Seven sisters in Nepal

What comes to mind when one thinks of India are the clamorous streets of Old Delhi, the high sky rises of Mumbai or the majestic Taj Mahal but never the verdant hills and rustic towns of the seven states of northeastern India.

The exhibition ‘North East India: Mosaic of Art and Culture’ in Kathmandu this week pushes us to explore this hidden land. Organised by the Indian Cultural Center, the current artwork at the Siddhartha Art Gallery offers a window to the area of India that is off the main tourist circuit.

Paintings depicting the nature, folk tales and exquisite portraits of the life and people of these states take you on a journey to the least travelled states of the country.

Curated by Khasi artist Raphael Warjri, the exhibition was put together with contributions from various artists like him from all across India.“What I have tried to do is combine folk tales with contemporary concepts,” explains Warjri, showing his painting titled ‘Vanity’ that depicts a gigantic peacock with the huge yellow sun towering above its head and a stretch of mustard fields below.

The folktales of the Khasi narrates that the peacock supposedly left the sun, believed to be its partner, for the bright mustard fields only to realise later they had no value. “We humans have also become the same, never satisfied,” stated the artist who has embedded this very concept of greed in humans in his other displayed artworks as well.

Most of the paintings in the exhibition explore the relationship between humans and nature. These recurring motifs in his and paintings of other artists are also a reminder of the increasing disillusionment caused by modernity and materialism. Artist Banteilang Hynniewta’s Creation Myth and Toil and Sweat are also distinctive for how they show a harmonious relationship with Mother Nature.

While the ground floor of the hall is filled with bright and vivid imageries, the top floor is dominated by portraits of people from different states in the region, which have traditionally been home to migrant families from Nepal.

Striking and detailed, the one that stands out is artist Milan Rai’s Khasi Lady. The oil on canvas painting of a woman furrowing her brows with its details and colours comes to life and compels the audience to stay with it a bit longer. This with the other portraitures gives the whole exhibition its unique identity: as if one is actually meeting these people.

One after another, the theme for the need to preserve the culture and the living heritage persists but without boring the audience. Instead, with every other artwork, the audience is driven to explore the next, to discover yet another aspect of the North East that will take us by surprise.

Smriti Basnet

Until 18 January, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Baber Mahal Revisited, 11 am to 5 pm, 9818996169