2ee51672de528.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2023111912110_cf3e51425f718d4fc152d87256ceaae52229043119b93d94ccb2ee51672de528" data-rendition-name="original" width="2020" height="1538" loading="lazy" alt="Dina Bangdel"> <figcaption>Dina Bangdel (1963-2017) with husband Bibhakar Shakya who is supervising the auction in Bonhams.</figcaption> </figure>  Shakya is an economist turned art curator, and says he underwent a transformative shift and immersed himself in the art scene after his wife’s death, assuming the responsibility to complete her vision. &nbsp; Shakya acknowledges that Bangdel is not as well-known as his contemporaries in Paris, and through the Bonhams auction and future exhibitions he seeks to broaden his recognition while simultaneously challenging the prevailing belief that one can make a living as an artist in Nepal today.&nbsp; “This perception has hindered the relationship between Bangdel and the modern Nepali, particularly those in the diaspora,” he said. “I’m inspired by the responses of young Nepali professionals in London to the exhibition, and their excitement at having a Nepali artist being exhibited here. I believe that this is what Dina and Lain would have wanted as well.” Shakya says he now wants to fulfill Dina’s vision to trace the artistic journey from Lain Singh Bangdel till the present day art scene, and will be bringing some emerging Nepali artists to Baltimore for an exhibition in 2026.&nbsp; Shakya’s extensive collection holds between up to 770 original Bangdel artworks, with another 60 or so in public institutions. Some of them will be displayed in exhibitions over the next two years in the United States, Hong Kong, and Kathmandu.&nbsp; There is more: Shakya hopes to adapt one of Bangdel’s novels, Langadako Sathi into a movie to be released in early 2024.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023111912118_08433274961c7e02be63e646b94a20e992c5b6bc8ece230ad10068953f478434.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="2023111912118_08433274961c7e02be63e646b94a20e992c5b6bc8ece230ad10068953f478434" data-rendition-name="original" width="1166" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel"> <figcaption>Lain SIngh Bandel's self-portrait. Not part of the auction. </figcaption> </figure>  ---  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121112_8572059366f4b03736be93ebb1ba2a5268bcdc03ee913568dda56742345403ed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20231119121112_8572059366f4b03736be93ebb1ba2a5268bcdc03ee913568dda56742345403ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="3707" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel painting"> <figcaption>Song of Himalaya, Oil on canvas. Bangdel utilises abstraction to capture a moment where the Himalaya emerge out of dense fog. The painting aims to provoke the viewers imagination sonically, to query the sounds from the atmosphere, lending the artwork its name. SOLD</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121112_50cc232f510fb2f33aaf986d8a0c9fdab74020c15f69ed13b76e1caf7fadcdc9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20231119121112_50cc232f510fb2f33aaf986d8a0c9fdab74020c15f69ed13b76e1caf7fadcdc9" data-rendition-name="original" width="1936" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel paintings"> <figcaption>Moon Over Kathmandu, Oil on canvas. Bangdel paints a copper full moon beaming over the fragrant urban tapestry of Kathmandu at dusk. The moon glows over twin peaks and reflects on the cityscape below, encouraging a sense of intrigue as to what the following day holds. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121116_3056005d630703dba313e0e3fa2eecf0d81dc73f119e20b4b492950ed4553732.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20231119121116_3056005d630703dba313e0e3fa2eecf0d81dc73f119e20b4b492950ed4553732" data-rendition-name="original" width="3607" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bangdel paintings"> <figcaption>Kathmandu Valley, Oil on canvas. Bangdel highlights the Kathmandu Valley, and in doing so captures the juxtaposition between the bustling inner city and the calm surrounding landscape.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121116_460a14c031a72b1687359ab2e3636c9026539157b0d4dbde3cd5c6100d950c7f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20231119121116_460a14c031a72b1687359ab2e3636c9026539157b0d4dbde3cd5c6100d950c7f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1781" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel paintings"> <figcaption>Lady in Blue, Oil on canvas. The utilisation of a blue palette in this painting nods to Picasso's renowned Blue Period. With a brooding subject at its centre, the strategic use of colour seeks to evoke a specific emotional response from the observer — a sense of melancholy.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121116_2961dfaf984246978a1e9739fa82cf4242ca693da62596f43af666a8b3b8ecaf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20231119121116_2961dfaf984246978a1e9739fa82cf4242ca693da62596f43af666a8b3b8ecaf" data-rendition-name="original" width="2008" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel paintings"> <figcaption>Full Moon Night, Gouache on paper. Painted during Bangdel’s time in Paris, this artwork employs distorted scales and non-linear angles to represent the nocturnal modern city scape – empty yet awaiting exploration.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231119121116_8aad13a2d1805f1a0e98f51c0cb190d5f7e4707203a28778c3121d83b9baaecd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20231119121116_8aad13a2d1805f1a0e98f51c0cb190d5f7e4707203a28778c3121d83b9baaecd" data-rendition-name="original" width="2065" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Lain Singh Bandgel paintings"> <figcaption>Lady, Oil on canvas. The artwork seeks to represent a recurrent theme in Bangdel’s work: melancholy. The subject is purposefully hunched to address the suffering experienced by an impoverished society. Bangdel wanted to bring awareness to broader social issues.</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;

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Lain Singh Bandgel lives on

Nobody completely understands the breadth and depth of our art which has developed over centuries. It takes more than a lifetime to achieve complete knowledge of an artistic heritage which is an amalgamation of religious philosophy, figurative symbols, metaphoric concepts and even subconscious outpourings. Paubha is not just simply painting of a deity that follows iconography and elemental requirements. Paubha can consume every molecule of an artist, especially for a great master like<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671"> Lok Chitrakar</a>. He dives deep into our ancient art practices of traditional paubha, dabbles in issue-based paubha with realism and impressionism, and is also experimenting with contemporising paubha with abstract forms. Our gods and goddesses are all figments of someone’s imagination. Ever wondered about the state of mind and emotional ecstasy of the first paubha painter? How did they render on canvas the compassion of a Green Tara, or the innate power of Lokeswor? We can assume it was a combination of philosophical understanding, fervent religious belief and also a strong subconscious outpouring. As he comprehends the challenges of having to express philosophy through figures Lok Chitrakar agrees that our traditional art too began as abstract. The subconscious plays a big a role when the artist has to imagine forms, expressions, colours, and movement of a deity who will evoke a powerful spiritual fervour. Moreover, it has to be visually stunning with intricate details. A dual talent of metaphorical and conventional skills and a sacred power of making the intangible, visible. Today Wassily Condensky’s or Picasso’s forms and figures are used as the basis of abstract drawings by artists all over the world. Similarly, our traditional art too had a foundation of abstract notions that was given continuity and thus became traditional. Through centuries, many contributed to its greater evolution in style, design, and methods. Lok Chitrakar is a 21st-century master of preserving tradition, letting artistic styles evolve and revolutionise.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230324070340_115233d0eb71e3e42062b32651d140b8196f654da32991135cabbf138d76169a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230324070340_115233d0eb71e3e42062b32651d140b8196f654da32991135cabbf138d76169a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="lok chitrakar"><figcaption>Lok Chitrakar. Photo: MoNA.</figcaption></figure>  During his early days, there was limited information on paubha protocol as documentation was poor and ancient texts were not researched and translated. He went into great lengths to study the early texts of iconography including Buddhist and Hindu theology and to understand the philosophy behind the concepts. Thus, Lok Chitrakar’s art is not just about continuation of age-old techniques, but a homage to the talent of unknown ancient artists -- to revive it, and leave an indelible mark by preserving it for ages to come. Understanding the depths of its philosophy so well, he breathes life into realistic, spiritual and abstract art forms. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">Paubha art</a> is the spiritual power of giving visibility to the deity one worships. An imaginative force of creative energy that brings the abstraction of god to life. A refined paubha artist like Lok Chitrakar has the ability to embody the presence and divine qualities of a deity. Says Chitrakar: “Let people look at my paintings and let them forget themselves for a moment. Let it be a divine calling for them.” Viewer may or may not get a calling, but they can see that divinity resides in those artists who have the power of making the unseen, seen. <h2>HEVAJRA MANDALA </h2>  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230324070344_717a96401d8a08f77c745db0e4418f01d0c1231c21b6164664671bb0287674e0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230324070344_717a96401d8a08f77c745db0e4418f01d0c1231c21b6164664671bb0287674e0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1186" loading="lazy" alt="hevraja mandala"><figcaption>'Hevajra Mandala', (Artist’s Collection), mineral colour on cotton canvas, 56.5 x 44.5in, work in progress</figcaption></figure>  The greatest example of Lok Chitrakar’s artistic magnanimity is the Hevajra Mandala which has taken him 25 years, and is not yet complete. What drives an individual to assiduously work on a canvas for 25 years? How do you define such passion and dedication? It took 15 years for Da Vinci to complete 'Mona Lisa' and three years for 'The Last Supper'. It took four years for Michelangelo to finish painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and two years for Botticelli’s 'Birth of Venus'. The world’s most famous and expensive art has been completed in less time, but Lok Chitrakar is still envisioning and studying the scriptures of Hevajra, a 500,000-verse tantric text of the Sakya order of Tibetan Buddhism that originated in the 8th century. The text converted to images in a mandala form is a lifetime of study. The philosophy of the Hevajra is about the impermanence of all phenomena which the artist has been studying since the 90s. He cannot complete it until he personally experiences all its teachings, he explains. Many of the lessons learned within the span of 25 years has been painstakingly imbibed, and he continues to work on it as he ages and understands the philosophy further. <h2>CHINTAMANI LOKESHWOR </h2>  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230324070348_a1158b100e1a9836221c25f1b761663a41edb6b4186d4cbec06f873ad3cc64ad.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230324070348_a1158b100e1a9836221c25f1b761663a41edb6b4186d4cbec06f873ad3cc64ad" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1603" loading="lazy" alt="chintamani lokeshwar"><figcaption>'Chintamani Lokeshwor', (Private Collection), Mineral on canvas (gold), 26 x 33in, 2005(Photo: Ashish Dhakal)</figcaption></figure>  Sometime in the 1980s, a 16th century art piece Chintamani Lokeshwor was stolen from Itum Bahal, and its whereabouts is unknown. Chitrakar would often go to study this paubha and he was terribly distressed by the loss of the national treasure. Based on the memory of what he saw, he was so inspired to paint this stolen masterpiece that he completed seven of them -- each one better than the previous. In doing so, he invented a new technique, which adds a transparent, almost reflective touch around the aura and shawl. Such was his determination to create the best version of the long lost paubha that his last one is beautiful beyond description. The painting intricately depicts Chintamani and his consort generously giving donations. It took Chitrakar 10 years to complete the piece and the final parts were done during the time he was taking care of his ailing mother. Chintamani Lokeshwor is the Bodhisattva of altruistic compassion and his life situation then was similar to the philosophy. He felt blessed to be serving his mother compassionately during her last days. <h2>TARA </h2>  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230324070348_37778c6a9e18f15f53eee60a23f0f3da3456de02761f95fb5b4008292b375634.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230324070348_37778c6a9e18f15f53eee60a23f0f3da3456de02761f95fb5b4008292b375634" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1221" loading="lazy" alt="tara"><figcaption>'Tara', (Private Collection), Mineral colours with lapis, malachite, gold, silver, 2016</figcaption></figure>  This Tara is inspired by the 12th century Nepali artist Arniko which is an inspiration to most paubha artists. Lok Chitrakar does not just admire him, he beautified the classic painting and gave it his unique creative touch by going a step further and applying lapis and malachite mixed paint. He wanted to show the rich skills of the Newa school of paubha and our unique paint mixtures. He learned the art of mixing lapis in Japan and bought 15 grams of high-quality lapis for $300 especially for this painting. This is the first time in the history of paubha painting that lapis, malachite, gold, and silver mixtures have been used. Chitrakar added gold and silver mixtures in the deity’s jewellery and the green background is the purest lapis and malachite mix; a paint technique only familiar to him -- no other paubha artists have dared. <h2>RAKTA GANESH </h2>  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230324070348_3beb1a30d44917ee666a912f0ac24ad839564ed90af11fe0597323539f8ffcd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20230324070348_3beb1a30d44917ee666a912f0ac24ad839564ed90af11fe0597323539f8ffcd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="857" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="rakta ganesh"><figcaption>'Rakta Ganesh', (Artist’s Collection), mineral on canvas, lapis, indigo mix. 65 x 72.5in, 2020</figcaption></figure>  Lok Chitrakar has painted many forms of Ganesh but the most striking one is of Maha Rakta Ganesh, the red Ganesh which took him 16 years to complete. The inspiration is to bring to light the extraordinary talent of Jiva Ram, a less known Nepali artist of the 15th century who went to Tibet and mastered its artistic styles. In the 16 years it took to complete this piece, the canvas was eaten by termites, but Chitrakar continued to paint on it as a symbolic mark -- the holes can be still seen. As always, he added his own unique touches like the women holding the Asthamangal, a message of women empowerment within a strong representation of the male embodiment of Ganesh. The painting was completed during lockdown and he was so absorbed in it to emulate the artistic spirit of Jiva Ram that the turmoil of the Covid days didn’t affect him at all. <h2>CONTEMPORARY CHAKRASAMVARA </h2>  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230324070352_c5e21c3c2a6b93bd752a381a6a8088d390ba1a0a3629d215e8bc9c39ab7bcac6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20230324070352_c5e21c3c2a6b93bd752a381a6a8088d390ba1a0a3629d215e8bc9c39ab7bcac6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="401" loading="lazy" alt="'Contemporary Chakrasamvara'"><figcaption>'Contemporary Chakrasamvara', (Artist’s Collection), mineral on canvas, 2017</figcaption></figure>  Though Chitrakar is not completely satisfied with his abstract version of Chakrasamvara, the piece signifies a revolution in Nepali art. It is a unique artistic attempt to merge the traditional and the modern. Chakrasamvara means an absolute state of an enlightened, or awakened mind. Chitrakar portrays this in a contemporary manner: blending hand gestures, symbols and deities, it’s a striking splurge of spontaneity and protocol on canvas. Those who do not understand this tantric philosophy may be lost, but for those who do, it is a delight to analyse the art from a mixed perspective. Lok Chitrakar: Solo Exhibition 26 March – 26 April 2023 Museum of Nepali Art, Thamel Shaguni Singh Sakya is Director, KGH Group and Museum of Nepali Art (MoNA).

Five Decades of Lok Chitrakar

<figure><img width="2419" height="1613" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c8b9c7e80680e0b7877jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Krishna Bhakta Dangol, "What makes us fight", Acrylic on terracotta. All Photos: MONIKA DEUPALA.</figcaption></figure>There is a widely circulated image of King Gyanendra taken at his <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-would-still-be-a-monarchy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">post-royal massacre</a> coronation in 2001. The golden throne is visibly aged, chipping at the base. Gyanendra is sombre as he looks ahead under the crown, his hands clasped, his left leg resting upon the red velvet hassock.Perhaps it is to do with the camera or the weather,  but the image looks cooler, taken during a pre-monsoon rain.A rendition of the same image looms large in the gallery at Yala Maya Kendra in Patan, where an exhibition of traditional and contemporary art titled Kholo 25 is underway.  <figure><img width="6720" height="4480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c8e9c7e80680e0b7878jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>But this one is a starkly different image. To begin with, it is not a photograph. Artist Kailash K Shrestha’s enormous acrylic on canvas shows a king sitting on the coronation throne, but sans face, sans hands.The famous crown of the Shah kings of Nepal hangs in the air, heavy, unsure. Who will grab it next?The painting is also aptly titled Occurrence before Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal – words that once were so full of promise, now reduced to being the punchline of a disillusioned joke, a mere vanishing act.The painting invites a more abstract reading. A viewer’s eyes shift from one point to another as there is no face and no immediately recognisable human trait.Faces and names have been pared off to reveal <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepal-from-royal-to-republic,3736" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an institution of glittering crowns and thrones</a> – a statement on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-rudderless-political-leadership/">the nature of power</a> and the meaning of monarchy itself. <img width="6720" height="4480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c929c7e80680e0b7879jpeg.jpg" alt="">Curated by Ujen Norbu Gurung, Kholo 25 brings 22 artists working in Nepal to address the shifting tides, perception and faith in Nepali society and politics.The exhibition is named after the Mani-kholo, prayer wheels in Buddhist shrines, to symbolise cycles of time, thought, experience and growth, and to expand the dictionary of creativity and expression.A collateral event with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/redefining-art-at-kathmandu-triennale-2077/">the ongoing Kathmandu Triennale 2077</a>, the exhibition showcases 14 young and rising Nepali artists alongside eight established and senior ones, also highlighting the significance of helping launch younger artists in the current climate of Nepali art.  <figure><img width="2822" height="1882" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c969c7e80680e0b787ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Kishor Jyoti’s Clash of the class is a semi-mythical painting that looks like a panel from the Mahabharat, if not for the leopard-headed naked torso attached to another robotic body.It is a fitting companion to Kailash Shrestha’s work, showing the battle between the elite and the working-class, as the middle-class tries to referee, or even join in. An andromorphic jackal (wolf?) snarls from a golden chariot, brandishing a whip over its head. There is a dog in the middle, also barking at the leopard. It is a ferocious work, loud and violent. One can almost hear the growling tension and the thundering sky behind. Moreover, on the opposite wall is the true horror: a real clash of arms and ideologies, suffered by the Nepali people whose loss and grief continues to be unaccounted for. Photographs from the 2007 book <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13243#.YiTX8ftBzOQ">A People War</a> curated by Kunda Dixit taken during the Maoist insurgency show people hugging the bodies of their dead husbands, children hurt, a woman washing blood off the front of her shop, several men carrying moving the dead remains. <figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c999c7e80680e0b787bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Most discourse on the war is only in terms of the numbers,” says curator Gurung, who compares the different political establishments in Nepal to shifting cages (a subject of Kishor Jyoti’s another painting in the exhibition).“But the meaning behind those numbers is being forgotten, erased. What was the price the people were really made to pay?”All this reminds us of the violent reality of the world outside — <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/ukraines-lessons-for-sandwiched-nations-like-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ukraine</a>, Yemen, Syria and the never-ending brutality in world history. <figure><img width="6720" height="4480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720c9e9c7e80680e0b787cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The politics of being is central here here. From the meditations of memory – Teesha Shrestha’s mixed-media works depicting the deities and Newa heritage (in gold) being swallowed by the dark clouds of ash and thoughtless urbanisation – to masked shapes, faces, ideals and cages, the art is linked by the questions of body, of freedom, history, and individual and collective responsibilities. Above on the first floor, however, the atmosphere is the exact opposite. Following the traditional paubha paintings above of deities on various kholo around the room call for introspection and compassion.  <img width="6720" height="4480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720ca29c7e80680e0b787djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="6720" height="4480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720ca79c7e80680e0b787ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The two floors are not so separate as may seem at first glance. Both the harsher reality downstairs and the calmer, philosophic upstairs encourage the viewer to ask: what is धर्म (Dharma)? “Despair is so commonplace now,” says Gurung, “that we don’t even think about it anymore. There is a disconnection with our Dharma, and we are not even compassionate to our own family members.”As one stands before Saru Prajapati’s Padmapani Lokeshvara or Rabi Shrestha’s Avalokitesvara, under the warm, lulling lighting, there indeed arrives a deep sense of love and awe. <figure><img width="6720" height="4480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720caa9c7e80680e0b787fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="6720" height="4480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720caf9c7e80680e0b7880jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Reality is often overwhelming and disturbing, and we look for a recourse to help us heal and deal with it. Religion, gods, philosophy is one way: perhaps, art is another.Gurung recalls an artist friend of his jokingly asking him once: “When shall we pick rocks and take to the streets?”He believes that we are all contributing one way or another, whether subtly from our homes or on the road tackling expired tear-gas shells.“As artists,” he says, “our craft, their voice and expression are just as loud and forceful as sticks and stones.”Kholo 2532 Cycles of LifeDhokaima Café, Yala Maya Kendra, PatanContemporary section: Till 15 March 2022Traditional section: Till 29 March 2022Closed on Mondays

Ashish Dhakal

The wheel of time and thought

<figure><img width="2848" height="1518" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637209089c7e80680e0b551djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>After being put off by the pandemic, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/art-on-the-city-kathmandu-triennale,3607" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s largest art festival</a> is finally being held from 11 February - 31 March in venues across Kathmandu Valley.The Kathmandu Triennale 2077 will be held in three historically significant clusters of Patan, Kathmandu and Boudha with over 300 artworks by national and international artists, collectives and groups from over 40 other nations, including the Philippines, Haiti, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Myanmar and France. Initially slated for 2020, this will be the fourth edition of the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19783#.WNOrCdJ97IU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu International Art Festival</a>, as it was known previously, and second in the Triennale format.  <figure><img width="2692" height="2089" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/6372090b9c7e80680e0b551ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The curatorial team is led by Artistic Director Cosmin Costinas and co-curators Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung, and the Triennale by its founder Sangeeta Thapa and director Sharareh Bajracharya. The artists will display a diverse range of media from photography, paintings to installations, and explore the issues and themes of displacement, migration, the People’s War, tantrik practices, identity and more.The curatorial concept of the Triennale is rooted in acknowledging the local and indigenous multiplicity of Nepal, moving away from an Eurocentric canon of art history and appreciation. The name of the event, Kathmandu Triennale 2077 is itself a significant shift in locality and perspective. Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/art-and-resistance-in-south-asia/">Art and resistance in South Asia</a>, Sushmita Preetha and Priyanka Singh<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/how-art-empowers-nepals-women/">How art empowers Nepal’s women</a>, Anita Bhetwal <figure><img width="1240" height="1754" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637209109c7e80680e0b551fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Originally we had planned to call it Kathmandu Triennale 2020, but then the pandemic hit,” explains Sheelasha Rajbhandari. “That called for a reorientation of sorts and rebranding. We risked confusing people outside the country, but it was a step towards reclaiming our place in the art world.” The Gregorian year 2020 is 2077 in the Bikram Sambat calendar officially used in Nepal. It is also a little playful, since 2077 is still half a century off in the future in the Gregorian calendar. “That was intentional,” Rajbhandari says. “It adds a futuristic element to the show, we wanted to consider time not just as a linear concept.” Hit Man Gurung adds that the Triennale is not just an exhibition, but includes research projects, conversation programs, with long and detailed behind-the-scenes preparation, which began in 2019. So, even though the Triennale is taking place in 2022, the number 2077 more closely symbolises the confluence of past, present and future that has shaped it.  “It was a strategic decision,” Gurung adds. “Referring also to the real beginning of the preparation has helped create a unique identity of the Kathmandu Triennale.” <figure><img width="1507" height="896" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637209139c7e80680e0b5520jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Founder Sangeeta Thapa who also established <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artgallerysiddhartha" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Siddartha Art Gallery</a> describes the two years of pandemic that re-routed the Triennale as "a wrinkle in time”.“Time stood still, and the Triennale stood still. It was important also to acknowledge the stillness, the global suffering,” she says.So the title stayed. In addition to looking back, the curators also continued the practice of inclusive and diverse practices that have shaped the Triennale since its beginnings in 2009.“Artists will cover a diverse range of topics, such as reclaiming identity, decolonisation, voices of the LGBTQ community and activism,” she says. “It is also a reflection of the diversity around us.”<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Taking-art-out-in-the-open,3250" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal and Nepali artists</a>, especially those who hail from Indigenous communities, are often left out of the global discourse of art, and sometimes even in the native South Asia. The Triennale aims to celebrate the diverse backgrounds, explore deep-rooted interconnectivity between communities, while rejecting the colonial-inspired exoticisation of the Himalaya as a mythical utopia. <figure><img width="1024" height="429" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637209179c7e80680e0b5521jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Triennale does not have a theme as such. Gurung thinks they can be distracting.  “They may give a semblance of specificity, but the artists, their works and the collective behind the Triennale are part of a process, and the discourse initiated or informed should continue beyond the event itself,” he adds. The Triennale will also feature bilingual curatorial cards, says Sharareh Bajracharya, who brings her experience in art education. “We are bringing communities together and making conscious efforts to reach out to schools and people from different disciplines,” she says.Workshops, discussions, talks and tours are integral components of the Triennale, and it will blend virtual and physical events. Online program will take place from 11-28 February before the physical venues open on 1 March 2022.“The online programs will be very discursive and will focus on contextualising the exhibitions, sharing narratives, presenting publications and thoughts by contributors who have worked on the Triennale,” says Bajracharya. <figure><img width="1857" height="2192" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637209199c7e80680e0b5522jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The first three days of March will feature programs at the venues, which have been chosen for their historical and cultural significance. Exhibitions will take place at the Patan Museum, the Bahadur Shah Baithak, Nepal Art Council, Taragaon Museum and Siddhartha Art Gallery.“We will try to go live on social media so that more people can join,” she adds, “but we do want to maintain the physical exhibition. There will nonetheless also be a 3D documentation of the exhibitions.”Kathmandu Triennale 2077 promises to foster a healthy art ecology based on the exchange of knowledge through an expansive exhibition combined with a strong educational outreach program. It is a non-commercial, non-profit exhibition which is free of charge and open to all.The Triennale is presented by Siddhartha Arts Foundation and Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, and supported by its partner institution <a href="https://www.para-site.art" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Para Site in Hong Kong</a>, where the precursory exhibition <a href="https://www.para-site.art/exhibitions/garden-of-six-seasons/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Garden of Six Seasons</a> was presented in 2020.The Kathmandu Triennale 2077 is also taking place at a time when Nepal is preparing to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-art-debut-in-venice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inaugurate its pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia in April</a>. Co-incidentally, after the Triennale is over, a selection of works will travel to <a href="https://savvy-contemporary.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Savvy Contemporary in Berlin</a> in June. “We had planned to make a travel exhibition before the pandemic, partnering with institutions all over the world,” Gurung recalls. “It is very lucky and encouraging that Berlin is happening now.”<a href="https://www.kathmandutriennale.org/">Kathmandu Triennale 2077</a> 11 February-31 March<a href="https://www.kathmandutriennale.org/">https://www.kathmandutriennale.or</a>

Redefining art at Kathmandu Triennale 2077

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14ae9c7e80680e0a998cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3210" height="3156"/><figcaption>The Dark Light by Dipesh Nepali.</figcaption></figure>At first glance, it screams utter sorrow. It projects out-and-out unhappiness of the mind, body and soul, a feeling of having given up on life itself. It is dark, it is lonely, it is sad.But do not dismiss <a href="https://www.mona.com.np/art/v/the-dark-light" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the painting</a>, give it some time to grow on you. The painting may fleetingly transport viewers to painful periods of their lives, long repressed. Most of us have experienced such 'dark' moments, where we struggled and persevered only to emerge elatedly on the other side.This painting is the work of 16-year-old Dipesh Nepali who is from a village in Jumla district, in the isolated mountains of north-western Nepal. An ordinary school student, Dipesh has had a difficult life in a harsh environment where food is often scarce, winters are long and dreary, and access to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-one-nepali-mother-at-a-time/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">basic healthcare and education is minimal</a>.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14b19c7e80680e0a998djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="961"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In his spare time, after finishing his household chores, Dipesh likes to draw and paint. It is his escape from the daily grind, a chance to express himself and bare his soul."Art was my escape from the world, and from myself,” Dipesh told me recently. “It is a way to be truly free from the chains of family and society. It is where the chaos of my mind and soul find rest, art is a medium to bring it all out."Talking to the young artist in Kathmandu recently helped me understand the written and unwritten rules of society, not least materialism and the desperate search for instant, superficial gratification which ultimately led him to seek solitude, go into hiding, and retreat into himself.Yet, in his work, Dipesh has retained the curiosity of his childhood, the questioning and seeking, and in doing so he has discovered that art resided within him. It only needed to be kindled gently to become a powerful tool.At first glance, this painting does not seem to inspire much, it looks ordinary and is not pleasing to the eye, either. But give it time and space to incubate, and it radiates a quiet energy, like an inner applause for a battle won ove<a name="m_1340593093098604498__GoBack"></a>r negative emotions. Proof that the artist has been at a low point in his life, and is back up to show us how it felt.If we reflect on the painting long enough, it may bring back our own dark moments, reminding some of us of the process of recovery, how we emerged stronger, determined and self-reliant. No matter what our struggle, there is always more ahead to look forward to. But evoking and honouring these memories empowers us to meet adversity head-on and overcome themDipesh was confused about himself and about his passion for art. So, he travelled to Kathmandu seeking skill and exposure. Luckily, his older brother was in the city and took care of him.Read also: <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">IMAGINATION by Uttam Nepali</a>, Rajan Sakya"Yet, internally I found no relief, being weighed down with my own thoughts, feelings and emotions. I submerged myself in my work, as an escape. Hard work became a form of a band-aid, but it never really healed the wounds,” Dipesh relates.As a teenager, I too had issues like Dipesh. And as a way to escape them, I travelled to the United States at age 17. My band-aid was enrolling as an exchange student, my senior year in high school. Folks in Nepal covered my costs, and I lived with an American family for a year.Unfortunately, I had developed vitiligo, a depigmentation of skin colour. For a teenager trying to adapt to a new society, this was disheartening. With no relatives or friends, I felt totally isolated, not because I was bullied, but due to the turmoil inside me.My horror at my own appearance and how people would view me was unbearble. I lacked confidence, kept away from people, afraid of how they would react. It got to the point where for four months I ate my lunch in the school bathroom, and then went straight to class. There was a sense of achievement in just avoiding people.Today, I no longer feel embarrassed or inferior. I believe those hard years gave me a solid foundation to face anything and everything that life throws at me.Dipesh Nepali’s art transports me back to that time of my own life: the sadness, the loneliness, the anxiety, the feeling of being trapped by powers beyond my control. Yet it also reminds me of a personal battle that I waged and won over myself. I would not be who I am today if it was not for that ordeal.Dipesh’s mind has travelled further than his young body. With an incredibly mature and unique vision of the world, one finds in his work expressions of anguish and a yearning to be free. Painting has become an outlet to bring out his repressed emotions and feelings.The depth in his art is there for everyone to see, but less obvious are numerous and varied technical skills he has improvised to create his painting -- his choice of oils to achieve a unique blend and shades of colours. The painting is now on exhibit at the Museum of Nepali Art (MoNA) in Kathmandu.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-compassionate-white-tara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A work of art</a> can mean a different thing for different people, response is by definition subjective. Dipesh Nepali's art touched the deepest and darkest parts of my own past, and reminded me of my own struggles. But I also found contentment and peace in the darkest reaches of this canvas.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14b49c7e80680e0a998ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="853"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Rajan Sakya is the founder of the <a href="https://www.mona.com.np/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mona.com.np/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1636885001579000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3ALJGKdDeixs8GvIU7FLGG">Museum of Nepali Art</a> at Kathmandu Guest House, Thamel and contributes this monthly column For Art’s Sake in Nepali Times.

Rajan Sakya

Dipesh Nepali’s dark light

<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 src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00a69c7e80680e0a35ecjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4096" height="2730"/><figcaption>All photos: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>In the centre of the room of the ground floor at Siddhartha Art Gallery, tattooed ceramic female figures stretch languidly astride grazing horses.The 12 blue and white raku ware pieces are part of a collection of ceramic artwork by noted sculptors <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/melding-expressions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gopal Kalapremi Shrestha</a>, Yamuna Shrestha, and Shushank Shrestha. The exhibition features four-year-long work of a family of artists — Gopal and Yamuna are husband and wife, and Shushank is their son.Gopal founded the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kalapremiceramic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kalapremi Studio</a> to teach and promote clay art forms in Nepal in 2006. Yamuna and Shushank’s artworks also feature prominently in the studio.Much of Kalapremi’s artwork included in the exhibition is an attempt to explore gender dynamics in post-modern Nepali society.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00a99c7e80680e0a35edjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4096" height="2730"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>One of his more notable collections titled gaali features a series of anthropomorphised female figures with their arms outstretched in a peace sign. The animals (monkey, dog, sheep, donkey) are a physical manifestation of some derogatory terms women are addressed by like bandarni, kukurni, and gadhaini.In another collection of intricate blue and white raku sculptures titled Basti basti bata uthne haru, Kalapremi has reimagined the sacrificial pawns in a chess piece as women with purpose. Anthropomorphised mares dressed in bukhu, lehenga and other traditional dresses represent various professions including a doctor, performers, and sportswomen.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/vibrant-mithila-art-thrives-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vibrant Mithila art thrives in Nepal</a>, Anita Bhetwal<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00ad9c7e80680e0a35eejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4096" height="2730"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Some of his other collections include a series of 15 ceramic paintings titled Silent Scream II, which feature fragmented human forms meant to depict the angst and pain of recent crises in the country.“The element of fantasy, playfulness, the very tongue-in-cheek way of expressing things is what is most striking about Gopal’s work,” says <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/sangeeta-thapa-siddhartha-art-gallery,1999" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sangeeta Thapa</a> of the Siddhartha Gallery about Kalapremi’s artwork.Meanwhile, Yamuna Shrestha, having watched Gopal and Shushank build their careers as artists, had found her own medium in origami work. But eventually, she too forayed into ceramic artwork, where she began infusing Mithila motifs in her clay earthenware.Colourful flowers, birds, and other nature motifs adorn her ceramic plates, bowls, and cups on display at the gallery. Some of her blue and white raku fired vases, however, while incorporating <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3697" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mithila animal motifs</a>, also serve as a thematic companion to Kalapremi’s work.Upstairs, Shushank Shrestha’s artworks are showcased through a variety of mediums from watercolour to acrylics to ceramic work. His pieces offer a marked tonal shift from deliberate, commentary-infused artwork displayed on the floor below, and are as vividly imaginative as they are nostalgic.His 39-piece Jutta series of ceramic shoes traces his imagined evolution of his grandfather’s old footwear, which he took inspiration from. The shoes hung in the wall begin from muted, masked, three-eyed beings — emblematic of the times we are living in.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00b09c7e80680e0a35efjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4096" height="2730"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Shushank, who is currently pursuing a Masters in Fine Arts degree overseas, has stacked two styles of ceramic artwork, showcasing the depth of knowledge in his craft. While the shoes themselves are glazed, the masks and bandannas have cloth textures.The shoes move on to become richly patterned, grinning faces and creatures with their lips peeled back in grotesque laughter, a homage to the fictional monoliths of popular culture.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/riding-on-the-waves-of-colours/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Riding on the wave of colours</a>, Shristi KarkiThey also take a living, breathing form on canvas and in sculptures, as the grinning, three-eyed shoe gods sit cross-legged, adorned with the golden headgear of our culture’s mythic heroes and gods, melding tradition with the absurd.Shushank’s next collection is a series of shimmering, lustrous glazed cups done in rich blue and soft pearl. This glaze technique has been used by an artist for the first time in Nepal.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00b49c7e80680e0a35f0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4096" height="2730"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Another one of his collections pays homage to his family’s dog, reimagining it as a three-eyed, lion-dog creature. Shushank has captured the animal’s playfulness and love in the tilted heads and the wide grins of the creature, imbuing the works with enough personality that one would almost expect the creatures to come to life and wag their tails if they were to reach out and touch them.Alien creatures, a concept he has been working with since the beginning of his artwork, also feature on canvas as one-eyed ceramic creatures standing solemnly alongside the cheerful lion-dogs, and as pastel coloured vases covered in eyes, bearing sharp teeth.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00b79c7e80680e0a35f1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4096" height="2730"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Although Gopal and Yamuna have shown at the gallery previously, Thapa suggested the three artists show as a family after she saw Shushank’s work in 2016 and eventually convinced Yamuna, who had previously not ventured into painting and ceramics, to try her hand at the new medium.“This is a very painstaking process,” Thapa says of ceramic artwork, “It’s simultaneously cost-intensive and work-intensive”Indeed, it would take one LPG cylinder on average to cast one of the artwork on display at the exhibition. Each piece needs to go through four processes, getting cast in fire, painted, then cast in fire again before the glaze is finally applied.But the time and effort that the family has poured into their craft shine in each of the artwork, Thapa notes about the three artists’ four-year process, saying: “They have managed to create such a diverse body of work.”‘Where the wild things are’ will run until 3 September at Siddhartha Art Gallery

Shristi Karki

The house of Kalapremi

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbe89c7e80680e0a0b5ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Artist Mukti Singh Thapa at his studio this week. Photo: MUSEUM OF NEPALI ART</figcaption></figure>“Your paintings are as unique as my chips,” Bill Gates said to Mukti Singh Thapa during a lunch conversation back in 1992 in the canteen of his Microsoft office in Redmond, Washington. Gates had acquired seven of this Nepali artist’s paintings at an exhibition.Besides Microsoft, Thapa’s paintings also adorn walls at Boeing headquarters in Seattle and other corporate offices around the world. Thapa’s other masterpieces are prominently displayed at the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York, Oglethorpe University Museum in Atlanta, Vienna’s Welt Museum and as a <a href="https://www.mona.com.np/art/v/naari" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">permanent collection at our very own Museum of Nepali Art</a> (MoNA) in Kathmandu.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbeb9c7e80680e0a0b5bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="969"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbee9c7e80680e0a0b5cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1041"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbf19c7e80680e0a0b5djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1032"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbf49c7e80680e0a0b5ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1019"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Despite his international acclaim and being one of the most sought-after artists for <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">paubha</a> and contemporary art, Thapa is a modest man who yearns to share his skill and knowledge with a younger generation of aspiring artists and art enthusiasts. Nepali art in the 21st century will be incomplete without his mention, yet only a handful of people here know about him, or have seen his work. This is unfortunate.Thapa is also the youngest artist ever to receive National Award from NAFA (Nepal Academy of Fine Arts) at the age of 20.The time has come to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">take pride in our art</a> and recognise ourselves as a nation of great artists and artisans. Nepali art has thrived for over 2,500 years, but we are yet to truly acknowledge and appreciate our past and present masters.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/lain-singh-bangdels-sigh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lain Singh Bangdel's 'Sigh'</a>, Rajan Sakya<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbf89c7e80680e0a0b5fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1032"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The streets of Kathmandu Valley are consecrated with temples and monuments, which are also exemplary, exquisite works of devotional art. We worship these sculptures, scroll paintings and murals, but do not acknowledge the anonymous artists who create them. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">paubha and thangka artforms</a> represent illustrated spiritual and religious teachings, and their makers deserve more recognition.Contemporary art, on the other hand, gives expression to creativity, crying out with suppressed emotions, opinions, aggressions and love. Thapa is one of Nepal’s most disciplined adherents of traditional art forms, and his works in the genre are some of the most prolific.However, he is also a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/old-art-meets-new/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">contemporary</a> artist who stays within the bounds of traditional iconography to unleash human emotions, desires and deliberations, providing a searing commentary on modern human existence.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbfb9c7e80680e0a0b60jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="768" height="1378"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This Mukti Singh Thapa masterpiece at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-first-private-art-museum/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MoNA</a> is titled “NARÌ” (Female) and is an exposé of present-day Nepali society. Provocative and perceptive, it consists of 47 figures of deities and humans in distinctive forms that express various aspects of female characteristics.The 54cm x 104cm canvas brims with activity, there are so many things happening here. But one is instinctively drawn by the central singular female figure. Red-bodied, eyes wide-opened, five pairs of hands holding attributes ranging from a book to a gun, and everything in between.Miss World Beauty Pageant sash in particular stands out. No matter how resilient, determined and dedicated a woman may be, is society always judging her only by her physical attributes? Despite the inner strength and vigour of womanhood, a patriarchal world still judges and appraises women through their exterior appearance and youthfulness.Thapa is known for his aggressive and free-flowing use of nudity in both his traditional and contemporary artwork, even though he is skilfully subtle in this one. His representation of raw phantasmagoria stands out among today’s artists.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfbfe9c7e80680e0a0b61jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc009c7e80680e0a0b62jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc049c7e80680e0a0b63jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">The five-headed central character brushed with explosive colours denotes the vivid and varied expressions of a woman. We see her physically subduing underfoot a man, who is strangely content. Could this be an interpretation that patriarchy is just a pretentious mirage of male consciousness, and ultimately men are the suppressed gender? A pictorial dichotomy between male physical domination and female emotional domination.As we delve deeper into the artwork, the background can be divvied into upper and lower levels. The top part seems to consist of all the female deities, in their original form, shape and colour with traits of traditional iconography.However, the lower half is disillusioned, chaotic and frenzied. The images of people worshipping lifeless and colourless statues, blindly attributing faith and beliefs onto objects seem to indicate a society blinded by hypocrisy. The artist has captured both Hinduism and Buddhism in this work to also depict the inter-religious and interdependent culture of Nepal.“NARÌ” can have various subjective connotations for different people from different walks of life. To decipher a specific interpretation is impossible, which is what masterpieces do to you. Every time you look at her you discover yourself, and a different you.Rajan Sakya is the founder of the Museum of Nepali Art at Kathmandu Guest House, Thamel and contributes this monthly column For Arts Sake in Nepali Times.

N A R Ì by Mukti Singh Thapa

<figure><img width="486" height="651" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011110/636ccc659c7e80680e08bc1djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photos: TULIKAA</figcaption></figure>Inside Dhokaima Cafe’s Van Gogh room, Aakash Pradhan’s photo collages are like splashes of colour on black walls of a dark room.They form part of an online art platform, Tulikaa Kala’s solo exhibition series, Kholo 2.0. It makes him the first artist-of-the-week among the 28 classic and contemporary Nepali artists whose works are set to be on display in this unique show spanning seven genres in as many months, showcasing photography, ceramics, printmaking, contemporary, Paubha, sculpture, and new media art.Visitors to the one-room gallery are immediately captured by 'Building Dreams', a collage of two men reconstructing ruins floating on clouds, with a fiery sun and the blankness of the night sky looming in the background. Pradhan makes his smaller framed photographs on his phone with a photo-editing mobile application.His collages are a mix of social media posts, pictures sent by friends. Sunflowers are a recurrent motif and seem steeped in personal meaning. They loom like the sun over pictures of those displaced by the earthquake, or like a compass, show the way to a traveller on a motorcycle, or create a juxtaposition of a young woman’s life in London and her roots in Nepal.Clouds and the night sky also feature prominently, which he muses might be a subconscious reflection of his name on his art.Pradhan’s collages are vibrant, vivid and hold personal meaning and anecdotes. “That picture,” he points to one photo, laughing as he talks to visitors, “will always remind me of veg-momo.”  <figure><img width="800" height="533" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011110/636ccc679c7e80680e08bc1ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>A series of four simple, intact photographs titled ‘Buju’, features an elderly woman and the ruins of her home in Sindhupalchok, a striking contrast to the rest of his work on display. An aspiring filmmaker, Pradhan took the photos while working on an earthquake documentary.Buju stares solemnly into the camera, hands placed carefully on her knees, barefoot. “We bought her a new pair of chappals, she promptly threw them away,” recalls Pradhan. “I knew I had to photograph her."Tulikaa co-founder and curator, Ujen Norbu Gurung says the gallery wanted to show that art is not stagnant, it is constantly evolving."Art should be really powerful, but the curation, layout, and space have to sync with the art, to accentuate it,” Gurung says.Indeed, much attention has been paid to the displays here, from the muted lighting to the back walls.Sunniv Shanker Rajbhandry at Dhokaima says his Van Gogh room was an ideal place to showcase Nepali art. “I had been to some of Ujen’s other exhibitions and thought the way he presents the artwork itself was unique. His vision is different, and he uses the space as much as the art itself,” Rajbhandary adds. <img width="800" height="533" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011110/636ccc699c7e80680e08bc1fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="800" height="533" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011110/636ccc6c9c7e80680e08bc20jpeg.jpg" alt="">Tulikaa is not only organising the exhibition series for the next seven months, but providing an online platform to connect Nepal's art community.Gurung entered the art scene as a collector, but realised that Nepalis had barely scratched the surface of talent, and the art scene had untapped potential.“We knew we had to come up with something radical to promote art to the masses,” he says. “We thought that it might be the time for an online platform.” Thus began the years-long process of research.“The digital space offers more possibility for curating—we can experiment, and play around with the design and layout,” Gurung explains.He also realises how instrumental social media has been for artists to showcase their work and for audiences to discover it. “Platforms like Instagram are helping artists make money and build a brand,” he says. And as if to evidence his point, a visitor comes over to introduce himself to Pradhan as one of his followers on social media.The team planned to launch Tulikaa in early 2020 when the pandemic hit. “What we thought would be detrimental turned out to be quite helpful because everyone was home and on the internet,” says Gurung, who did 27 online shows during the lockdown.Co-curator Samikshya Shrestha is optimistic about how platforms like Tulikaa, new art festivals and museums will help propagate Nepali art and artists.Ujen Norbu Gurung adds, “We need a lot more institutions and lots of fresh ideas. We will catch up with the rest of the art world, we just need to ride on the right wave.”Kholo 2.0 - A Cycle of Life is ongoing at Dhokaima Cafe until 27 August.

Riding on the waves of colours

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131156/636a52869c7e80680e0522fejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="941"/><figcaption>Pic: GG Machaan / facebook</figcaption></figure>Artist Sunita Rana’s imaginary locations transfer the viewer to a dream world: ethereal light shines through trees with red, yellow and pink leaves, and the water in ponds gives a sense of tranquillity. Rana’s exhibition, Continuum, at GG Machaan, captures her artistic vision of nature.“I think art has no boundaries, and neither do nature and life. We all come from nature, and go back into nature. That is why my art is mostly focused on this subject,” says Rana, who is also president of the Women Artists’ Group of Nepal (WAGON).Rana’s series on nature is a visual delight, with surreal landscapes that blend imagination and reality. In one, we see a wide plain full of colourful trees, reminding one of the hills of Nepal, but the glittering golden and lavender leaves are more imaginary than real. In another, a lush forest is shown near a pond, but only the forest’s airborne elements are reflected on the water surface, not the actual trees.There are green trees in the forest, and white trees made of lightning in the sky. Rana has rendered all the elements of nature – trees, rocks, water – with the precision of a realistic painter, but added her own fantasy elements to beautify them.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Nepals-bird-family-hira-dangol,3524" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal's bird family</a>, Smriti BasnetHer other favourite theme is women. She has drawn them in exotic locations like Mustang, or framed them in contrasting colours to highlight their features. In one piece, a woman wearing peacock feathers stands out from the background of men milling around.“Women have a large role to play in society, but they are often shown in the background. I wanted to change that by bringing them out front and highlighting them,” says Rana.A visual artist who works in multiple mediums, Rana has also done installations and sculpting, but this exhibition showcases her various styles of painting. It includes monochrome pieces and some abstract works in dark browns and black. Rana's work is notable for its cheerful use of colours that also impart a sense of serenity.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-craft-of-art/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The craft of art</a>, Sewa BhattaraiContinuumGG Machaan, Jhamsikhel

contemporary-art