KATHMANDU, Sept 10: The first edition of Himalayan Art Festival kicked off on Thursday at Nepal Art Council, Babar Mahal. The festival is organized by E Arts Nepal, an online art gallery. 

The exhibit comprises artworks of 50 senior and young artists. Talking about the exhibition, artist and one of the founder members of E Arts, Asha Dangol shared, “The exhibition is a result of four months of hard work. The paintings, sculptures and photographs on display depict the gradual development of modern art in Nepal.

We have artworks from senior artists such as Shashi Shah, Uttam Nepali, Shashi Kala Tiwari and Batsa Gopal Baidya, among others, along with young artists like Anil Shahi, Mekh Limbu, Hit Man Gurung, Meena Kayastha and Sanjeev Maharjan.”

Artist Shashi Kala’s painting on the theme devotion welcomes you in the gallery. Her painting titled ‘Meera series I and II’ depicts Meera’s devotion to Lord Krishna. She has used vibrant and bold colors such as orange, green, purple and turquoise, among others, in her artwork where a blithe Meera is dancing. Using oil on canvas, Shashi Kala has created a rhythmic flow and semi-realistic form.

Similarly, other paintings at the exhibit cover nature, culture, forms of expression, cityscape and devotion. Artist Mekh has depicted the hardship of Nepali people in a comic form using acrylic on canvas, and painted three different issues in three canvases. One of his paintings shows a mother and her child living in a sorry condition after their house is devastated in the April 25, 2015 earthquake.

His other painting depicts the flourishing black market of everyday essentials like LPG gas and petrol. Meanwhile, Meena has created a couple using discarded frying pans. She has decorated the rustic pans and given them a symbolic form of a man and a woman. 

The exhibition, an amalgamation of senior and young artists, is slated to continue till September 11, Monday.