Kathmandu:

Artists don’t care about territorial boundaries if the matter of their interest matches. Such is the case with two French artists and a group of five young Nepali artists whose combined effort to create ceramic works is on exhibition at the Siddhartha Art Gallery. The exhibition which was inaugurated by Prof Dr Bhadra Man Tuladhar, Registrar of Kathmandu University, on March 23 showcases the Raku ceramics created by French artists Patrice Rouby and Barbara Weibel and five young artists from KU.

The diverse ideas of all seven artists have been reflected in their respective works as all have given different themes to their works.

In one of his works, Rouby has shaped clay into shapes of moon watchers, a group of people gazing at the moon. The artist here seems to give life to this group. Black in colour, these works so coloured due to smoke.

Weibel has tried to depict death as a powerful agent of transformation by creating cracks and irregular shapes in one of her works named ‘Transformation’. Similarly, the Tibetan scripts carved in her works reflect her interest in the Tibetan culture.

Puskar Risal has attempted to convert clay into cubes. Entitling his work as ‘Offerings’, he has smeared the blue cubes with gold leaves which are pasted over it.

“These shapes are the most sacred and purest offerings made to Lord Buddha,” explained Risal.

Gaurav Man Sthapit’s creations are basically in shape of vessels where the abstract forms are more dominant than the light colours he has used from the glazing of glass. Amit Raj Shilakar, Suman Thapa and Sheelasa Rajbhandari are other three artists whose works are on display. All the artworks are done using the Japanese style of creating Raku ceramics where glasses are glazed and mixed with colour, and the pieces are burnt in fire again. “We have tried to promote the young upcoming artists through this exhibition,” said curator Sangeeta Thapa.

These students of KU had worked with the two French artists, who were working as artists in residence at the Department of Fine Arts, KU.

The exhibition is on till March 29. — HNS