Vignettes of Dolpo and Mustang
Komatsu’s photographic pilgrimage

Pragya RAJOURIA

He feels homesick if he can’t visit Dolpo at least once each year. This place has become second home to Kenichi Komatsu from Japan. "I feel spiritually connected to Dolpo and Mustang. I want to breathe my last breath here," he says.

His profound love for this remote area in Nepal began almost thirteen years back for this photographer born in Okayama prefecture of Japan in 1953. He fascination with cameras began in his teen years and he later took photography as profession working for newspapers. This widely traveled photo journalist loves to take stills of remote and pristine parts of the world untouched and unmarred by modernity.

"Mustang and Dolpo are gems among human civilizations today. People there are still very human. They haven’t lost the innate human values like love, respect, friendship and compassion. They lead a very tough life but they value life. Material goods come second to them," says Komatsu. He is disenchanted with the type of existential life that people lead in Japan. "For majority of people in Japan, money and material goods are more important than religion, family life and spiritual pursuit," he expressed. "I really appreciate the ways Nepalese look after their elderly parents, the way siblings help each other and the compassion Nepalese show for other human beings," he added. "In those distant parts of Nepal people are living natural life in the laps of nature. In that place I came to know what life is all about and what is important in life," he said.

His photographs in display in photo exhibition at Patan museum is a testimony to his spiritual and physical affinity to this place. Words are insufficient to describe the beauty of what his camera has captured. Casual interest alone can never make one see what he has seen in Mustang and Dolpo. He has photographed men, women, children, Gods and nature of these places. Each photograph speaks volumes about its subject matter. The coarse hands of hardworking woman, barefoot children writing in mud-covered slabs of wood and young nuns standing on the threshold of monastery, each tell a story of their own.

"I have taken these photographs to show to people in Japan and other western world how beautiful Nepal is, especially places like Mustang and Doplo," said Komatsu. "I hope people will understand what life actually is and what things are really important in life thorough my photographs," he said. "My photographs taken in those two places has even influenced some people in Japan to change their outlook towards life and lead a meaningful life," he added. "I have held exhibitions at various places to tell people there that Nepal is more than a country affected by the maoists. It is a beautiful land with rich cultural heritage and where people are spiritual and religious," he said.

Buy paintings at bargAin price

Perina PATHAK

Are you an art lover? Are you interested in collecting artworks of popular artists? Then don’t let this opportunity get out of your hands. Go and grab your piece today - the best work of your favourite artist at Srijana Contemporary Art Gallery at Kamaladi.

The gallery walls look very attractive these days with innumerable paintings hung to greet the viewers’ eyes. Acrylic, mixed, oil, etching, water, tempra, pen and ink — you can get any medium and any type of painting from abstract work to traditional style in this grand sale exhibition of paintings. The exhibition displaying painting of all the senior and junior Nepali artists’ gives a good chance to all art lovers to get a good piece at bargain price.

Whether it is an abstract art or landscape or art work belonging to any genre, the paintings exhibited in the gallery has the main objective of attracting Nepali buyers. Therefore the organiser and artist themselves have put a ceiling to prices for affordability of Nepali art enthusiasts. They begin as low as Rs 1,000 and go up to Rs 5,000.

"The main objective of this sale exhibition is to promote Nepali artists in the homeland," said Nabindra Rajbhandari, member of the Gallery. "We want to let know the Nepali buyers that the value of art work will increase rapidly and may even increase fourfold within a decade."

Exhibition sale of paintings does not happen frequently in Kathmandu. Ten years ago the gallery and artists tried to attract local buyers to artworks - not just for their home decoration but also for long term business purpose. But till-date there is no change in artistic habits and tastes of Nepalese buyers. To artists’ dismay, they prefer to decorate their homes with inanimate, decorative pieces than with paintings.

In the sale exhibition with thea theme ‘A house without a painting is not a home. Give a soul to your home with paintings,’ more than 270 paintings are displayed. Starting 22nd November till 1st December altogether 85 artists have participated in the promotional programme. Senior artist like Kiran Manandhar, Shashi Bikram Shah, Uttam Nepali have lowered the prices of their otherwise expensive paintings to encourage the domestic buyers.

The buyers have a huge variety to choose from; landscape, portrait, abstract, traditional, or any genre of painting. Here is a good chance to decorate your home with the colourful canvasses of Nepali artists. The exhibition so far cannot be called a runaway successs and it awaits the potential buyers.

When entering the hall - buyers can collect Shahi Bikram Shah’s Kalki, Kiran Manandhar’s abstract art, Krishna Manandhar’s landscape and paintings by other juniour and senior artists that highlight Nepali style, women and habitat.

Time is rapidly running out and Sunday is the last day. So go and get the best picture today for your home and decorate your sweet home. Don’t let this change get out of your hand.

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