KATHMANDU, Dec 17: An exhibition of paintings prints and textile by Sunita Maharjan entitled ‘Baadiyeka Aakash’ (Shared Skies) is taking place at the Siddhartha Art Gallery, Baber Mahal Revisited.

The exhibition kicked off on December 2. This exhibition is a culmination of artworks Maharjan created over the past five years, as per the press statement released by Siddhartha Art Gallery.  Maharjan’s images represent human dwellings in Marpha, Gatlang and urban Kathmandu. Her works have revealed how people in cities and villages fulfil their longing for open spaces.  As someone who has experienced displacement first-hand during the earthquake in 2015, she recognizes how people select, arrange and rearrange the things they hold dear.

In a statement, Maharjan writes “I look for quiet human activities amidst a crowd, where a person creates boundaries but there is openness.  A person feels relaxed inside their personal space. I look at people’s choices of objects and their arrangement. I depict human activities without the presence of human figures.”  

The exhibition includes four series of artworks, the Marpha, Terrace, Kirtipur, and Earthquake series. 

In the Marpha series, she uses thread to depict the movement of the wind, people, and livestock. The vertical sprawl of urban Kathmandu is represented through stencil making and layers of prints on textile.  During the earthquake, she experienced her kitchen being displaced multiple times. She has expressed this through photo collages and acrylic and charcoal paintings that distinctly express an attempt to keep piecing together one’s life.  The Kirtipur series, her most recent work, embraces the colorful experiences in people’s lives through photographs.  

The exhibition is slated to continue till January 10.