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“We are always thinking about preserving our history and our centuries-old art, but what about the artists today? What legacy are we going to leave behind?” These questions frequently occur to Sudeep Balla, 31, a 2D visual artist, who has been working as a full-time artist since 2014, the year he got his bachelor’s degree in arts.

“As an artist, it is important for me to balance my artistic and financial freedoms,” he says. Balla, who is passionate about doing graffiti, mural and street art, is currently busy designing a restaurant wall in Bhaktapur. His commissioned work has a fixed deadline, a fixed canvas and a fixed plan. He was involved in painting the famous mural of Labim Mall and in many other public artworks around Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

“For commissioned work, you mostly work on someone else’s ideas. And as much as I like art, I would rather spend my time on my own ideas. The problem with that is there is no deadline. You need rigorous discipline to finish a work that you do for yourself because it feels like ‘I have time. I will eventually do it.’ And yet, the work that I do for myself are the ones I value the most.” He says that is where he finds his artistic freedom.

Balla feels people are now more accepting of art in all its forms, and public interest and involvement has increased since he started out. “I do not even want respect but I should get to work the way I want and my art should find a space in this world.” He says his artist friends feel the same way.

Balla, a Bhaktapur native, wishes there was more investment too with greater interest. He says local people and municipality are not interested in financially supporting the kind of art he and some of his friends want to do in Bhaktapur. “We are our own support for now. In the time we spend finding investors for a project, we can finish a mural,” he says.

Balla is in a three-member group “Devotee” that want to improve the art scene of Bhaktapur. “If each of us contributes just Rs 5,000, we have Rs 15,000 already.” Because his art is aimed at somehow adding to the historic value of Bhaktapur, he doesn’t want financial investment to be an obstacle.

“When local people see the impact that art brings to the community, they come forward to support us,” says Balla. He says when they start a work in a community, the locals invariably say, “Why is this even necessary? You are coming into our space and changing the way it was.” But when their work is finished, the locals realize its true value and they become so happy that they often invite the artists to their homes.

Balla also cites vandalism as a major problem for artists. “There are people who write and carve randomly on public walls and trees. They may destroy my art as well,” Balla says. “We need to respect art. If there was no vandalism, there would be more space for art.”

Another problem with artists in Bhaktapur, Balla adds, is their lack of marketing knowhow. He says artists should learn to self-manage their Instagram and Facebook pages so as to increase the value of their art.

“Art of Bhaktapur is similar to apples of Mustang. Outside dealers go to Mustang, take the juicy apples and sell them where they are needed for profit. A similar thing is happening to artworks of Bhaktapur. There are many artists but with little knowledge of marketing,” Balla explains. He asserts it is increasingly important to know the value of your work and how to market it.

And where does he draw his inspiration from? “Our artworks can be traced back to our experiences in childhood. Similarly we learn from other artists.” Balla says he feels dissatisfied with his work if he cannot show on canvas what he has in mind.

“I did exhibitions in college. As a part of my course work, I used to spend up to six months working on ideas for my paintings and getting them on canvas.” In class, students were asked to figure why they were interested in doing a particular art, what form it would eventually take and which colors it would encompass.

“An artist is expected to explain the story behind each color and the reason for making the artwork that size.” He says some students cried during the learning process because of the sheer pressure. “But once you get the hang of things, you have artistic freedom. Nobody can question your work after that and even if they do, you will have answers”.

Irish Pub at Lazimpat has always been the go-to place for expats of all backgrounds living in Kathmandu, especially the Irish. (Not to suggest it is any less popular among locals.) The complex opposite the famous Ambassador Hotel in Lainchaur hosts the semi-underground Irish Pub with its wooden-themed, dimly-lit ambience, with touches of green all over to represent Ireland’s favorite color.

 The menu boasts of Irish as well as international cuisines and the full-fledged bar offers a huge variety of local and imported drinks. Irish’s regular clientele also seem to love what little variety of Nepali-styled food it offers, especially the buff sukuti and the pork shyapta. Regular events at weekends, including live bands and DJ sessions, as well as special celebrations on St Patrick’s Day and the like, are what make Irish Pub the hotspot for partygoers.

PS: The pub photographer is damn good and you might want to drop by for a couple of photos when you have taken the trouble to dress in your best, if for nothing else.

THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Shepherd’s Pie

- Chicken Wrap

- Hummus

Opening hours: 3:00 pm-11:00 pm

Location: Lazimpat

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 2,000

Reservations: 01-4416027

 Women globally have played a critical role in ani­mal advocacy since the 19th century. While there are many organizations doing work in their locality to promote animal wel­fare and rights, the organizations below stand out particularly for their work, and for being founded and led by women.

Animal Nepal was established as an NGO in 2008 by Pramada Shah. In the last decade, she’s led the efforts to grow the organization together with an all-women board. She strong­ly believes in the “need to institution­alize things to establish any move­ment, and to leave behind a system for the next generation of leaders.”

Pramada’s vision for Animal Nepal: “The results of our endeavors might not be immediate, but I aspire to ensure that the advocacy we are doing leads to effective policies. I believe in informing laws and poli­cies for long-term impact.”

 The KAT center was registered as a non-profit, charitable animal welfare organisation in 2003

Campaigns she is proud of: “I am thankful that the Supreme Court has made a decision to reduce the scale of sacrifice during the Gadhimai fes­tival. With our collective efforts, we have managed to reduce the number of buffaloes sacrificed from 20,000 in 2009 to 3,000 in 2014. The work of fellow animal welfare activist Manoj Gautam has been instrumental in effecting this change. Our Equine Program on the fair treatment of working animals has become a mod­el for the international community to replicate. We have a sanctuary for equines rescued from brick kilns where they faced poor treatment.”

Parting thoughts: “I strongly believe in leveraging the power of partnerships. It’s extremely encour­aging to see the number of individ­uals and corporate Nepali donors growing to support our work.”

SPCA-Nepal is one of Nepal’s old­est animal welfare initiatives, which had direct links to the international umbrella organization. Established in 1992, SPCA is the first organization to work on animal welfare, rescue and animal-rights advocacy. It is cur­rently led by a working committee of eight women and three men.

Samjhana Acharya shares, “I’ve been vegetarian for 12 years, and once I left the banking sector, I wanted to be a part of the eco­system that advocates on behalf of animals. I feel humans cannot exist without animals, but animals can exist without us. We should all make a joint effort to do the least harm to our fellow beings.”

Beena Pant shares, “I feel the most sympathetic toward cows; hence our main focus is on developing a rehabilitation center for cows. We have managed to secure land in Paanchkhal and want to make this a model project that can be scaled up across the country. Cows are considered holy in our culture and their by-products have multiple uses, including organic fertilizers. I hope we can get more people to support us in our journey.”

Sneha Care’s founder Sneha Shres­tha shares, “I wasn’t always an ani­mal lover. Four years ago, after much pestering from my husband, I finally agreed to get some puppies, one of which, Zara, became more than a family member to me. But one day, she got poisoned by a neighbor who didn’t like her barking. And despite desperate efforts to save her, she died four days later. In Hindu cul­ture, when a family member dies, we observe rituals for 13 days. I did this for my dog. Knowing how Zara had suffered I began to see street dogs differently. I started feeding them and began paying for space to give dogs shelter, care and regular meals. But I wasn’t satisfied. So with the support of my husband, I sold a house I owned and opened a shelter for dogs. Sneha’s Care means a lot to me as it is my home where hundreds of dogs, 13 cows, six pigs and four goats live. We have helped more than 10,000 animals in just four years and we continue to help those in need.”

Campaigns she is proud of: We started working on implementing the “Live Animal Transportation Standards, 2007”. Since last year, the cruel conditions in which buf­faloes are transported have ended because of the campaign. We also collaborate with other organizations to inform school students about ani­mal welfare.

“Most of my volunteers and sup­porters are women. Women are full of love and passion. They can save the world.”

The KAT center was registered as a non-profit, charitable animal welfare organisation in 2003. Jan Salter, the founder, was a talented artist and humanitarian. In 2010 she was pre­sented with the “Extraordinary Com­mitment and Achievement Award” by Humane Society International. She passed away last year, but her vision and love for animals endures.

Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Let us all do our part in supporting these organizations to ensure that Nepal is seen as a leading nation in protecting the rights and freedoms of animals.

For all the art aficionados out there, the Kathmandu Art gallery has brought to you a mega-art exhibition of the year at Le Sherpa, Maharajgunj entitled “Love Revisited”. The exhibition was inau­gurated by the EU ambassador to Nepal Ms. Veronica Cody on March 13, and will continue until April 13. The event showcases about 35 different art projects crafted by eminent artist and former Chancel­lor of Nepal Academy of Fine Arts, Ragini Upadhyaya Grela. Through the exhibition, Upadhyaya wants to convey a message about various fac­ets of love to art enthusiasts and the general public alike. Upadhyaya has been inspired by the various hues of love such as ‘warm red, romantic pink, green of mother earth and peaceful white’.

This is Upadhyaya’s 61st solo art exhibition. It allows visitors to see how love has evolved over the years and the significance of the human heart in making love a success. The artist has used various techniques such as mixed media style, and met­al/aluminum printing to craft her artworks, which are dedicated ‘to all the mothers and daughters’ of the world who have experienced love and pain in all forms. The exhibi­tion is about the continuation of her journey as a woman artist, the cel­ebration of the International Wom­en's Month as well as the power of mother earth.

“Generations of women have often been shackled by male dom­inance and a patriarchal society, wherein women’s roles are given little importance. It’s high time we realized the variety of ways women have showered love upon men, with unending loyalty and trust,” says Upadhyaya. “In love there is always pain. Love and pain share a unique, ubiquitous and great relationship.”

Upadhyaya says women and wom­anhood have always been an inspi­ration for her. Her artworks in this exhibition are about the purity of love and love in the age of social media. She has also made a compar­ison between the various roles wom­en play as someone’s girlfriend, wife, mother, daughter, grandmother and so on. Upadhyaya’s art especially highlights the power of love, vari­ous aspects of love, womanhood, patience and sacrifice women make for their family.

The artworks showcased in the exhibition have been given various titles, such as welcome time, time wheel, sound of love, heart (series), flying time with love, in one, love triangle, love in the air (series), kumara, love and pain (series), the kiss, shadow of love, love time (series), around the stupa, cross culture, etc.

The price of the artworks range from Rs 25,000 to Rs 800,000. And 10 percent of the proceeds from the sales will go to the projects run by Shivata Love Foundation Nepal, an NGO.

“Love provides a special linkage between our hearts and minds, transcending the physical limita­tions of our bodies. My life start­ed as a blank canvas from the moment I was brought into this beautiful world by my loving par­ents. They put their colors and shaped me into who I am today. Lat­er, my society, country and teachers molded me in even better ways. My creations are an open diary of my life, which I want to share with everyone,” says Upadhyaya.