The unbearable lightness of being old

Wise and wrinkled grandmothers dressed in vividly patterned dresses lounge elegantly against Mughal backdrops, and are attended to by young women, lovers, and deities.

The paintings depict traditional grandmoms in non-traditional settings, and Muna Bhadel in her ongoing exhibition Silent Whispers at Siddhartha Art Gallery forces us to do a double take.

Bhadel, a recipient of the 2022 Australian Himalayan Foundation Art Award, explains: ‘This series is a tapestry woven with threads of emotional bonds, captures the poignant experiences of grandmothers as I have felt them. Their journeys through time are uniquely their own.’

In a painting titled Mute Melodies, an elderly woman reclines on a pillow with her hair down, frowning into the distance while surrounded by three young women. One fans her face, another presents her with a box of jewelry, and the third anoints her feet in a ‘sora singar’ wedding ceremony representing a bride’s transformation from girl to wife.

The juxtaposition of the grandmother’s wrinkled face and veined arms with the smooth-skinned attendants painted like a fantastical Mughal mural, is a recurrent motif in Bhadel’s exhibition. The paintings contrast images of youth and age, and explore the longing and unfulfilled dreams and the imagery blends memories with dreams of what look like nautch girls.

Bhadel trained at the Lalitkala Academy of Fine Art, then joined the MFA program at Tribhuvan University while doing a residency at Taragaon Museum. Her works were also exhibited at the Himalayan Art Festival in 2022 and the Dalai-La gallery in 2023.

The 2023 exhibition titled 'Co-Relation Between Us' featured subjects dressed in vibrant textiles, and she has carried this style to Silent Whispers as well. A painting titled Uncharted Desires features reclining woman clad in a dhaka-patterned cholo, a golden shawl, and a flowery black gunyo, while a turbaned young man combs her hair.

Many of the women in this series feature elderly women seemingly reminiscing romance, perhaps experiences or fantasies they had when younger. Sometimes, there is a doting man in attendance.

Bhadel wants to leave a lot to the viewers’ imagination, and so as not to give it all away, just says, “This is how I imagined they would like to be with their past companions.”

Most of the paintings at the exhibition are acrylic on canvas, but some are done in coloured pencils on the walls, perhaps studies or sketches before working on her final pieces. The drawings show two hands, one often visibly aged, and the other smooth and young.

“These represent memories of my grandmother and how we are connected despite our difference in age,” says Bhadel. “It reminds me of a time when she pinched the skin on her hand and then the skin on mine.”

Perhaps some of Bhadel’s reflections on the passage of time comes from the recent birth of her child, and the passing of her grandmothers who lived simple lives, nurturing their families, yet trapped by duty and society. While the women have aged physically in the paintings, their minds and spirits burn brightly and full of life in Bhadel’s works.

These bittersweet emotions are expressed in colours that are either bright and saturated, or dull and subdued, but both enveloped in warm vermillion.

Read also: Artistic prayer for our common future, Pinki Sris Rana

Explains Sangeeta Thapa of Siddhartha Art Gallery: ‘Muna Bhadel’s paintings are an observation about the cycle of life -- of birth and death, youth with all its beauty and seductions, and about loss, ageing, nostalgia, and isolation.’

Silent Whispers

Paintings by MunaBhadel

Siddhartha Art Galley

Baber Mahal Revisited

18 August – 18 September

Kathmandu Triennale 2026

Although it is still almost two years away, the organisers of the Kathmandu Triennale are not waiting till the last moment to start preparations. Siddharth Art Gallery and Nepal Academy of Fine Arts are poised to unfurl a vibrant canvas in February 2026 with the theme ‘Coexistence, Kinship and Care’.

Triennale Siddhartha Art Gallery 2026 NT

Kathmandu will host a kaleidoscope of creativity, with shows at venues like the Siddhartha Art Galley, Patan Museum and Nepal Art Council. The triennale will be curated by Australian artist Natalie King and Sujan Chitrakar of the Kathmandu University School of Art, and will feature at least 40 Nepali and international artists.

Outgoing Australian Ambassador Felicity Volk spoke at the event announcing the Triennale, saying: “In a world fragmented by politics, war, and geopolitical tensions, we seek unity—a shared canvas where we weave threads of solidarity and harmony.”