KATHMANDU: When Bidhata KC, Chirag Bangdel and Kapil Mani Dixit come together to organize collaborative exhibitions, like they did at Shaligram Hotel on Sunday, art-enthusiasts almost immediately look forward to a magical celebration of art, creativity and diversity. The three artists work in different art fields, which is why their collaboration oftentimes gives people an insightful experience. Their fourth exhibition together, called ‘Samishran’, started on Sunday and is set to run till July 11 at Shaligram Complex everyday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Chirag Bangdel in his inauguration speech said the three artists have been friends for more than a decade. While they do not maintain constant contact with each other, their friendship kicks off every time they meet. Their last gathering, which led them to organize ‘Samishran’, had happened after two years of going separate ways.
Digitized era of friendship
Given that the three artists were travelling to different places in the last two years, ‘Samishran’ is also a celebration of their coming back and rejuvenated friendship. In a sideline of the event, Bidhata KC mentioned that their friendship was founded on the grounds of mutual respect for each other’s approach towards visual arts.
Bidhata KC, in this exhibition series, features her experience of visiting Lo Manthang, Upper Mustang, three years ago. As apparent in her painting series—Back to Memory Lane—she was inspired by the spiritual aura of Upper Mustang, which was partly fueled by the white-washed buildings there.
Her paintings make extensive use of earth color and demonstrate a unique texture that highlights the artist’s desire to find meanings within the walls there. “Buildings in Lo Manthang seemed like they were coming from underneath the Earth and demonstrated a close connection between nature and artificialty,” she said, appreciating the medieval ‘Earthen Walled City’. Bidhata further mentioned that she still hasn’t been able to come out of the Mustang trance.
‘Samishran’ in particular is special to Kapil Mani Dixit, who works extensively in nude paintings. His recent visit to Sydney inspired him to adapt to aboriginal art of Australia, and later paint ‘Beyond the Borders’ series. The series were painted in the aftermath of the devastating 2015 Gorkha Earthquake, the tragic experience of which made the artist look beyond his signature nude paintings.
Chirag Bangdel brought in a fresh vibe into the exhibition by embracing Maithili art shapes and color harmony in his paintings. An apparent adaptation to Maithili art—oblivious faces and long black hair—was an overlay of dark black and blue color. These adaptations gave a mystical aura to all of his paintings, including ‘Geet Govinda’, which was inspired from the 12th Century book ‘Geet Govinda’ by Jayadeva.
