National 8 (Spotlight Weekly)

PHOTO EXPOSITION
Mapping Modernity

Leading photographers capture brilliant images of Nepal's transformation

By KESHAB POUDEL

When W. Kirkpatrick began writing "An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal", based on his visit to the kingdom in 1793, among the first things he recalled was the garbage and open sewerage in Kathmandu. According to Mahesh C. Regmi's "Nepal: An Historical Miscellany," the then ruler issued an official notice to the people to manage their garbage.

Despite the advent of modernity, one is still stung by the stench of piles of garbage in public places in the three cities of the valley, particularly during times of festivals. However, a lot of things have changed, especially over the last five decades.

Fifty-five works by 19 professional and amateur photographers recently exhibited at the Nepal Art Council gallery vividly captured some of these changes. The ambience of the exhibition, organized by Nepal Photographic Society Nepal with support from Eco-Himal, also served to exemplify the social transformation. Rinchen Yonjon decorated the exhibition site with various symbols of modernity and its implication on society.

Although the photos were mostly taken in different parts of the country, it seemed as if they came from the same session. From the traditional way of killing buffaloes to the arrival of modern entertainment through disc antenna in the remote Himalayan region of Jumla, the photographers mirrored the scope of change. At the broader level, they portrayed rivers and forests succumbing to growing human activities.

Inaugurated by prominent scholar Dr. Harka Gurung, the photo exhibition, among other things, depicted the various manifestations of change in the fields of lifestyle, relationships, and technology in and around the city and rural areas.

The photographers surveyed the city's changing lifestyles by depicting the growth of new concrete buildings where traditional structures once stood. Prominent photographers from Nepal and abroad made a joint effort to map modernity and its manifestations in Nepal.

Featuring the works of Mani Lama, Anil K. Ranjet, Asha Mathema, Ashok Shakya, Basanta Thapa, Birendra Pradhan, Dilip Vaidhesya, Dinesh Maharjan, and Gajendra Shrestha. K.B. Limbu, Nucheeman Dangol, Sudarson Karki, Sanu Raja Vajracharya, Shova Maharjan and Suresh Shakya and foreign photographers Kim Hong Sung, Nick Dawson and Susan Leigh Stebbins, the exhibition was the first to focus on modernity.

Eco-Himal, the society for Ecological Cooperation Alps-Himalaya, a non-profit NGO, has been working with local grass-roots organizations in the Himalayas since 1992. In line with the Austrian Development Cooperation, Eco-Himal projects aim at generating income and brining long-term benefit to the lives of the local population.

Along with supporting programs in the ecological sector, the organization promotes cultural activities like photo and art exhibitions. Eco-Himal is restoring and revitalizing the Keshar Mahal Garden of Dreams as a model for the development of quality tourism and architectural preservation.

Among the notable things the photographs showed was the changing landscape of Kathmandu valley, where big concrete buildings have begun to overshadow temples and traditional buildings. As for the piles of garbage, unlike the 18th century, the people of Kathmandu may not be amenable to official admonitions. But they are far more aware of the urgency of the problem and better equipped to solve it. Don't you call that change?