All artists around feel the responsibility to keep creating and helping through their work.
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A box of color pencils, three sign pens and a small stack of A4 sized papers are six year old Preeti Bhandari's most prized possession at the moment. She is shy about showing off her art work but she confesses she has many safely tucked away in her school bag. Her excitement is infectious as she talks about how a didi taught her to draw an elephant in one of the art therapy sessions that had taken place in Tundikhel. Preeti calls it "the best thing" that has happened since the earthquakes. She then carefully counts the color pencils and puts them in its box. "I don't want to be missing any colors the next time they host an art session like that," she says with a coy smile.
Aman has fond memories of the days he had spent under the shade of the historic wooden building having some of the best conversations and tea with his college friends. He also remembers how high the pile of wood stood after the Kasthamandap collapsed and how difficult it was to sort it all out.
The rise of art's popularity among the masses has been a quiet one but we can feel it all around us. It's a case of art coming to the rescue. Following the earthquakes, art in our country finds itself in unchartered territory. Before the disaster, their appeal might have been largely limited to a niche. However, these days art finds itself quietly melting the divide. All we have to do is skim the headlines and we find that art, of late, has taken on the responsibility to return a smile on children's faces, provide some solace to adults as well as give a new sense of purpose to all the artists.
So could this be a new dawn for the art scene in our capital and country?
"It's very clear that our artists have all come out in full force to contribute to the relief work. Every sector needs to help in whichever way they can to rebuild our nation. Looking at the number of art therapy sessions, fund raisers, and performance art that have been going on around Nepal after the earthquakes, it's safe to say the art sector is taking their duties very seriously indeed," says Mukesh Malla, artisan and art critic.
This in turn has given Malla more reasons to be delighted. He can see only good things coming out of numerous artists going to communities, interacting with people, spreading their love and passion for art through various relief works. Where the natural disaster could have snuffed the light out of the budding art scene in the country, he explains that he feels it blazing, being alive.
Saurganga Darshandhari, a performance and print artist, too confesses that she and her peers around can't help but draw creative inspirations from the tragedy that they have witnessed. She has been extensively traveling through the affected areas like Gorkha and Rasuwa. In fact, it hasn't been long since she and 13 other artists from Bindu, Aspaceforartist, recently put up a performance art show for all the earthquake victims at Taragaun.
"150 people showed up and that's an impressive number considering the fact that most in the audience had never had a chance to watch performance art before. As tragic as this earthquake has been, I believe it's also helping us break new grounds," says Darshandhari.
Fascinated by the way the earthquake had coerced citizens to come and live together and impressed by how strangers began relating with one another, her performance piece was reportedly based around mirrors and the reflection it cast on one another.
"Throughout history we have seen pain and suffering give birth to some of the most beautiful creations. You can count on Nepali artists to channel this pain and tragedy. Perhaps, in the coming months and years, it could even give birth to a new art movement," shares Santa Rai artists and chief coordinator of Artist hand in hand campaign 2072.
Rai is travelling at the moment but even from Dolakha he is trying to make plans to open a painting and sculpture exhibition at the Nepal Art Council. A week after the quake, he and his team had gathered around 80 artists and 23 sculptors at Hanuman Dhoka to express their own experiences of the big disaster. Rai wants to hold an exhibition of those works. Similarly, there are the murals like the ones of Kasthamandap at Babarmahal. This is a joint effort of Artist hand in hand campaign 2072 and the plan is to paint more of such 20 ft x 54 ft murals around the capital depicting other landmarks that had been claimed by the earthquake.
"Every artist I know is actively working on something or the other. Initially some of us might not have been in the right mindset to create art but that phase is behind us now. There are several discussions being held in our community. The country has lost many ancient artifacts but that does not mean art has been erased from our society altogether. I believe all artists around feel the responsibility to keep creating and to keep helping through their work," explains Rai.
Sangeeta Thapa, curator and director of Siddhartha Art Gallery agrees. According to her, she could not be more proud of Nepali artists for their enthusiasm and initiation with the relief work. Further she adds that she also expects to see more interesting and different work of art coming their way. Despite the fact that there have been drastically less visitors in the gallery since it's reopening last Sunday, Thapa claims to be hopeful.
"Art isn't obviously the top priority for majority of the public right now and art galleries like ours will probably need months to get back to business but the art scene in our valley is thriving in a different way. There is more community based work being carried out and because of that more Nepalis are being introduced to the joy of art. It's helping to restore some semblance of normalcy and that is very significant," says Thapa.
It seems the contemporary art scene might take a different turn from here on. As the economy of the country tries to stabilize itself, the market for art work might suffer. But the experiences following the aftermath of the quake will perhaps inspire bolder and more honest artistic expression. The art community has already risen above the prevailing circumstances and challenges, to put their artistic capabilities to good use and if they stay on track, this might just be where the country's art scene takes on a more exciting path.
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