Introduction to ‘Revisiting the Roots in a Modern Nuance’
Revisiting the Roots in a Modern Nuance aims to retrospect the roots, origins, and diversity as well as to bridge the thread of modern contemporary aspirations from the early ‘60s to the current neo-national ultra-modern context. The exhibition, thus, embraces the subtle differences and nuances in the art scene of not only in the past and present Nepal, but also as a whole, in regards to how these different eras blend together into one harmonized art world.
When one reason about the Nepali pride, one is immediately reminded of the multifarious cultures that adorn Nepal and Nepalese, the diverse languages and dialects spoken and heard in various nooks and crannies, the heritage sites and cultural infrastructures that fill every vicinity of the cities with its rich architecture. The vibrancy and richness of the country is something to take pride in, and the unity within this diversity is another. All in all, from the sweltering hot plains of Tarai to chilly villages under the peaks with melting snow, Nepali communities have never failed to amuse us with their idiosyncratic cultural and moral roots.
When we delve deeper into the genesis of how Nepali societies might have culturally and socially evolved into modern civilizations? How do we view the cross-dimensionality of our arts and culture relating to the past and present? Have we been successful in eradicating certain insensate rituals carried on by old strict and conservative Nepali societies that favored intolerance and discrimination? Or have we been mindful of preserving our roots while trying to advance so much towards the path of modernization? The exhibition “Revisiting the Roots, in a modern nuance” seeks to answer these questions, mainly through dynamic and interdisciplinary means of art expression, while embracing the height of Nepali contemporary art, and without forgoing the beliefs and norms that have been framed along the centuries.
The exhibition ‘Revisiting the roots in a modern nuance’ will incorporate interdisciplinary forms of art like visual arts, performance arts, poetry/ literature, music and more. The exhibition will take place in multiple venues in Kathmandu and Patan. The exhibition is planned for three weeks from 27th April – 24th May 2022.
Curated by Saroj Mahato
Exhibition Opening Reception and Gallery Opening Hours – 27th April – 24th May 2022
The opening of the exhibition will take place for the public at 4 different venues on 4 different days from 27th April to 30th April 2022 and the exhibition will continue until 24th May 2022. The gallery’s opening hours are 10:30 am to 6 pm every day.
Opening Day 1:
27th April 2022, 5:00 pm onwards at Bikalpa Art Center, Pulchowk, Lalitpur
Opening Day 2: 2
28th April 2022, 5:00 pm onwards at Gallery of Creatives, Thamel, Kathmandu
Opening Day 3
29th April 2022, 5:00 pm onwards at RN Joshi Museum/ Park Gallery, Pulchowk, Lalitpur
Opening Day 4
30th April 2022, 5:00 pm onwards at Vidroh- Art Lab, Thamel, Kathmandu
Performance Art
14th May 2022, 3:00 pm onwards at the public space in Patan Durbar Square area
The list of participating artists for performance art will be shared soon!
Panel discussions
Art as Healing with Batsa Gopal Baidhya, Lok Chitrakar
Looking into the primitive approaches to art as a part of the lifestyle. They will also talk about how art forges a connection between the mind and the body where art is used as a form of healing and cure for different diseases.
Venue: Bikalpa Art Center
Date: 4th May, Wednesday 2022
Time: 4:30 pm onwards
Presence in Absence with Mr. Madan Chitrakar( Lok Bahadur Chitrakar), Bibhakar Shakya (Lain Singh Bangdel), Mr. Roshan Mishra (Manuj Babu Mishra) and Nabin Joshi (RN Joshi), A discussion on how the late artist’s legacy of the artwork survives even after their demise.
Venue: Hotel Vivanta
Date: 7th May, Saturday 2022
Time: 4:30 pm onwards
Art from Indigenous Community with Ram Dayal Rakesh, Suravi Chaudhary, XXX, where different indigenous art forms such as Mithila paintings, and various other indigenous art practices and their evolution along with their impact will be discussed.
Venue: Hotel Vivanta
Date: 11th May, Wednesday 2022
Time: 4:30 pm onwards
Understanding Urban Culture and Modern Nuances in Art with Asmina Ranjit focuses and XXX on analyzing the popular urban culture and the cultural differences in modern art.
Venue: Bikala Art Center
Date: 18th May, Wednesday 2022
Time: 4:30 pm onwards
Workshops
Use of materials and methods in art with Mr. Bhuwan Thapa
Venue: Bikalpa Art Center
Date: 7th- 8th May, Saturday- Sunday 2022
Time: 10:30 am – 03:30 pm
Learning old technique PHOTOGRAMS with Film Foundry
Venue: Film Foundry
Date: 15th May, Sunday 2022
Time: 10:30 am – 03:30 pm
Movie Screening
Venue: Bikalpa Art Center
Date: 19th May, Thursday 2022
Time: 06:30 pm onward
- RN Joshi (Late) – Painting
- Lain Singh Bangdel (Late) – Painting
- Manuj Babu Mishra – Painting
- Shashi Bikram Shah – Painting & Drawings
- Batsha Gopal Baidhya – Painting
- Indra Pradhan (Late) – Painting
- Birendra Pratap Singh – Drawings
- Bhuwan Thapa – Installation/ Sculpture
- Prabod Shrestha – Video Art Installation
- Chirag Bangdel – Painting
- Sangee Shrestha – Painting
- Manish Lal Shrestha – Video Art Installation
- Jupiter Pradhan – Installation
- Umesh Shah – Painting
- Sushma Shakya – Printmaking
- Saroj Mahato – Installation
- Mahima Singh – Installation – Performance
- Sundar Lama – Painting & Performance
- Dawa Sherpa – Mixed Media
- Hariom Mehata – Installation/ Sculpture
- Ram Maharjan – Painting & Performance
- Prakas Ranjit – Illustration
- Namrata Singh – Painting
- Harendra Kushwaha – Mixed Media
- Sofiya Maharjan – Mixed Media
Artists Managed by Photo Circle:
Photo circle has presented research on the evolution of black & white studio photography from 1915 to 1980 in Nepal. The exhibition will feature a collection of photographs by multiple photographers.
Artists managed by Art Lab
- Romel Bhattarai – Graffiti
- Kiran Maharjan – Graffiti
- Dibeshwar Gurung – Graffiti
- Srijan Ulak – Graffiti
- Ashin Gurung – Graffiti
Artists Managed by Film Foundry
- Jagdish Upadhyay – Photography
- Rupesh Man Singh – Photography
- Abhishek Shah – Photography
- Neha Hirachan
This is an honor and a great pleasure to receive support from the artistic community, collectives, and individuals as well as the Swiss Embassy in Kathmandu and Unnati Culture Village.
Supporters:
Venue Partners and Collaborators:
This event is possible only by the support from all of our venue partners and other art collectives that are coming together and supporting the project by and not just providing us space but also working with the curatorial team in artists’ management, production, promotion, and fabrications. It is already a great honor for us to have them on the board.
The RN Joshi Museum/ Park Gallery in Patan, Lalitpur will host mixed works by most of the senior artists from the early 60s – 90s and the present contemporary artists.
RN Joshi Museum / Park Gallery is an artist-run space founded by Rama Nanda Joshi, artist, art teacher, and art activist in 1970. The gallery organizes many art exhibitions of local and foreign artists that help develop the contemporary art scene in Nepal which attracts a lot of attention from art enthusiasts. Their museum presents to its visitors, not just the masterpieces by the artist but it also reveals the sequential evolution of how he became a master artist.
The Gallery of Creatives, Thamel, Kathmandu will feature more contemporary artists mostly 2D works (Printmaking, Paintings, Photography, and a few ceramic works)
Gallery of Creatives, an art, photography & cultural establishment focused on association with illustrations, photographers & mixed Genre artists to provide a forum for artists where other topics of interest, exhibitions, and awareness campaigns are conducted by their gallery team and artists. Open to artists from Nepal and the international community where their work is promoted aesthetically and commercially.
The Art Lab/ Vidroh Gallery, Thamel will feature urban arts like murals, graffiti, and light and sound installation arts.
Art Lab & Vidroh Gallery was founded by RomelBhattarai, a graffiti artist and an entrepreneur where street art meets – indoor gallery montage to create a wholesome blend of artistic indulgences and cravings. This pioneering organization is set to open minds to a new way of viewing & enjoying the various art expressions by different mediums.
The Nepal Picture Library & Photo Circle will provide us with content and resources of studio photography evolution from the early 1900s to the 1980s and help us in fabricating the exhibition.
Photo Circle / Nepal Picture Library is a platform for photography in Nepal that strives to bring together photographers and other visual storytellers to nurture unique voices through workshops, publications, and exhibitions that document and engage with social change in Nepal. Photo Circle is also largely known for the one and the only Photo festival in Nepal ‘ Photo Kathmandu’.
The Film Foundry will be presenting coordinate with the photographers who have been doing experiments in film and art photography.
Film Foundry is a collective of like-minded people passionate about film and alternative photography. In a time where the world runs on fast, virtual platforms they have found a way to remain grounded in the traditional approach of practicing photographs. They will be representing photography evolution from the 80s to the present time, doing a workshop on cellulite photography and setting studios in public spaces in the form of experimental installation art.
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Pre-event Coverage
https://sancharkarmi.com/news-details/77905/2022-04-24
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