Reg. UK Charity No.1121118 

©  KAC 2009

NGOs and INGOs in Nepal target obvious humanitarian needs. Help for art and artists is a wasteland and has been neglected in recent years. Political upheaval, poor infrastructure and lack of contact with the outside world have left artists isolated. We hope to help the future of contemporary art by offering tools, skills and international exposure to improve the life of contemporary artists.

In the current political climate life is very difficult for artists. There is a need for an apolitical, world-class arts centre, independently funded, where artists are free to express themselves without judgement.

The KAC will be open to all artists, supporting the future generation of artists and attracting national and international artists and art-lovers.

A HISTORY OF ART IN NEPAL

Kathmandu Valley has been called “a museum without walls”      

The history of Nepal began in, and centres on, the Kathmandu Valley. For 2,500 years its inhabitants, the Newars, have created countless masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu Art. The fame of these extraordinary artists travelled well beyond Nepal into Tibet, Bhutan, India and as far as the court of Kublai Khan. The strategic location of the Kathmandu Valley, on the trade route between northern India and Tibet, ensured it’s growth and survival. The new and lucrative trade between these nations resulted in great wealth for Nepal and numerous international artistic commissions.  Even today, in each region, art plays an integral role in the ceremonies and festivals of Nepalis from birth to death.

A century of isolation                                                                  

This great flowering of art and ideas closed in on itself in 1850 when, under Rana rule, Nepal adopted a policy of deliberate political isolation.  Contemporary artists could not reach their full potential as they did in  neighboring countries.  In India, Pakistan and Bangladesh the British Raj set up art academies that played a pivotal role in enhancing contemporary expression. Nepal’s political isolation lasted a hundred years until 1952.                                                               

Since 1952 Nepal has been making bold strides to catch up with the rest of the world while striving to maintain its own cultural identity.

The need for the Kathmandu Arts Centre

Today in Nepal there is a lack of infrastructure for the development and growth of contemporary art and very little help for its artists.    We aim to establish the KAC as a  dynamic centre for both Nepalese and international artists with world-class exhibitions, workshops and symposia and an active artist exchange programme. The KAC hopes to build an international cultural centre allowing the world to hear the distinctive voice of a  younger generation of artists who have emerged and who have a voice that deserves to be heard.

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