khulla dhoka in london and the launch of the kac

source: press release

on october the 28th , 2008 the kac held its premier launch at the historic premises of the royal over-seas league in st james. thirteen eminent nepalese artists manuj babu mishra, shashi bikram shah, durga baral, romio shrestha, kiran manandhar, ragini upadhya-grela, uma shankar shah, seema sharma, ashmina ranjit, sujan chitrakar, sunil sigdel, roshan mishra and govinda shah azad exhibited their paintings and prints, alongside the works of ninety-seven british artists. kathmandu based british artists : jan salter, john allen and loren beven also contributed works to the exhibition. founded by celia washington a british artist, and sangeeta thapa a nepalese curator-this british charity was set up to establish a vibrant art centre that promotes nepalese contemporary art and encourages international art exchange programs, that would in time put nepal on the world map the first exhibition preview was attended by over 300 people-famous british artists: patrick hughes, richard long, andrew logan and friends of nepal. the opening remarks came from govinda aryal of the nepalese embassy in london and keith bloomfield, the previous british ambassador to nepal. in a country beginning to go through an economic recession, the fact that seventeen works sold on the opening night was seen as an astonishingly positive sign for the kac. the works of manuj babu mishra “my mona lisa” and seema sharma’s “mystical song” sold that very evening. john clarke of the victoria albert museum, richard blurton of the british museum, david verey of the arts fund, virginia sykes-wright director of asian art in london and several curators from prestigious art organization were also present.

the exhibtion was held to coincide with ‘asian art in london’ - an event which involves london's leading asian art dealers, the major auction houses and with special exhibitions at the premier london museums an institutions. this year, 2008, the kathmandu arts centre was honoured to be chosen as the charity of the year. as a part of the promotion of contemporary nepalese art in the uk, sangeeta thapa delivered an engaging hour-long lecture on the impact of politics on art. the lecture “ chronicling the chaos- from a kingdom to the newest republic” was held at the prestigious courtauld institute of art on the evening of the 7th of november. the event proved to be sell out and was much appreciated. beata wiggen van amstel of the chautara foundation in the netherlands flew in for the evening as did amos schuller, son of the legendary austrian painter soshana, from vienna.

on the 8th of november- kukoor puja and a dog walk was held at green park. many artists exhibiting in the show, who also owned dogs, joined the kac’s fund raising event. her royal highness, the duchess of cornwall attended the exhibition and joined the dog walk which also entailed garlanding some of the dogs. celia washinton says “i was in nepal last year and witnessed dog puja in nepal. as a dog lover i was enchanted with the idea of garlanding dogs and thought someone should bring the idea to the uk.” the visit by the duchess of cornwall added glamour to the occasion and promoted a cultural tradition of nepal which teaches one to love and cherish all sentient beings, and helped to focus world attention on the kac.

the second preview at the royal over-seas league was very well attended. nepali artists roshan mishra, govinda azad and kripa joshi were seen mingling in the crowded hallway and stairwell of the over-seas league, romio shrestha flew in from ireland especially for the opening night. sangeeta thapa was delighted that her friends from her art college days : rupert gatfied now chairman of the chelsea arts club, fiona campbell robson and jenny martin also donated works to this show. both art openings were covered by the satsang media group. over 40 works sold, including works by kiran manandhar, uma shankar shah, govinda shah azad, roshan mishra and a drawing by manuj babu mishra. the exhibition continues at the royal overseas league till the 21st of november.