Expressions of Devotion’ – Return of the Great Prints

Madan Chitrakar

Art lovers of Kathmandu rarely get to see and enjoy classy works of ‘Prints’- an important medium of creative ‘Art’ today. It is for the two obvious reasons. First, the ‘Prints’- as a powerful medium in creative art here, is relatively of a recent origin: and thus is a new phenomenon which has yet to take strong roots. And secondly, in Nepali Art, truly speaking, there are only a very few artists who are really committed to this medium with heart and soul - to exercise, promote and nurture it honestly for the larger cause – simultaneously: and moreover, who also remain technically sound and competent to execute it. Two gifted contemporary Nepali artists – Uma Shanker Shah and Dr. Seema Sharma Shah – also a couple in real life, remain amongst this rare group of gifted artists that fit in the unique descriptions made above.

And today, a good news for the Kathmandu art lovers is that the artists duo for the first time in their life and art journey, has come forward to treat the Kathmanduites with their collection of latest exquisite ‘Prints’ - entitled the ‘Expressions of Devotion’. The present Show acquires a special significance for the viewers as well as to the artists themselves both for many reasons. Although the artists duo have had made several public appearances together abroad - the first being in Seoul in Korea in 2007 followed by an Exhibition at famous Jahangir Art Gallery in Mumbai in 2009 and at Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi in 2012, this is for the first time that they have decided to make a collective presentation. Obviously, it should create a unique platform where a viewer has an option or an opportunity to experience the collective creative strength as well as an artist’s normal desire to establish or search for an individual identity.

But, it may well be noted here that Uma Shankar and Dr. Seema both individually, have well remained powerful names in Nepali Art since their very debuts. Their creative presence have remained well felt uninterruptedly since then and have had well succeeded to remain respectable names in their own rights. And interestingly, to both of them the first decade of Twenty First century have remained historic and extremely meaningful - as reflected by their numerous and memorable solo shows they have held individually at the frequent intervals of time in Kathmandu.

Uma Shanker Shah and Dr. Seema Sharma Shah both the artists – as the painters or as the Print makers, have always been known for their profound love for the choice of spiritual themes and the earlier local cultural motifs and the forms as the essential elements in their creative spaces. And in the present series too, the artists are again seeking to showcase the similar state of mind and again, the choice of elements to express are too from the motifs and forms derived from the past cultural heritage. But here the similarity ends and begins a quest or a desire of an artist’s freedom or an identity. True that the entire series is collectively entitled as the Expressions of Devotion and bond by a broad common spiritual theme, but each artist is unmistakably guided by his or her own individual creative perceptions: and a desire to express accordingly with different tools.

Uma Shankar’s Ramayana

While seeking to see through the present series, it is being observed that the thoughts of Uma Shanker persistently have remained or been dominated by the ongoing or never ending struggle of egos or a struggle between the evil versus the good. And to the artist apparently, to share and convey his thoughts visually and creatively with the viewers no other forms could have served more effectively than the narratives from the great Hindu epic Ramayana. The great Hindu epic has had remained a timeless metaphor of a struggle between the good and the evil. And in the long run, the good always prevails over the evil. In the past too, many creative personas have had chosen to express the saga in their own creative works. Here too, Uma Shankar has chosen to express his thoughts with the help of symbolic narratives from the great Hindu epic Ramayana. And aptly, he describes his body of works as ‘Ramayana’.

And to make the visual narratives Uma Shankar has made a unique choice of forms – going back to the rich Maithili Art tradition and borrow the timeless motifs from the tradition. Here it is worth remembering that the artist Uma Shankar comes from a place where the tradition of Maithili Art has had always remained an integral part of human life. In no way, anyone from the region could have untouched or uninfluenced by such a rich tradition. And it should be more so to an artist. Therefore, influences from the Maithili Art, it is obvious, have had remained deeply ingrained in the inner psyche of the artist. So as a spontaneous expression, Uma Shankar liberally created the entire series out of the familiar characters from the Maithili Art. To give it a more life and a vibrant environment he embellished the entire series with the popular elements from the tradition like ‘Khobar’ motifs, Fish, parrots, snakes or the local musical instruments. Besides, Uma also has chosen to create a Video presentation with a unique mix – video clips taken from a real event of an annual festival of ‘Rama–Lila’- where the slaying of main villain Ravan is enacted to the clips showing a relentless exchange of arrows taken from his own works – highlighting the struggle.

To sum up, Uma Shanker’s works represent a unique mix of his current inner thoughts and his profound love and his way of paying a tribute to the rich Maithili Art.

The Avatar – of Dr. Seema

Dr. Seema Sharma Shah, at the same time, is innately immersed in the mystic thoughts of multiplicity in the eastern philosophy of incarnation or the multiple manifestations of divine beings – a unique phenomenon described as Avatars in Hinduism and related mythology associated with it. To express it Seema has chosen to adopt the timeless anthropomorphic images of Hindu divinities as the basic elements in her works. And to make it more interesting and meaningful presentation, she has made an amazing and extensive search of motifs and forms as found in a vast geographic area of the Indian sub-continent – spanning from Varanasi in the Gangetic plains to the remote villages in and around Kathmandu.

But it is worth recalling that Seema has always been known for her tireless display of her fascinations with the medieval cultural art tradition of Kathmandu. In the past too in a number of occasions, exotic art forms from the medieval art from Kathmandu Valley have always found important place in her exquisite ‘Prints’. So it is no wonder that many of the images found in her present series are also based on the multiple forms of chosen deities. Many of her chosen deities like Ganesha, Mother Goddess Durga, and Lord Buddha are being created in their various manifestations – closely based on the forms as found in the important religious sites of the Valley. However, Dr. Seema has not forgotten to include some important images like the famous image of ‘Sankata Mochan’ –Hanuman found in a place as far as Varanasi, India - the birth place of the artist.

By creating the series, artist Seema has sought to serve a twin purpose – her ability to make research based study of the religious images of a particular deity found in the various places: and secondly, a clear demonstration of the artist’s ability to render the subject in an exquisite ‘Prints’.

The Superior Technical strength

The series in its entirety represents a new stage in Nepali Art – the art of Print making in particular. The artists duo have long remained known as one of the finest Print makers of the country and are usually credited for taking the genre to a more popular level. But more importantly, they remain the pioneers in creating a set of new generation of Print makers in the country as the art educators as well. This has become possible primarily because both the artists have remained not only academically qualified but have remained well exposed to the latest related technical support like ‘Viscocity’. Therefore, the present represents a significant shift in the genre – demonstrated by a lofty choice of themes where an artist has a great space for unlimited explorations and a level of technical quality one can achieve in the genre today. Lastly, it is fair to assert that ‘Expressions of Devotion’ should remain a memorable event in the annals of contemporary Nepali Art. Congratulations with all the best wishes.

madanc@ntc.net.np

19 March 2013