Sirjana-2018’, a collective art show, kicked off on May 25 at Nepal Art Council (NAC), Baber Mahal, representing the works of artists affiliated with the art gallery and Srijana College of Fine Arts. 

Srijana College, in association with Nagarjun Municipality, is the organizer of the exhibition that has been divided into three segments of participating artists. The first segment -- Seniors: the Masters -- includes veteran artists like Shashi Bikram Shah, Batsa Gopal Vaidya, Madan Chitrakar, Krishna Manandhar, K K Karmacharya and Shyam Lal Shrestha. Through their art, we can say that modern art has entered into the art scene of Nepal.

As you enter the first floor of NAC, you will get to see the impressive works of the veteran artists. Each artist’s work is displayed separately. The artists have worked in various medium such as watercolor, acrylic, mix media, and others. Their motifs are mainly nature, religion, landscape in realistic and abstract forms.

Likewise, in the second segment -- The Mid Generation -- works of artists Mahen Mohan Shrestha, Ravindra Jyapoo, Radheshyam Mulmi, Prof Rajesh Pandey, Sharad Man Shrestha, and others are displayed. They have also used the motifs of nature, people, lifestyle, et cetera.

Artist Sharad Man Shrestha’s work ‘Let’s see who wins’ is an interactive installation. He has created a huge chessboard and the visitors can play the game. The chess pieces are not in ordinary shape, but he has created them in geometric shapes like triangle, circle, rectangle and square.

Then the third segment -- The Next: Up and the Coming -- features works of Shamjhana Rajbhandari, Bhawana Manandhar, Manish Lal Shrestha, Bijaya Maharjan, Mukesh Shrestha, Dewendra Pandey, among others. 

In the painting ‘Child thinks with heart and smiles with heart’, artist Manish Lal Shrestha has painted a portrait of a girl using dots in different shades of green, black, brown, yellow and others. Due to use of dots, the painting has a rhythm that helps the visitor see the details of the girl’s facial feature and expression. About the use of dots, he shared: “Dots depict multiple ideas such as the sound of impermanence, cycle of cells, relentless journey of time, and the fragmented realm of thoughts.”

Artist Roshan Bhandari has also depicted portraits of children in the set of four paintings titled ‘Contemplation’. In the painting, he has used the combination of vibrant and dull colors such as red, yellow, brown, grey and black, depicting children who are in deep thought.

The exhibit ends with the exhibition of ‘Pop up paper world’ by Dewendra Pandey where his paper crafts have been inspired from history and thus are the embodiment of glorious past, cultural and natural heritage. The exhibition has a galore of artworks that are colorful and has the capacity to stimulate senses, whether it is a painting, sculpture or installation.  

The exhibition that lets the visitor see the development of Nepali modern art continues till May 31.