The Exhibition, with a total budget of Rs 907500 financed by Rambouillet, French Embassy in Nepal and Agromax, the French Cultural Association of Asian Artists, is slated for December and will show the work of 19 Nepali and 1 Tibetan artists in the prestigious Palace. Dominique Rongers, the president of the association says, with nods of agreement from the group of artists gathered at the back lawn of the Alliance Francaise, "Most people come to Nepal to see the Himalayas but art is very beautiful and different here, not many people outside Nepal know about it".

The organisers intend to help promote Nepali art through the exhibition. Says Rongers, admitting to the fact that the market for contemporary art in Nepal is less popular than for traditional art, "Our commitment is not only to promote old but young artists and for most of these artists the exhibition in France will be for the first time." She adds that if all goes well then Lain Singh Bangdel's works will also be included in the exhibition.

Although the art works are on their way to France, the artists, for the present are not. "In France financial assistance from the government is asked at least 10 months earlier than the actual date of the programme. Since we didn't know that we would get this opportunity, we do not have financial assistance for the artists to go to France." But at least six artists are expected to accompany the exhibitors financing the necessary budget themselves.

On how it all started and how the twenty artists were chosen, Rongers says, "I met Uttam Nepali, director of NAFA. Agreeing to the idea, he gave me their addresses. I know I missed good artists. Out of the thirty I met, I selected 20".

To reflect Nepal's art, the organisers have expressly chosen both the modern and the traditional, perhaps realising that this is essentially the makeup of Nepal's artistic heritage. According to the artist Kiran Manandhar, contemporary art explores the five elements. One of his paintings exhibited at The Alliance Francaise and ready for the coming exhibition has Buddhist prayer flags against the abstract swirls and flourishes of different colours. He says that he's drawn to Buddhist philosophy (which shows his traditional side) and the contemporary art which projects his feelings and emotions. "I feel that there has to be some touches of the artist's own environment in his contemporary art otherwise it would be difficult to distinguish between eastern and western modern art. After all more than the conscious part of the human psychology, the subconscious part works".

Krishna Manandhar, another well known artist part of the upcoming exhibition, agrees that contemporary painting is emotional and abstract. "Colours express layers of emotions and feelings". His use of subtle shades of blue and white echo his feeling.

Some of the other artists for the show, like Erina Tamrakar project simple village women as subjects to be unearthed whereas Sarita Dangol focuses her eye on landscapes. Traditional Mithila art is also not forgotten in the shape of Subodh Chandra's use of natural pigments like cow dung in his work. Another artist Sunita Rana says that the silhouettes of men and women in her canvas suggest the continuous nature of our life cycle where no boundary can obstruct the circle of life.

Shobha Adhikary Wagle depicts the chaos of the city -- what she chooses to call the 'Kathmandu reality' where temples and structures like Dharahara and Ghantaghar look as if they are ready to collapse any moment due to the congestion and lack of breathing space. She uses plywood, thread, plastic, saw dust and dyeing colours.