“Nepal Art Now” preview show of Vienna 2019

“Nepal Art Now” preview show of Vienna 2019 at Nepal Art Council, Babar Mahal

 For the first time, over 90 artworks from 37 contemporary Nepali artists are going to be exhibited at the Welt Museum in Vienna next year in a showcase of modern Nepali art. A pre-exhibition of all the artwork to showcase in Vienna is currently on display at the Nepal Art Council, Babar Mahal, until December 22.

Curated by Dr. Christian Schicklgruber, director and chief curator of the Welt Museum, the late Dina Bangdel and Swosti Rajbhandari Kayastha of the Nepal Art Council, the exhibition will be on display in the Austrian capital city from April 11 to November 5, 2019.

Such an expansive exhibition of modern Nepali art – from the inception of modern art in the 1950s to recent innovations in abstract, mixed-media and repoussé work – has never been displayed internationally before, said Schicklgruber. Similar exhibitions have taken place in Denmark and France, but never on this scale.

“This will be a monumental, landmark exhibition,” said Kayastha.

The idea for the project was first born in 2015 when Schicklgruber and Bangdel were in Singapore, looking to put up an exhibition showcasing Nepali art from the 10th to the 18th century.

“Then I thought to myself, Nepali art did not stop in the 18th century,” said Schicklgruber. The idea was then reconceptualised with Dina Bangdel to showcase the entire oeuvre of Nepali contemporary art. The two managed to list 80 artists that they wanted to feature in the exhibition, but after Dina Bangdel’s passing in 2017, Kayastha was brought into cull the list down to a more manageable number. 

The curators finally settled on 37 artists, showcasing art styles from traditional paubha work to Mithila art, sculptures and abstract art. 

“We wanted to create a chronology of Nepali art,” said Kayastha, commenting on their curatorial process.

The curators spent two months visiting artist studios and picking representative works. Most of the art comes from the studios of the artists themselves while some have been lent by private collectors like Prithvi Pande, Birendra Shahi, Prabhakar Shumsher and the Siddhartha Art Foundation.

One of the primary aims of the exhibition is to introduce an international audience to the variety of Nepali contemporary art. At the confluence of Western and Eastern Europe and the once-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vienna is no stranger to conflicting influences that lead to breakthroughs in art. 

The city – which gave birth to the Secession movement and fostered some of the world’s most innovative artists like Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele – is an ideal venue to showcase Nepali art to Europe and the wider world. Interestingly contemporary Viennese art does not deal with social issues in the way Nepali art seems to do, said Schicklgruber.

A few artworks were even commissioned for the exhibition. The artists represented in the exhibition range from Nepali modern art pioneers Lain Singh Bangdel, Laxman Shrestha and Shashi Shah to more contemporary artists like Manuj Babu Mishra, Kiran Manandhar, Ragini Upadhyay.

 

 

“Nepal is known only for its ancient art and culture,” said Sagar SJB Rana, coordinator of the Project. “We want to change that and show the world our contemporary art.”

Artists name:

1. Ajit  Kumar Sah
2. Ang Tshering
3. Anil Shahi
4. Asha Dangol
5. Ashmina Ranjit
6. Birendra Pratap Singh
7. Chandra Shyam Dangol
8. Erina Tamrakar
9. Gopal Das Shrestha
10. Hitman Gurung
11. Kabi Raj Lama
12. Kiran Manandhar
13. Koshal Hamal
14. Lain Singh Bangdel
15. Lachhiman Maharjan
16. Laxman Shrestha

17. Lok Chitrakar
18. Manish Harijan
19. Manuj Babu Mishra
20. Mekh Limbu
21. Mukti Singh Thapa
22. Pramila Giri
23. Rabindra Shakya
24. Ragini Upadhyay Grela
25. Rajan Shakya
26. Samundra Man Singh Shrestha
27. Sanjeev Maharjan
28. Shashi Bikram Shah
29. Seema Sharma
30. Sheelasha Rajbhandari
31. Siddhi Muni Shakya
32. Subodh Chandra Suman
33. Sunil Sigdel
34. Sunita Maharjan
35. Surendra Man Shakya
36. Udaya Charan Shrestha
37. Uma Shankar Shah

 

By Beata Wiggen

www.nepalnow.blog

Source: http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-12-13/showcase-of-contemporary-nepali-art-in-vienna-next-year.html