Gender, diversity, equity and inclusion have deliberately been turned into slurs, as the world’s most powerful nation silences activists at home and abroad. It is therefore audacious and reassuring that an art exhibition titled Feminist Futures is being held in Kathmandu. Nepal is one of the few remaining safe spaces in South Asia for open-minded discussion on balancing the scales of social justice, and Taragaon Next has curated an exhibition with artists from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. South Asia is not safe for women, New Delhi has one of the highest numbers of sexual violence cases against women in the world. Horrific crimes against women frequently make it to the headlines in Nepal.&nbsp; Feminist Futures: Art, Activism, and South Asian Womanhood attempts to highlight this through the transformative power of art to express experiences and aspirations tied to womanhood and feminism.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025020111024_fc6e1ebf5619487b41127782e1163abc4c77623c2a87657023d535e49ed7bba2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025020111024_fc6e1ebf5619487b41127782e1163abc4c77623c2a87657023d535e49ed7bba2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Of women, for women, by women NT"> </figure>  “We wanted to bring this region together for a common cause,” explains Namita Saraf of Taragaon Next. “We wanted to give visitors something to reflect on and be inspired by. Art expresses emotions, and its intensity is what can bring change.”&nbsp; The exhibition is spread over Taragaon Next’s tubular brick structures and includes paintings, photographs, installations and videos from artists Anita Dube, Anoli Perera, Ashmina Ranjit, Bidhata KC, Mithu Sen, Naiza Khan, Pushpamala N, Sheba Chhachhi, Tayeba Begum Lipi, and Uma Bista. It is curated by Arshiya Lokhandwala. Nepali artist Ashmina Ranjit at the launch event on 25 January performed Sita! An Ideal Wife depicting the difficulties and injustices women face when they get married (pictured, above).&nbsp; “Patriarchy treats women as objects and does not give women the rights of ‘ansa’ and ‘bansa’,” Ranjit tells Nepali Times, using the rhyming Nepali words for ‘inheritance’ and ‘ancestry’. Nepali activists have been struggling for equal inheritance rights and citizenship for the children of single mothers for decades, with little progress.&nbsp; While a seemingly subtle force, art has the potential to spread awareness and catalyse reform. However, the true power and impact of art lies in its ability to connect with the community. When art resonates deeply with people, inviting them to interpret, reflect, and react, it is transformed from being just personal expression into collective action.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025020111024_3bf7561e4abbf1331f35fb4ac42627c9dee279520b91000b72ee09881ad68228.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025020111024_3bf7561e4abbf1331f35fb4ac42627c9dee279520b91000b72ee09881ad68228" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Of women, for women, by women NT"> </figure>  “Being able to engage a large audience rather than a whole community and deliver an impactful message beyond boundaries is what an artist dreams of,” adds Tayeba Begum Lipi from Bangladesh. Anita Dube from India exhibits Sea Creature, a collection of eyes embedded in a hand. She explains, “The eyes are the eyes of God, but when they come together as people’s eyes, incredibly beautiful energy emerges.” Sri Lanka’s Anoli Perera’s I Let My Hair Loose represents the protest against the male gaze. Women are constantly uncomfortably stared upon by the opposite sex, so her portrayal of the faces of women covered in long hair shows that women represent strength and value equal to, if not more, than men. Nepali artist Bidhata KC says her work Being a Daughter, Being a Woman is aimed at changing mindsets across generations. She says: “The idea is to show the independent identity of women as equal human beings, not merely as girls or daughters.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025020111024_d0acf07611201d126841e1743756a5a5954566d3cc1ecac5646abb77d6ec1aac.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025020111024_d0acf07611201d126841e1743756a5a5954566d3cc1ecac5646abb77d6ec1aac" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Of women, for women, by women NT"> </figure>  Some pieces at the exhibition are stark and confrontational denouncements of violence against women, others are more subtle critiques on the invisibility of women’s labour. Both force viewers to introspect: when can the world truly become a place of equality and safety for women? Kathmandu, with its space for free speech and artistic expression, is the ideal &nbsp;venue for this and other exhibitions at a time when there are increasing threats around the region and the world constricting open expression.&nbsp; Says Bidhata KC, “Kathmandu is all about art, our temples, and religious shrines. Our very existence is defined by an artistic culture in which women have always been portrayed as powerful.” In a cultural setting where stories of women are often marginalised or stigmatised, the exhibition highlights the creativity and strength of South Asian women as they reclaim the narrative, and lead a growing wave of feminist activism.&nbsp; This goes beyond simply challenging oppression. It advocates a future where art, activism, and solidarity can uplift and empower women at a time when Trumpian regression threatens to trample social justice. &nbsp;&nbsp; Feminist Futures: Art, Activism and South Asian Womanhood Every day 10AM-5:30PM until mid-May Taragaon Next Hyatt Regency premises

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Of women, for women, by women

<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> </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">

Ashish Dhakal

Remembering Robert Powell

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be2269c7e80680e083e90jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Narayanhiti Palace Museum reopens after eight month long closure during the Covid-19 crisis. Photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>Since March, Nepal’s museum curators have been in deep despair due to the extended Covid-19 lockdown, and the ban on public gatherings.But finally, some museums opened their doors from Sunday after the Cabinet decision to allow visitors into the facilities. Especially benefiting from this will be children who have also <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/some-schools-re-open-in-remote-rural-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">not been able to go to physical classes</a> for most of 2020.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/patans-museum-piece/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patan Museum</a>, Nepal’s world-renowned establishment and a premier repository of Hindu-Buddhist devotional art, is set to reopen later this week.“We are really excited about reopening, without visitors, a museum is dead,” says Suresh Lakhe of Patan Museum, who is working on a temporary photographic exhibition in collaboration with the Kartik Nach Preservation Committee that will also be open to the public this week.The closure of museums like Patan, Chhauni, or the International Mountaineering Museum in Pokhara has also meant a loss of revenue, and financial strain in the upkeep of the facilities. All museums have adopted health protocols with limits on the number of visitors in the display areas, open windows, as well as mandatory masks.Since the government gave the green signal, the Nepal National Museum in Chhauni opened to the public on 20 November, but there were not too many visitors since most did not know about it.On Sunday, the Narayanhiti Palace Museum also reopened with vistors allowed into <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendras-family-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shree Sadan</a>, the private residence of King Birendra, for the first time in 20 years.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be2299c7e80680e083e91jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be22c9c7e80680e083e92jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be22f9c7e80680e083e93jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">There is a lot of anticipation about the opening of the new wing where King Birendra lived with Queen Aishwarya and Prince Nirajan and Princess Shruti. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/royal-massacre-Nepal-15-years-later" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">All four were killed in the 2001 palace massacre</a>.The rooms have been kept intact, just as they were on 1 June 2001. Prince Nirajan’s room still has his college class timetable stuck to the wall, the alcove bar has a bottle of the king’s favourite brandy, and the cot where Birendra’s favourite dog slept is exactly where it was 20 years ago.Museum chief Bhesh Narayan Dahal and his team have worked right through the lockdown to make Shree Sadan ready for public viewing. There were up to 150 people waiting in queue even before the museum opened its doors on Sunday morning at 10am.Said Dahal: “Public response so far has been phenomenal, and there are more people interested in Shree Sadan than the main Narayanhiti Museum.”Although the government has also allowed art galleries and exhibitions to restart, some are not taking any chances yet because of the sustained surge in coronavirus cases in Kathmandu Valley.At <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nepali-times-buzz/taragaon-museum-boudha,1609" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Taragaon Museum</a>, Roshan Mishra’s hands are full. He is busy with the archives, documentation, and renovation of the museum that is run by the Saraf Foundation. He says he is in no rush to reopen the exhibition space, keeping in mind the risk it might bring to the visitors as well as employees.“If we open the museum now, we’ll just have about three to four people walking in every day and it’s not really feasible, so our focus is more on documentation and archives until we reopen possibly in January,” says Mishra.The lockdown has actually been a blessing in disguise to curators like Mishra who would otherwise be too busy for research, and design new shows.Even though the museums were locked up for eight months, staff there also worked on renovation and maintenance. The National Museum in Chhauni has finally finished reconstruction of a wing that was damaged in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2015/05/27/a-month-that-felt-like-a-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the 2015 earthquake</a>.“It’s time we get back to operations, this is the new normal, and for how long can we stay idle?” asks Jayaram Shrestha of the Chhauni museum. “The Cabinet decision was good, better late than never.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181124/636be2339c7e80680e083e94jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1724" height="894"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Keeping in mind the Covid crisis, mandatory precautions will be put in place such as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/prevention-while-searching-for-a-cure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wearing masks, hand washing and sanitisation</a>. The museums are required to be decontaminated every morning and evening. Visitors are also required to maintain physical distance, and at Shree Sadan, for example, only 10 people will be allowed to enter certain sections of the museums at one time.In Pokhara, International Mountain Museum has been receiving 10 to 20 queries every day about when it will reopen. Shankar Bahadur Gautam at the museum says, “This is such a huge relief, museums are for gaining knowledge and have an educational function. So, if we strictly follow the Covid protocols, there is no harm to re-open.”Siddhartha Art Gallery at Baber Mahal Revisited has been shut since March, and did not opt for online exhibitions like other galleries. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/sangeeta-thapa-siddhartha-art-gallery,1999" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Siddhartha’s Sangeeta Thapa</a> explains: “Collective viewing and physical presence is important for the visual arts and the difference between government museums and private art galleries is that museums are bigger and can ensure physical distancing. We do not have that kind of space, and we cannot compromise on the safety of the artists, our gallery staff, and the visitors.”The gallery is planning to open its doors by mid-January with an exhibition of artists Jagadish Moktan and Priyanka Singh Maharjan. Thapa is also gearing up for the mammoth <a style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/art-on-the-city-kathmandu-triennale,3607" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu Triennale</a> that was to begin next month, but has been postponed to 26 October-26 November 2021.Thapa adds: "Since the festival is for both locals and the international community, we cannot take the risk now. Which is why it has been postponed till next year.”

Nepal museums reopen after 8 months

<img width="1400" height="1050" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46929c7e80680e04d3e5jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Incense perfumed the hall as visitors entered a room full of photographs hung on the white walls of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/taragaon-museum-boudha,1609" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taragaon Museum</a> on a recent Saturday evening. The guests quickly dispersed, drawn by the pictures from every corner of the country, photographed by <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18931#.XQtag-szbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Judith Conant Chase</a> in her travels criss-crossing Nepal since 1976.Below the photographs 400 everyday objects were lovingly displayed from Chase’s collection. Together, such photos and objects make up the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Return-of-the-past,907" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Living Tradition Museum, opened by Chase in 2012</a> in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/changu-narayan-has-two-world-class-museums">Changu Narayan,</a> but damaged in the 2015 earthquakes. Luckily, the collection was saved and after rebuilding, the museum will re-open in a few months.The photographs present a vivid replication of the past. An 88-year-old Newari woman with a wrinkled face walks holding the hand of a woman in haku patasi Newari dress behind three small monks as they celebrate her 88 years, 8 months and 8 days jankhu.The objects displayed are simple items, like a brass vessel used to store and carry water, a spinning wheel for weaving shawls and mats, and a special coat called a gyanma worn by the men of the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9048#.XQtbH-szbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nyinba ethnic group from Humla district</a>. Most of these everyday objects of decades ago are a rarity now.“I appreciate an old pot, gagri, for the workmanship,” says the exhibition’s curator James Giambrone. When he first came to Nepal in 1970, all the items exhibited were in daily use. Today, these objects of purpose are to be seen and admired. “One of the things we wanted to showcase here was that people make murti to worship, not to showcase,” Giambrone added.The exhibit reminds us of the rich culture and diversity of Nepal, from the Tarai, to the hills and the high Himal. It opens a window for younger generations to see how utilitarian objects were created and used in daily life.‘Communicating the basic nature of Nepali arts and cultures, emphasising the distinguishing qualities unique to each culture, i.e. why things are made, how they are made, how they fit into the social and religious context,’ is the goal of the Living Tradition Museum. Judith Conant Chase’s book, The Beauty of Purposeful Living, which documents the places and people she has visited and the objects that are essential to their daily lives, was also launched at the opening.

Art of everyday living

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26609c7e80680e043a10jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1502"/>The banyan is often mistaken for the holy pipal. The banyan is ‘bar’ in Nepali and is often found in consort with the pipal on chautaris, where they give shade to travellers. Both are of the genus Ficus, and both regarded as holy by Hindus and Buddhists alike.It does not matter that American artist Maureen Drdak has confused the two trees in naming her latest art exhibition at the Taragaon Museum. The displays are in blue and white, and evoke trees grasping for light and gasping for air as the humans that worship the trees in the name of religion poison the air, soil and water.Drdak was inspired to render the painting series while on a walk through Kathmandu, when she passed an ageless banyan on a chautari while the diesel exhaust of gridlocked traffic swirled about. Banyans have aerial prop roots that spread over a wide area and drop down from the branches and embed themselves in the soil so the parent tree can suck up water and nutrients.However, Drdak remembers that this tree’s prop roots had been amputated so as to enclose the branches in the traffic roundabout. For Drdak, the tree’s tragically doomed attempt to reach the earth is a metaphor for nature’s losing battle with human development, of haphazard urbanisation and the malignancy of economic growth.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26639c7e80680e043a11jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1186" height="2000">Seven of the works use precious lapis lazuli and palladium, which symbolise water, and it flows through the paintings like the moisture that travels up the capillaries of the trees. The other three paintings use Drdak’s trademark copper repoussé metalwork which is combined with her canvas. Dradak learned these techniques from Rabindra Shakya of Patan, and has grafted it into her modern work.<a href="http://www.maureendrdak.com/">Maureen Drdak</a> has always been fascinated by the cross-cultural capabilities of art. She has been expecially inspired by the Patan tradition of repoussé, and translated the timeless Nepali metalcraft into a contemporary ‘<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/mixed-media-exhibition-in-siddhartha-art-gallery,2732">repoussé-painting</a>’ art form during her Fulbright stint in Kathmandu.Her work forms a connection between contemporary western and traditional Nepali art and she says: “My work is an exploration of philosophical and cultural synthesis in which Eastern and Western iconographies are meaningfully integrated”.<a href="http://www.maureendrdak.com/">http://www.maureendrdak.com</a>Weeping BanyanBy Maureen Drdak<a href="http://taragaonmuseum.com/events/weeping-banyan-maureen-drdak/">Taragaon Museum</a> and <a href="http://www.siddharthaartgallery.com/cms/components/com_joomgallery/img_originals/maureen_drdak_55/art11_20160121_1044778515.jpg">Siddhartha Art Gallery</a>15-24 February, Taragaon Museum, Hyatt Regency Hotel

Maureen Drdak’s Small Works

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

taragaon-museum