KATHMANDU: Violence, suffering and poverty are few things you often hear when anyone talks about Afghanistan. But this South Asian nation is more than that — Afghanistan’s spectacular beauty stuns anyone who visits this country. And four Nepali artists, who recently visited Afghanistan — the SAARC Culture Capital for 2015, have been able to capture that beauty on their canvases.

Their works are on display in the group painting exhibition ‘Memory of Afghanistan’ that started on January 4 at Nepal Art Council, Babarmahal. The exhibition brings forth works of artists Sushma Rajbhandari, Bhim Prasad Sharma, Aruna Hingmang and BK Nar Bahadur. They have painted

beautiful and realistic landscapes, people, Buddha and lifestyle of Bamyan, Afghanistan.

Also she found Band E Amir similar to Nepal, another motivation for her work. “I felt the place is similar to Mustang of Nepal. Band E Amir has less vegetation and this area is like desert — like our Mustang. Yet the limited water resources around the Valley gives hope, like the feeling we get after seeing flower growing on cactus in desert.”

And Buddha too has got space in these artists’ works. For instance, in the painting ‘Buddha will Come Again’, Sharma has painted a young monk resting on the foot of Bamyan Buddha. In the shades of orange, yellow, black and white, he has painted the monk along with a huge statue of Buddha carved on a cliff. And a white flower has been painted next to the young monk.

If you wish to experience Afghanistan here in Kathmandu then visit the exhibition that is on till January 10.