Pokhara:

One and half dozen works of art created at a five-day workshop by 17 artists including 10 from Pokhara, six from Kathmandu and one from Holland, were exhibited on January 21 at the International Himalayan Museum here.

Thousands of Pokharelis including young school children and adults had turned up to view their work.

The innovative creations were made from locally available stuff like stones, paper, leaves, hay, bamboo, plastic, thread, mud, wood, among other things.

Student Sudip Gurung could not hide his amazement after viewing the works on display. “The teachers taught us to paint using simple colours at school but I saw a different kind of artwork here,” he said excitedly.

The exhibition is being organised to give a totally different experience to the viewers and provide an opportunity to the artists to experiment, organiser Sutra Art Kathmandu said.

Pokhareli poets and artists had also turned out in large numbers for the exhibition. Poet Tirtha Shrestha said this kind of exhibition helps modernise the art form and share new experiences.

Artists like Durga Baral, Gopal Shrestha among others worked on different themes like the ongoing conflict, environmental pollution, peace and life, to create their works.

This workshop has provided Pokhareli artists to learn new techniques, chairman of Creative Artists Group, Pokhara Chetra Lal Kayastha said.

Representative of Sutra Sunil Sigdel said, “The workshop to create innovative artwork was organised with a view to bring the artists of Nepal together.”

Advisor of Creative Artists Group, Buddhi Gurung said this type of workshop would help provide a platform to Nepali artists to gain international acclaim.