KU’s artistic collage
Shrijan Amatya
JUL 31 – It never stops and it never ends”—pieces of paper containing phrases such as this one, cut out from international magazines like TIME, are scattered on the floor like leaves newly dropped from trees in the autumn. The visual—of words fallen to the earth—is arresting somehow, designed as if to depict weakness, loss of power and strength. And that is the sort of poignant imagery that Kathmandu University’s newest exhibition at the Nepal Art Council abounds in.
“Our daily lives are inescapably wrapped up in politics,” says Laxman Bazra Lama of the above-mentioned installation. “But the words coming out of the mouths of these politicians, they’ve completely lost value, become meaningless.” Lama is one of the eight BFA graduates from Kathmandu University behind the recently launched BFA Exhibition Project 2012.
The artwork on display are diverse and impressive, emerging as they do out of varied perspectives and creative mediums. They range from raincoats made from scraps of milk packets, depictions of the haphazard urbanisation of the Capital through paper boxes, and much more—each medium had a message to convey, a way of getting viewers to think. One particularly memorable piece was a painting by German student Anja Warzecha, a collage of sorts that revolved around the theme of construction and nature, as well as marking balance between recognisable elements and abstracts.
The Exhibition Project is an initiative of the university intended to allow graduates of the Bachelor of Fine Arts programme to showcase their work under a collective roof. The exhibition was formally inaugurated on July 30, by the Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Jayant Prasad, and Prof Dr Suresh Raj Sharma, the Vice Chancellor of Kathmandu University. During his opening speech, the ambassador stressed, among other things, on the need to install a master’s programme in fine arts at KU.
The exhibition will continue until August 5 at the Nepal Art Council in Babarmahal. Opening hours are between 10 am – 6 pm.
