National 9 (Spotlight Weekly)

Colorful And Vibrant

An American artist Susan Gillerman Boggs displays her paintings at Siddhartha Art Gallery

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

By sheer coincidence, Susan Gillerman Boggs has been destined to live in different countries of South Asia for the past couple of years. And, naturally, she has been taken aback by the rich cultural and natural delights present in this part of the world.

A portrait of woman from Jumla : Clear expression

An artist within Susan was tickled by the cultural distinction of the region, which is so diverse and full of life. Being a wife of a diplomat, Susan had to travel a lot. And she does not mind traveling – as revealed by her passion for painting wherever she goes.

For an artist, getting close to various culture and nature is an essential part of life that motivates them to try their hand at different things.

So after Susan came to Nepal with her husband Robert Boggs some two and a half years ago, she could not stay not engaging in her passion for too long. In fact, US Ambassador Michael Malinowski recalls while selecting a residence for Boggs couple, he and his wife took special care to choose one that had a space for gallery. “We knew Susan would be painting and would one day be holding her exhibition here,” said Malinowski opening her solo painting exhibition titled “Reflections of South Asia”.

In her first exhibition in Kathmandu, Susan has chosen paintings of nature and people. There are paintings of Rajasthani women of India and Jumli woman of Nepal. She has used acrylic and mixed media for her paintings.

Apart from people, Susan seems to be fascinated by fruits, flowers and vegetables. The paintings of lily, grapes and brinjal are very bright and colorful. In fact, she has used very bright colors in all her paintings. “I am enthralled by bright colors. I also like the bright color sari the women here often dress up with and their draperies,” said Susan.

Susan says that experience of living in South Asian region has been very wonderful to her as an artist. “It is so marvelous to encounter with many different kinds of tribal faces and so on,” she said.

Susan comes from a family of professional artists. She has been drawing and painting from childhood. She refined her skill in using acrylic paints during the five years she worked as a professional costume designer for opera companies around the United States. She has had exhibitions in New Delhi, Colombo, Kolkata, USA and now in Kathmandu.

“I think the sub-title of this exhibition should be Reflections of South Asia as there are paintings of people from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and so on,” said Malinowski.

Susan has put up 33 of her paintings at the show. They are for sale and the exhibition will continue till January 9, 2004.

KOREAN CULTURE

The Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Kathmandu organized the 2003 Korean Traditional Performance at the Birendra International Convention Center on December 12.

A very prestigious Korean cultural troupe – called Chongdong Traditional Arts Troupe – displayed various kinds of traditional dances and music to an impressive gathering of Nepalese audience.

Opening the performance, Korean Ambassador to Nepal Park Sang-hoon said that this cultural performance had been arranged to introduce Korean culture to Nepal and to promote the cultural exchange between the two countries.

“Korea’s traditional performing arts are its precious cultural heritage accumulated throughout the long history of Korea. Korea’s traditional music and dance reflect the nation’s identity as well as Korean people’s lives and passions,” he said.

The Korean troupe performed five different items – Buchaechum, which was a very smooth-flowing Fan Dance; Samul-nori, an orchestral music; Gummu, a captivating sword dance, Pansori, traditional Korean song; and Pan-gut, a truly breath-taking performance which has its roots in farmer’s dance.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sarbendra Nath Shukla was present during the performance. “Cultural exchanges like this will go a long way in promoting the bilateral relations of the two countries,” he said.