KATHMANDU, July 24: British artist and social activist Jan Salter has donated 54 of her portrait paintings to Maiti Nepal. The ninety year old artist handed over the paintings to Maiti Nepal’s Anuradha Koirala in a farewell ceremony held for her at the organization.
Salter has spent a long time in Nepal, serving as an artist and social activist. She first visited Nepal in 1975. Since then she has extensively travelled all over the country and has established the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre (KAT), an organization that looks after the welfare of street dogs.
Her artworks based on Nepal have been displayed both nationally and internationally. She got involved with Maiti Nepal in 1997 and had made portraits of rescued women and their children during her time there. She handed over the same portraits to Maiti Nepal.
Salter said that the faces of her subjects radiate innocence and care. She further added that she considers them as her own children. “All of them are our daughters,” she said, “please preserve them.”
On receiving the artworks, Anuradha Koirala said that the paintings depict the horrors faced by Nepali women and should be preserved as a national treasure.
“I spent a long time in Nepal and I have found peace and hope to return again,” Salter said emotionally in her farewell speech. She will shortly leave for the UK for her medical treatment.
Caring for strays
