The exhibition was the product of a two-week workshop facilitated by Danish-Bulgarian artist duo Sofia Burchardi and Plamen Bontchev. “We have been working together for the past five years and for the last three years, our work has especially focused on how the internet is changing us personally and socially,” shares Burchardi who along with her partner has been touring the world, exploring the impact of the internet in different cultures.[break]
‘A Huge Bit’, one of the installations showcased during ‘The Digital Tribe’ art exhibition which opened at the Siddhartha Art Gallery, Babermahal on Friday.
The internet has made communication easy, no doubt. But is the internet bringing people closer or breaking them apart? The main motive of the workshop was to talk to the youth in Nepal and reflect upon this question as well as other issues regarding the impact of the internet in Nepal.
“During the workshop, we presented them with everything that has inspired us and then asked the participants to present us with a visual reflection on the issue, especially focusing on the traditional Nepali culture,” says Burchardi.
Distinct artifacts of the Nepali culture were hence seen merging with symbolisms from the modern medium, internet. Nhooja Tuladhar, Saran Tandukar and Shiva Prasad Upadhyaya were involved in an installation where the artists drove a cart full of all sorts of things, ranging from shampoo to apples, from Dhumbharai to the Gallery, inviting people on the street to exchange their belongings for the materials on the cart. Entitled ‘A Huge Bit’, this installation was physical representation of the phenomenon of information exchange which takes place over the internet.
‘All you can eat’ by Karma Gurung, Rabindra Shrestha, Shreejana Shakya and Suresh Maharjan portrayed how we consume information through the internet and interact with people from a diverse background through a dining-room setting where the keys from a computer keyboard were served in different traditional Nepali dinnerware.
Similarly, ‘Verse’, a work by Bhawana Ghimire, Pramesh Sherchan, Rabin Maharjan and Roshan Sakha created the workplace of a stone-carver and demonstrated the impact of the internet in the way we create.
Recognizing the important pioneering project started by Mahabir Pun, internationally renowned for work in applying wireless technologies to develop remote areas of the Nepal, the first computer of Nangi was also demonstrated as a part of the exhibition.
The exhibition is open till November 15 at the Siddhartha Art Gallery, Babermahal Revisited.
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