Revisiting the Roots in a Modern Nuance

When one questions about Nepali pride, one is immediately reminded of the multifarious cultures that adorn the Nepali cities, 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. Nepali communities have never failed to amuse us with its idiosyncratic cultural and moral roots, and Nepali art is something that is not only steeped in tradition, and cosmopolitan influences, but a shared national history. The way art evolved from traditional to contemporary seems to be deeply inculcated in the way our arts and culture are intertwined with the country’s history and civilization; a socio-political context so significant to have impacted various aspects of the society including education, lifestyle, values, perception, and awareness. 

After the rule of the first ethnic people of Nepal, the Kiranti, who laid down the foundation of the vast structure of the Nepalese culture, were the Lichhavis, during which the art in Nepal reached its zenith. The dominant forms of Nepalese art, which were to later strengthen its base in arts, architecture, hand-made crafts, and artistry goods strengthened producing various stupas, temples, and such exquisite artifacts, entitling the ruling period of this dynasty to be the golden period of Nepal.

The Malla period was characterized by the production of countless artifact masterpieces created on a large scale. The Shah and Rana dynasties also played their part in setting the momentum for Nepali artists, although in the most traditional forms, to grow in their fields, it was specifically during the Rana period that resulted in the development of European-derived art, with grand-scale oil portraiture and courteous life of the Ranas. The way globalization and modernization had a massive impact on Nepalese society in terms of various socio-cultural aspects, and awareness of Western art too entered the domain of Nepali art.

The proclamation of a new constitution and formation of democracy after the fall of the Rana regime drastically changed the political, as well as creative landscape of Nepal, making it liberal in the way that the state allowed the general public to join the art scene to be more modern and relevant. As the modern art movement began around the 1950s - 1970s during the period of the Industrial Revolution with the advent of photography, artists no longer saw the necessity to make art for the sake of portraying the exact reality. Artists, therefore, began experimenting with individual expression and also started becoming the epitome of art in Nepal. This liberation in art expression brings us to an advanced stage, shaped both by expeditious technological advancement,  economic power, and further globalization and by the logic of identity politics following the last decade. With the cultural heritage of Nepal has evolved over the centuries, this multi-dimensional Nepali heritage encompasses the diversities of Nepal’s ethnic, tribal, and social groups, and manifests itself in art and craft; music and dance; folklore and folktales; languages and literature; philosophy and religion; festivals and celebration; foods and drinks.

With modernist tendencies of Nepali societies – ranging from an advanced education system, and diplomatic set of mindset to the liberal outlook we have towards family structures, lifestyle and career, the credo of Nepali art itself is starting to be defined by modern ideologies through the lens of a technologically advanced society. It has shifted from realism to abstractionism, public to personal, and objective to subjective, exploring the depth of their profound inner self rather than representing external objects and events. However, to cater to the new, ever-changing, and experimental creative artistic styles, modernism pairs with the influence of Nepal’s long-lived traditional art, and the presence of ethnic spirituality and religious iconography has never come to a halt. While still holding to this quaint, religious aesthetic, representative of the country’s rich cultural heritage, art in Nepal today, however, also veers towards socio-political issues, with new aestheticism to follow. New media art forms such as installation, graffiti, performance, and digital art along with their growing popularity take art beyond the canvas and gallery. In this sense, all of these art forms have brought new, radical ideas to the field of Nepali art just as they had radicalized the Western art world in the 1950s.

But 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 Nepali art relating to the past and present? With the advent of artificial intelligence and ever-expanding digitalization, how has the mindset to create art shifted? What innovations in the making of art do the international art world, and the competitive art forums within the country, are in demand? Does our art have reflections of ‘Nepalese quirks’? Or have we been mindful of preserving our roots while trying to advance so much toward the path of modernization? 

The exhibition “Revisiting the Roots, in a Modern Nuance” seeks to answer these questions, mainly through its dynamic means of artistic expression, while embracing the stature of contemporary Nepali art without forgoing the beliefs and norms that have been framed over the centuries. The exhibition creates a new narrative on Nepali art and society, representing the vibrant art elevation of ancient and modern Nepal. The exhibition is devoted to the subtle intertwinement of lineal art perspectives and contemporary Nepalese art, from ‘conservatism’ to the present. It seeks to empower the iconography of the traditional art styles and how modern artists can inculcate it into modern artworks, putting key emphasis on how art dictates the preservation of the cultural riches of Nepal wherein our societies are deeply interconnected. The exhibition addresses art’s potential in the construction of collective memory in a national as well as global era to make sense of the world.  We learn the importance of sustaining and sharing different forms of knowledge, prompting us to re-imagine our positions in the present and conceptions of the future. Whilst keeping up with international trends of experimentation and integration of new media in art, the exhibition is also an attempt to rise above our age-old boundaries and spread our talents all across the international art world, whether it be painting, filmmaking, literature, or all of it collectively.

The participating artists have drawn their inspiration from tradition and historical roots, presenting their reinterpretation of the concepts of east/west, local/universal, tradition, and modernity and bringing several important topics into consideration, such as the role of “past and tradition” in contemporary art; and also, how the past is addressed, as an identity issue. What is also impressive about the exhibition is that it has been put together as a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary project using minimal financial resources, and relies primarily on collaboration with the artists and gallery spaces involved. The outpour of support from the art community has been incredible as every individual, gallery, and organization has been conjoined into one big community, coming forward with whatever help they could offer. In this cultural moment of transition, each work, therefore, is a source of inspiration from the recent past and a guiding perspective for the future.

While it is indispensable to acknowledge the fact that the role of art in Nepali society has been prominent since the 50s and 60s, art intervention, in the present day, has certainly taken a more revolutionized path and has become provocative political and conceptual art. The exhibition acknowledges this by intervening directly into public spaces, like Naka Bahil tole in Patan, where a few performance artists not only displayed their performance art but created a space for the community to engage and intervene upfront in meaningful ways. 

Although the works of more than forty-five artists that ‘Revisiting the Roots in a Modern Nuance’ brings together are spread over four art venues: Gallery of Creatives and Vidroh, both in Thamel, and Bikalpa Art Center and Park Gallery, both in Pulchowk, this large-scale exhibition is not only limited to this display of artworks. Also focusing on creating space for constructive dialogue and feeding to the prolific end, the exhibition plays a key role in the documentation and cataloging of often-overlooked art niches of the country. Opening up a discussion of the meaning of tradition in contemporary art today, it engages people in conversations about art, organizing a series of panel discussions, workshops and talks, all attuned with the complementing the theme of assessing the Nepali contemporary art scene on a timeline throughout the 60s, 80s and the late two-thousands, across various art movements, amassing a wider art audience across transdisciplinary art fields.

The panel discussion, “Art as healing” looked into how art forges a connection between the mind and the body where art is used as a form of healing in primitive approaches, whereas, “Presence in Absence” was another panel discussion by the representatives that focused how late artists’ legacy of the artwork survives even after their demise. Similarly, the third panel discussion ‘Art from Indigenous Community’  led a discussion on different indigenous art forms such as Mithila paintings, and various other indigenous art practices and their evolution along with their impact. And the fourth panel discussion, under the title “Understanding Urban Culture and Modern Nuances in Art” was more focused on analyzing the popular urban culture and the cultural differences in modern art.

Workshops such as that led by Bhuwan Thapa gave participants hands-on experience in creating art out of found objects, simultaneously delving into the use of materials and methods in artworks. Another one led by the Film Foundry team taught old-technique photograms. Another important aspect of the exhibition is that it inculcates completely green and sustainable measures to function as an art community, simultaneously advocating for a sustainable ecosystem for artists and communities to thrive. Its bicycle and tempo tours to all four exhibiting locations in Kathmandu and Patan were a huge success in learning more about different art installations and narratives behind the month-long exhibition throughout.

Gallery spaces and exhibitions as such have the role of bringing about a new wave of consciousness, an attempt to connect contemporary art practices and ideals with the roots from where its entire foundation may have originated. A large-scale exhibition project as such does just that by embracing the subtle differences and nuances in the art scene of not only the past and present Nepal, but as a whole, in regards to how these different time eras blend into one harmonized art world.

References

• The development of modern and contemporary art in Nepal (2020); My Republica 
• Modern and Contemporary Arts of Nepal: Brief Overview: Nepal Art Council
• Nepali art going places (2019); Nepali Times

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the family of the Late Mr. Lain Singh Bangdel for generously sharing with us the unreleased letter penned by the esteemed Mr Bangdel. It is an honor and a privilege to access his thoughts and hopes for the progress of modern art in Nepal. Being able to share this invaluable piece of his legacy is deeply appreciated, and it allows us to further appreciate and honor his contributions to the artistic landscape. We are truly grateful for this meaningful gesture by his family and are committed to preserving and promoting the vision he has for the advancement of art in Nepal.

Behind my art: How life gave them meaning | My journey to abstract: How life shaped my art

Life is totally unpredictable-sometimes even the smallest of events can turn the course of life. In my childhood too there were a few instances that left me surprised and those events turned my life around in ways that I had never imagined. Acknowledging all those surprises, one way or the other, I have walked the path life chose for me. I was born in the lap of the tea estate in Darjeeling. Life in and around Darjeeling, especially the tea estate, was so different from the cities. The locals who picked the tea leaves as manual laborers were the life of the town. In Darjeeling, there was no environment like that of the cities, no concrete houses, no black-topped roads or proper lights. There was no environment or services for a child from a middle-class family to get a proper education. I was acquainted with the children of economically poor families who came to the local village school. And that was my regular life. But it was when I reached adulthood that my fascination with Darjeeling began. I had never seen Darjeeling and its nightlife; all the houses and shops glittering with colorful lights. Coming from a middle-class family, I had only ever seen a kerosene lantern hanging in the room. So imagine my surprise when I saw a well-lit colorful Darjeeling. I guess that was the same fascination and surprise Australian scientist (Gregor) Johann Mendel felt when he found thousands of microbes in a drop of water when he looked at it under a microscope.

Surely one might say that it was nothing that big to be surprised about. But for me, and the child in me who had lived in darkness, to see a well-lit Darjeeling was a completely new and exciting experience. So is the memory of me walking through the forest, dark alleys of the tea garden, and the dark alleys of Darjeeling full of small huts. Those memories and the stark difference between the two aspects of life, for some reason, are still fresh in my mind. Maybe because I was destined to use my childhood experiences in my art one day. I use the contrast between the light and darkness and the emotions I felt deep inside, Where light always reflected life, darkness reflected the opposite, if not death. But only light cannot build our life nor keep nature balanced. Even when I was working on big canvases I was motivated by the same. I am always contemplating how much light I should use with respect to the darkness and vice versa. Art itself is the same. The artist brings his art to life by using both light and darkness. Artists should be able to create a different world on their canvas when they use the right amount of light and darkness. When the composition is not right, the art turns dull. But when the viewers look at an artwork, that has been made with keeping the balance of light and darkness in mind, it evokes the feeling of either peace or sadness in them. Such art has the power to make the hearts sing too. For many years I worked on object-based work. But then like a crashing wave, my subconscious thoughts and experiences took a creative turn. And that is when I started making abstract art. There too, I saw that my artworks were becoming a beautiful amalgamation of my experiences and the contrast of light and dark. Seeing this, my own preference was shifting towards abstract. But for abstract art, I gave priority to space rather than layers and let go of all the technical nuances that otherwise would have been pointed out every step of the way.

My childhood was away from city life, in peace. And I believe it is this peace and the environment that left the deepest of imprints in my mind and they gave meaning to my paintings. Maybe it was the same reason why the sages of ancient times used to take shelter in the silent lap of the mountains to meditate. My village was in Darjeeling, 7 miles away up in the hills. After I finished my primary level education, I tried to get enrolled in a school in Kathmandu but couldn’t as our economic status was poor. So when my education was discontinued, I thought to myself that I should continue my studies at home. But with no school and no private tutor at home, the child in me who had to stay idle at home was restless, which was almost like a punishment. At that time, it was my job to walk alley after alley in the fields when my father was not at home. I was pretty connected with nature and would be sad and happy with nature. At that time it felt like I was only wasting my time, but in retrospect, that time is what benefitted me in my work today. After the harsh winter, when the spring came the trees would flower new buds, and the breeze would sway the leaves making them dance on the way. It was like life was going on and flourishing. Then in the autumn, I would watch those same leaves falling to the ground one by one. And I would mourn the death of the leaves. I would see Mount Kanchenjunga from the comfort of my home, and that also left an impact on me. I would see the many faces that the mountain would show during the monsoon and autumn. The sunset was particularly unforgettable. The impact only grew more as I became older, even to date. Sometimes I would contemplate that had I been brought up in the city, I would have lost the opportunity to watch nature up close the same way I did.

I studied in the government-run College of Arts and Crafts in Calcutta for six years where I learned sketching, working with watercolors, modeling, oil painting, etc. In the first four years, the focus was on making landscapes with water or oil colors. Other times, we would work with still life. Only in the last two years, we had studied the human body, and the anatomy of the faces, and would copy them with lines and colors. Yet there was not much to it. It didn’t require much imagination or brainstorming as we would be copying only those things that we would see. But when I completed my education, I chose to stay back in Calcutta. During that time, I got the chance to produce some work in literature. I got the chance to come in contact with French journalists and their works. In my 12 years in Calcutta, I experienced the city, its people, the artistic ambiance, and the world of art and literature. During that time, India’s fight for independence was at its peak whereas the influences of the second world war from the west and that from Japan in the east were also visible. In comparison to other states, Bengal seemed to be way ahead and in the center of the fight for independence, not through the political aspect but through literature and art.

In the East Bengal, there was a school that built an art community. The community had Abaniyunath Thakur (Rabindranath Tagore), Nandalal Bose, and Gaganeynath Thakur (Gunendranath Tagore) who had abandoned the Western style and adopted the ancient Indian style. Filled with nationalism in their heart, they wanted to promote their original style and give them full shape. The artists and freedom fighters touched the hearts of the young artists too. According to the art education that the Britishers had instilled during the 19th and 20th centuries, they worked with watercolors and oil colors to copy the forms of nature. The Bengal art schools used to give them training. However, my involvement with French journalists from the 19th century gave me the opportunity to study art and life in different aspects. It increased my affinity with literature too.

In 1952, I went to France to pursue my higher studies. But before I went there, I came across the opportunity to work with D J Keymer & Co, a well-known advertising agency with young artists. Its central office was in London and had a majority of Britishers working there along with scholars like Satyajit Ray (popular filmmaker of present Bollywood), Chidananda Das Gupta, and Subhash Mukharjee (Mukhopadhyay). Their art and literature inspired me more and it furthered my understanding of art and literature from an international perspective. In France, there were impressionists and post-impressionist artists. I got a good grasp on their take on life. I extensively searched their artworks and studied them again and again. In Paris, there was (Jeu de) Paume museum, there is a section of the Louvre museum that holds artworks of impressionist artist Bar Bijan and other post-impressionist artists.

And I take those years as my formidable years that built me up. I started believing that the artworks needed to reflect the daily lives of people. And with that, I believe, started my second innings of life; my abstract art.

With this series of exhibitions, performances, panels, and events we see the history of art in Nepal traced from tradition to the contemporary context.  What the curator Saroj Mahato has been able to do by bringing so many like-minded participants together from different parts of the creative culture community in Katmandu should be recognized as historically important.  There has been an informed critical response to the exhibition but also a wide popular outpouring from within the community with over 10,000 visitors during the duration of the exhibition which had to be extended due to an ongoing demand.  We were fortunate to witness this moment and the broad collection of work tracing the engagement of modern western artistic traditions and the rich response in Nepalese art.

There has been much scholarship invested in interpreting the impact of western modernization on non-western traditional cultures.  It is generally accepted that modernization embedded in colonial interests has been an existential challenge to traditional cultures if not totally destructive in some instances.  Modernism has as part of its DNA a rejection of the past resulting in a broad sweeping replacement of cosmic / mythic worldviews with an industrialized secular worldview bent on globalization and materialism.  In the words of the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor the “porous” (open) self is replaced with a “buffered” (closed) self that is trapped in and limited to a purely material reality.  This “buffered” material reality comes with certain benefits or assumptions about “progress” providing some assurances through its measurability.  What is threatened is meaning, as “qualitative” assessment is replaced with “quantitative” and “intrinsic” values are replaced with “instrumentality”.

With the rejection of traditional culture, we see the rise of popular culture which is transnational and ahistorical.  This is the habitat of Kitsch.  This is the great threat to the deep wisdom in traditional culture that it may be a virus that infects creative culture driving it into shallow waters.  In these exhibitions we can be hopeful that creative culture in Nepal has engaged these radical shifts not as a process of infection but rather digestion, retaining the health of the collective cultural body.  This is critically important for Nepal to have a greater voice within the international community.  A living vibrant responsive but not reactionary culture provides a platform within the discourse of nations.  This is what an active living creative culture provides a nation and for these reasons it should be strongly supported by its government.

Over the years scholars have attempted to describe the complex process of this blending of the modern and premodern worldviews.  Spiritual beliefs become tethered to material priorities of the bottom line and what are viewed as more enlightened secular demands.  But the traditions are profoundly human and continue to bloom and flower in the cracks of the hard concrete of the modernist parking lot.  The modern scientific developments offer us much but not everything.  “Man cannot live by bread alone.”  The postmodern has given rise to other interpretations described as a “multiple” or “mixed modernity” or what Wang Jianjiang from Shanghai Normal University calls the “Bie-modern”.  The Bie-modern as a “pseudo”, “false”, or “doubtful” modernity. 

We were honored to witness these exhibitions that show the chronological development of artists responding to these influences, developing bold visions, and expressing the creative voice rooted in Nepal’s deep history.  More than an attempt at preservation what is evident is the continuity of creative endeavors not a crystallization of the past to be housed as specimens of a time now passed but as the fruit of a vibrant living culture born anew as an articulate voice.

The GSW Department of Visual Art would also like to honor the memory of Jamal Floyd who passed away unexpectedly.  He greatly appreciated his experiences in Nepal and this exhibition.  He was beloved by his faculty and his fellow students and will be greatly missed.

With sincere gratitude,
The Department of Visual Art, Georgia Southwestern State University, Americus Georgia, 31780, USA

Laurel Robinson, Professor of Painting and Drawing (Department Chair)
Keaton Wynn, Professor of Ceramics and Art History
Charles Wells, Professor of Glass, Sculpture and Printmaking
Justin Hodges, Senior Lecturer of Photography and Digital Media