Nepal’s first 360 degree virtual contemporary art exhibition
Screenshot of the Museum of Nepali Art webpage.
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The COVID-19 outbreak that has engulfed the world has not only affected Nepal's health sector but it has also brought all cultural activities to a halt.
Nepal extended its lockdown measures until June 2, and all cinema halls and theatres are closed. However, for art enthusiasts forced to spend most of their time at home, Nepal’s first virtual art exhibition can be explored from the comfort of their homes.
Created by 19 renowned Nepali artists, the artwork is being showcased in an online virtual exhibition named ‘Tangential Stress’ by the Museum of Nepali Art (MoNA). By definition, it means a force acting in a generally horizontal direction especially, invisible energy that produces mountain folding and over thrusting. The original versions of the artwork in the collection can be seen at MoNA’s gallery in Kathmandu Guest House.
‘Tangential Stress’ features work by leading Nepali artists such as Batsa Gopal Baidya, Erina Tamrakar, Rajani Singkhwal, Manish Lal Shrestha, and more. A full list of the artists involved can be found here.
According to Rajan Sakya, the exhibition curator and director of MoNA:
Most people [facing the stress due to COVID-19] have absorbed and tolerated these unseen energies, coping and reacting accordingly. These energies have emitted in many ways for many people; some have gained weight, some have lost weight, some have exercised, some have become couch potatoes, some have become selfish, some have helped other people, and these “Nepalese ARTISTS” have expressed themselves in colors, strokes and mediums.
This exhibition, entitled “Tangential Stress”, is a paroxysm of emotions, hoping we become less complacent, more appreciative of our nature and life, and teaching us humility.
In the foreword for the exhibition, Dr. John Clarke, curator of the Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art and Victoria & Albert Museum in the UK, writes:
The local cost of the virus and lockdown to the people of Nepal are echoed in several works yet the global nature of the pandemic is also often featured.
One of the participating artists, Ranju Yadav, conceived her second child last October, and has been struggling to protect herself and her baby from the coronavirus. She mentioned:
[…] millions of pregnant women, including me, have been in a close fight with the Corona Virus [sic] by shielding and taking care of their own wombs.
As a pregnant artist, I depict the above-mentioned idea in my Mithila artwork. The pregnant woman in the artwork is protecting her unborn baby by covering the womb by her hands. She dares not to wear a mask because she has to take double breathe [sic] for herself and her baby. […]
When will audiences visit cultural spaces, art galleries, and theatres again? No one has the answer to this question yet. But, in this time of uncertainty, these Nepali artists are just a click away.
Read more Global Voices stories on the global impact of COVID-19
