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Kathmandu Sunday December 16, 2001 Paush 01, 2058.
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Art for Bamiyan Buddha’s
sake
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Dec 15 – An art exhibition began
in the capital today as part of a fund-raising exercise to rebuild the Bamiyan Buddha
statue in Afghanistan which was destroyed by the Taliban early this year.
The funds collected during the painting and
installation exhibition will be donated to a private Swiss company which will be
overseeing the reconstruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statue. The exhibition at the
Siddhartha Art Gallery is being organised by the Nepal Heritage Society and the Siddhartha
Art Gallery.
On show are 30 works of Indian painter Prakaash
Chandwadkar, prints by Nepali artist Ragini Upadhyay-Grela, canvases of Finnish painter
Juha Holopainen, as well as installation works of four other Nepali artists— Sunita
Rana, Sudarshan Rana, Ashmina Ranjit and Gopal Kalapremi.
The themes of all the works at the show revolve
around the Bamiyan icon.
Chandwadkar, the Indian painter, said that he is
willing to donate one lakh rupees to the Bamiyan fund from his "Five Pancha
Buddhas" which is priced at Rs. 2,50,000.
A video film by Jeong Myeong Kyeong, Kim Hong
Sung, Paek Kyung Hoon and Son Jin Sook will also be shown throughout the exhibition.
Inaugurating the exhibition, Chokyi Nyima
Rimpoche from the Boudha monastery said, "I can see that so many people are
interested in peace, harmony and compassion which is so very important in today’s
world. I get the feeling that lots of artists have the good intention of spreading
peace."
The Australian Ambassador to Nepal, Crispin
Conroy, was also present at the inauguration. He said, "Bamiyan Buddha surely is a
tragic loss, and the homage to that statue and that cultural heritage is highly
encouraging."
The band Sur Sudha enlivened the opening day
function with its classical musical recital along with Fusion dance performance by the
Nritya Mandap.
The exhibition will continue till January 10,
2002.
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