Working with artificial nature in Nepal

KATHMANDU, Dec 17: It is perplexing why many Nepali artists tend to confine themselves into boxes of themes and thereby limit their own creative explorations. For instance, not even a fortnight will go by in Kathmandu without paintings of the deities Ganesha, Shiva and Kumari hanging in some gallery or the other. [break]It is also equally perplexing when foreign artists come to Nepal and are inspired to do so much more than display their work within the four corners of a room.

His second time in Nepal, Dutch national Peter Shräder has been working to create new works of art since the day he arrived in Kathmandu at the end of November. “The first time I came to Nepal in 2006 I worked with Sutra,” says Shräder, eager to share his experiences. Sutra is an autonomous group of artists formed in 2003.

“Back then I did an installation in Bhaktapur called ‘Hiding the Balls’,” informs Shräder, who began creating outdoor installation works in 1993. “I hid 500 balls of various sizes at different locations in Bhaktapur—some were in obvious places while some were hard to find,” explains the artist.

Prior to his current installation art career, Shräder used to design sets for the theatre. “I feel that art should be seen outside of a gallery and in the streets where people can see them,” opines Shräder. On November 25, Shräder took to the streets of Kathmandu at Hanuman Dhoka Square where he staged his performance/installation entitled ‘Horn’.

He speaks of “the artificial nature created by the people here from sound pollution to cables and pipes,” and adds, “Back home in Holland everything is so rigid but here the roads, even the electricity cables, are organic and move like rivers of traffic.” Shräder’s musical piece at Hanuman Dhoka incorporated 16 computer-controlled car horn sounds. His own invention, he calls the instrument ‘Claxophone’.

“I got on a rikshaw and travelled through the inner city sounding different tunes through the claxophone,” says Shräder, switching his computer on to play one of his audio records. Shräder is set to perform three more in his claxophone series during his stay in Nepal. His upcoming one, titled ‘Talking with Birds’, will be held at Fewa Lake in Pokhara on Saturday, December 19.

“I am going to be playing the claxophone in a boat on the lake from 9 a.m. till it gets dark,” says the artist, who is currently living around the Thamel area in Kathmandu. During the performance he will be making bird sounds with his horns. Besides Nepal, Shräder has performed with his claxophone in Mexico and Holland.

As part of the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF), Shräder created a dynamic installation piece which lasted less than an hour. A big white balloon was filled with air until it exploded. A huge crowd gathered around him—some eager to take photographs in front of the balloon, some brave enough to touch it. “I don’t mind people touching my work because I feel that art should also incorporate the sense of touch along with hearing and seeing,” states Shräder and says further, “The white ball represented pollution of all kinds that men have added to nature thereby creating an artificial one.”

A culmination of all his claxophone projects will be exhibited at the Summit Hotel on January 10, 2010 before he leaves for his own country.