arts & inspirations _vivacity 2

34 vivacity magazine • june 2011 www.vivacitymagazines.com 35june 2011 • vivacity magazine www.vivacitymagazines.com

There can’t be art without inspiration. It is the first canvas, studio or workshop of the artist, and that is where it shapes before the display.arun KHanna

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There can’t be art without inspiration. It is the first canvas, studio or workshop of the artist, and that is where it shapes before the display.There can’t be art without inspiration. It is the first canvas, studio or workshop of the artist, and that is where it shapes before the display.

InspirationsInspirationsInspirationsArts

craftsmen coloring the world heritage stupa at Boudhanath

ArtsArtsInspirationsArtsInspirations

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undertook to work with his chisel or brush. Not only the theme was religious but the artist imbued with a feeling of religious devotion rendered also his task in that spirit”

This devotion has permeated through time and lies at the core of the arts and their inspiration in Nepal.

In a contemporary sense of the word inspiration has travelled many roads to the same destination - fulfillment of the creative urge carried through intellect or emotion. Inspiration has its sources in diverse thoughts and experiences. For some it lies in ordinary conversation itself. For others the stark nakedness of being ordinary can come as a huge surge for doing something distinct. Many see inspiration in the power to overcome disabilities, the relentless head on collisions with hurdles which creates awe in those who watch. Again some see it in relationships. For instance an adult who has seen his parents in love since childhood, is sure to think love affairs do move towards happy endings!

Deep down, traditions of Nepalese culture and expression are not based on the ideas of proven fact, but on the unquestionable acceptance of something that has always been done by faith. Faith is above substantiated fact. Objects associated with daily life - a terracotta oil lamp, a metal receptacle or a stone water spout hewn in the shape of a makara hold this very faith that pours itself into art. And yet it is not just the tangible which brings moments of inspiration, but the huge repository of intangible heritage. The continuing flux of oral traditions, folklore, songs and dance forms add to the arts and its inspiration on a regular basis.

traditionalFaith even makes the Gods and deities preside over the arts themselves. Kathmandu alone has over thirty-two temples for Nasa Dyo, the Newari god of the performance arts, music, dance and drama. Community celebrations have always been a source of inspiration. The week long Bhidyo Boyegu ceremony, as an example, is a Newar tradition - now in decline - when Bahas in the valley display Paughas paintings for public worship. Scrolls have been the

What could have been the primordial urge which perhaps made a farmer leave his lush fields, a family man leave his wife and children at the break

of dawn, or maybe a young man detach the twined hand of a beloved, to walk across cool dewed grass trails in search of a meaningless cold rock? Carry it back, and somewhere in secluded quite incessantly hammer it for days. Come back to it again and again; wedge it open, chisel it, till a chipped scarred shape would stare out from the rock. And what would that shape be, which he would again spend days to burnish, with delicate, aching, intimate force?

The place perhaps might have been Lalittapatan, or Patan. And the rock may well have been carried from the highlands of Chobar or Kirtipur which have been know for durable stone quarries. Stone was the first medium of expression by such people whose work today is called art, as known from the stone sculptures of the 4th century Lichavvi era of Nepal

So what were these shapes? Above all, deities and their personifications.And what was the inspiration, the urge?

The historian D R Regmi put it succinctly, “The artist applied himself to his task as a man of devotion who

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LeftSindoor jatra, Bhaktapur

Middlea newari musician

Right page ranju awale at his sculptor


most favored mediums maybe that made it easy to carry them, transport them and make frequent use of them in teaching religious precepts.

Congregations of people sharing the same ways of life and celebrations gave adaptability to the people and with it a great tradition of religious tolerance. “They gave birth to a culture nurturing animist practices, orthodox Shaivism and ritual Mahayana Buddhism” says Dilli Ram Regmi.

Lying on the trade route between India and Tibet, Kathmandu in particular, ingested many external influences. This influx sustained ethnic diversity and gave a surge to cross generic arts. But not to overlook that the serving of arts was also on distinct caste based roles.

The caste based work particularly in the arts became stronger during the Malla period, from the thirteenth century onwards. The traditional side of arts and artists has been influenced by these demarcations, and inspiration has often sprung from the pride in the lineage of the artist.

Distinctions are evident in the same ethnic and geographic spaces. For instance dance forms show both Buddhist and Hindu traditions among the Newars. The Hindu Newar celebrate the Lakhe dance, a demon dance, the Budhhist newar - the Chariya

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royal patronage came to nepalese arts in a big way during the reign of the malla

Kings. and with that came the impetus.

dieties & wooden masks

BelowPuppetry,

intangible heritage

model: Soniya SharmaPhotographer: rajiv Shrestha

make up & Hair: Sophielocation: Soaltee crown Plaza

Wardrobe & accessories: neelima’s Studio, city centre, 4011622

41june 2011 • vivacity magazine www.vivacitymagazines.com

Naritaya, a combination of worship, meditation and performance. In the art of Painting, Thanka is Tibetan, Paugha is the Newari. Similar parallels can be drawn in many other aspects of social life.

Royal patronage came to Nepalese arts in a big way during the reign of the Malla Kings. And with that came the impetus. Art got the stage to display itself, no longer just in temples but in magnificent palaces and city squares. By the end of the 15th century the division of the valley into three independent kingdoms, brought a sense of competition for the display of artistic grandeur. Art got documented and preserved. (Unfortunately, some experts believe many priceless specimens of various art forms got lost in the very recent past. Half of Kathmandu’s art work from the last 2000 years, has been lost in the last 50.)

The craft of metal art which had almost disappeared from India by the 13th century due to the iconoclast Muslim rulers not only got preserved in Nepal but went on unimpaired in its own distinct craftsmanship. The height of its skill is evident from the methods that are still followed in the techniques. Cire perdue or ‘lost wax’ method was being followed in Nepal more than a thousand years ago. In the method, a wax model is made into the required shape, coated with clay, creating a cast. Wax is then melted and drained out through a few holes in the cast, replaced with molten metal. Finally the cast is broken and the shaped metal embellished or coated. Metal work was most popular in the Buddhist tradition of work therefore many metal images of the Buddha proliferated at the time.

Art work in terracotta dates as far back as the 3rd century AD. By the medieval period it reached an

outstanding level of perfection. Temples gave space to the work, with narrative of Hindu epics as its main subject. Such work got perfectly expressed as nagbands, stretching around historical temples – the gate way to Taleju temple in Hanuman Dhoka, the Maya Devi temple in Patan are good examples.

Wood craft - Forte of the Newari artist. The skill is visible not just in the form but the technique. No use of nails or glue. Among thousands of incredible pieces the strut images in courtyards of palaces and the temples of Pasupati, and Changu Narayana are some of the best.

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Topa photographic

exhibition at mangal bazaar,

Patan

Belowan exquisitely

carved wooden pillar at a durbar building in Patan

Right page thanka artist, Bikash Karki, immersed in

meticulous details

40 vivacity magazine • june 2011


Photo by: rajiv Shrestha


Perhaps the greatest show of international respect to the Nepalese artist is preserved in the Yuan history of China. Balbahu the architect, sculptor and painter, who later came to be known as Arniko by the Chinese, was summoned to Tibet at the request of the Emperor Kubali Khan in 1246 AD. He led a delegation of eighty artists to carry out architectural work. Besides work in Tibet, the white pagoda or the Pai Ta Sze in Beijing stands as one of the great works of Arniko. Another of his famous work is the Archway of Yungtang. The artist lived and died in China, and

during his lifetime was honored by the title of “Duke of Liang”, by the Chinese Emperor. In 2010, the Chinese-American actor Robert Lin, even brought up the subject of making a movie on Arniko.

The Pagoda style of building which spread from China to other parts of the world is indeed a Nepalese invention. “Now we have definite information from the Chinese sources, of the style to have travelled from Nepal to China and other countries are acceptable. It was during the seventh century that the advent was made by this style into Tibet mainly through Nepalese efforts”, writes D R Regmi in his book, ‘Ancient Nepal’.

contemPoraryThe simplest definition of contemporary art would be which mirrors contemporary society and gives creative meaning of living in it. As a precursor to contemporary art in Nepal, the first western influence came under the Rana rulers. Jang Bahadur Rana during his visit to England took along the Newari artist Bhaju Man, and established the importance of not just the Nepali artists, but the preference of incorporating western style into the arts. This was not just limited to neoclassical Victorian architecture, but from furniture to fashion everything had anglophile preferences.

Paintings, like architecture, saw a mix of the medieval, religious and western themes during the Rana rule. Deities and mandalas gave way to regal portraits - a desire of the rulers for palace wall hangings. The first official exhibition of an individual artist in Nepal - Chandra Man Maskey’s - was held in 1928 and the motivational character of contemporary art forms began to show a shift from fiefdoms of patronage to personal expressions that spoke out for the artist itself.

Contemporary art is radically different from more traditional art values in the sense that it includes expressions and forms that are globally motivated in themes, ingesting traditional, contemporary and technological techniques; it can often be deliberately unconventional taking advantage of a much wider and instant audience.

Leftembellishing

monasteries at lumbini

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contemporary and technological techniques

One big advantage of contemporary art is the physical and cyber space it gets. Art galleries and On-line platforms have changed the way art is displayed, appreciated, reviewed and even sold.

Dwindling physical spaces in galleries and the costs of holding onto a space might have the right answer on-line. As an example of interconnectivity – one happened in Janurary 2011, an on line art fair called ‘View in Private’, VIP, it had about 8 million viewings from over 146 countries, and included 140 prestigious art galleries! And an artist can always create one’s own site

radical ?Interestingly, the same neighborhood where the scrutinizing eyes of an artist draws the devotional

contemporary art is radically different frommore traditional art values in the sense that it

includes expressions and forms that are globallymotivated in themes, ingesting traditional,

pictorial sequence of Buddhist deities on a Thanka painting, also houses the insistent buzz of a precision tattoo machine, which delicately drills dyes into the human skin, drawing icons and patterns from human skulls to angelic wings. Taking the analogy further the symbols of tattoos can be tantric codes, Maithili art, medieval esoteric secrets or seductive infringements on erogenous zones of the human body. A convergence of not just icons, but eclectic arts & attitudes too. The contemporary has better freedom than the traditional.

April 2011 saw the hosting of the Nepal Tattoo Convention, the first ever international convention of its kind in Nepal. An interesting example of the so called radical art form in the land of ancient conventional heritage.

46 vivacity magazine • june 2011 www.vivacitymagazines.com

Time magazine, way back in 1970, reported - “As an art, tattoos have been traced back 4,000 years to the Egyptians.” In contemporary times “they have adorned the arms and chests of sailors, roustabouts and construction workers. Now, after a decade or two of decline, tattoos are enjoying a renaissance. They have become the vogue of the counterculture.”

But the fact is tattooing has been a part of many ethnic cultures in Nepal since centuries, particularly the Tharus, and to some extent the Newars. Cultural

organizations as UNESCO too have recognized their cultural presence among sections of Nepalese society.

Contemporary art in Nepal as elsewhere globally, is not just limited to the conventional art forms. Galleries in Kathmandu alone are witness to works of many budding and seasoned artists showing work from traditional to modernist and post Modernist. Be it photography, multimedia or installation art forms, there is a platform for exchange, criticism and appreciation.

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tattooing, esoteric

inspirations

arts & inspirations _vivacity 2

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