ekata ko bhitto:
the wall of unity 2022
Curated by Kailash K Shrestha
Artudio in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu initiated the Street Art Project focusing on the theme of social inclusion and equity curated by contemporary artist Kailash K Shrestha. By combining cross-cultural exchange, research, workshops, public discourses, and a publication, Artudio intends to wield street art forms to acknowledge, celebrate, promote, inspire, and incite voices of the minority and socially excluded community in Nepal. Artudio also aspires to showcase the creative potential of mural and graffiti art to inspire social change and establish critical public dialogue on key issues of inclusion and equity. To realize this aspiration, Artudio invited Nepali artists to submit their concept designs to be a part of this exciting Street Art project and engaged shortlisted artists in various curatorial engagements in Janakpur and Kathmandu for the final mural project. The project project collaborated with distinguished mural artist Man One from the United States with Nepali artists. The project helped promote collaboration and introspection among the Nepali participating artists on the power of art to inspire change in society. The project also created a platform for underrepresented artists to reach new policymakers on important issues related to inclusion and equity.
“The Wall of Unity” is a collaborative mural from artists from diverse backgrounds, geography, ethnicity, and art forms. This makes not just artwork, but the process itself diverse. It represents the emotions of people from Nepal to the USA, from the plains to hills to the Himalayas. The main theme of the artwork is to highlight unity and diversity. The artwork plays on themes of social inclusion through vibrations. We are all different, but we connect on a sensory level. In this way, “Wall of Unity” celebrates traditional instruments and music from various ethnic groups of Nepal. These instruments were developed separately in the plains, hills, and mountains of Nepal, but the culture of making sounds is human, innate, and global. The wall of unity also shows unity and diversity through the different skin tones, cultural dress, and ages portrayed on the wall. Likewise, the artists’ diverse art practices, origins, and backgrounds unite to create harmony in this piece.
Rivers of the world
Curated by Kailash K Shrestha
Rivers of the World is an international arts education programme implemented as part of the British Council's Connecting Classrooms programme through Global Learning, which was started in 2017. It is implemented in schools across the world with young people aged 12 to 14 to help inspire, educate and connect them to their local river through arts. The programme is designed to bring awareness among teachers and students about the connection between rivers, environment and life through developing art facilitated by a professional artist. The Project in Nepal was initiated through an interaction with Adrian Evans, Director of “Totally Thames” from the UK and contemporary Nepali artist Kailash K Shrestha. Six schools from Kathmandu and Pokhara worked on the project and produced 12 pieces of artwork in two years. The project provided these students a platform to interact with a professional artist and collaborate with one another to create innovative art.
dolakha album 2016
Curated by Kailash K Shrestha
Dolakha Album: A short term curated community homestay art residency was a short-term residency curated by artist Kailash K Shrestha founder of Artudio. It was hosted in Gairimudi, Dolakha between 3 – 12 May, 2016. The primary goal of the platform was to integrate artistic process and creations into the context of the setting. Installation, new media and multimedia artists were selected by the curator to travel to the village, where they conducted research and created works to reflect their understanding of the complex realities of life in rural Nepal, post-earthquakes of 2015. While no thematic restrictions were levied, artists were limited to material found in the community. Further, each artist was hosted by a community resident affected by the earthquake and strategic encounters with the community were facilitated under the supervision of the curator.
you are the observer
Curated by Kailash K Shrestha