Traditional Newah arts are masterpieces; hence there are only a handful of people who can afford them. However, with the intention to make Newah artists’ artworks accessible to the general public and make it usable in their daily life; Bodhisattva Gallery, Pulchowk initiated gold and silver jewelry production in the time of the pandemic in 2020.
This made the art works available at affordable prices and it became an opportunity for the traditional artists to create and earn from it. Since the late 80’s, Bodhisattva Gallery has commissioned these artists for traditional Newah arts such as paubha, life size stone/metal statues, and metal artworks among others; aiming to preserve and promote traditional Newah art worldwide.
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“As it was in dire condition in that period and the younger generations of those traditional artists were not willing to continue the age-old career field, my late husband Puran Shakya established Bodhisattva Gallery so that he could ensure their dignity and human rights along with preserving traditional Newah art,” said Anjana Shakya, co founder of Bodhisattva Gallery.
Since then, Bodhisattva Gallery has commissioned numerous traditional art works and has played an important role in promoting and preserving traditional Newah art. One such example is the exhibition ‘Jewels of Newar Arts’ held in 2011 at Siddhartha Art Gallery, which was an exhibition of its kind that showcased the works of 34 artists from the private collections of Anjana Shakya and Late Purna Man Shakya, founders of Bodhisattva Gallery. A total of 75 traditional artists’ works were featured in the second edition of the exhibition held in 2019.
Here, the mother-son duo Anjana Shakya (founder) and Prajwol man Shakya (director) of the gallery, share their experience about their new venture along with the motivation, challenges, initiatives and more while working in the field of traditional Newah art.
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