Kathmandu: Their love for art and the desire to help elderly women in need has brought together 43 women artists from different parts of Nepal in an ‘artful’ way to raise funds for the Old Age Management and Social Welfare Trust, which takes care of destitute elderly women.

These 43 women have put up a group painting exhibition at the Nepal Art Council, Babar Mahal, which opened on April 13. The exhibition showcases paintings on diverse themes in different styles.

It has encompassed Mithila art like the ones of Dev Kala Karn and Sunaina Chaudhary. Chaudhary’s work reflects the mythical story of Ramayana showing the meeting of Sita and Hanuman in Lanka. But Dev Kala Karn has tried to give a glimpse of contemporary society where some women are shown helping another woman giving birth to a child.

In her Pauwa painting, Bidhya Chitrakar has tried to show the different stages of the human lifecycle, while Sarala Shrestha thanka shows the meditative state of Gautam Buddha.

Along with the artworks on various traditions and cultures, there are paintings that reflect the day-to-day lifestyle of people. Bipana Maharjan has used red in the clothes of women in her paintings. “I have used red to symbolise the boldness of women who continue their life inspite of hurdles that come their way,” she says.

Sharada Chitrakar’s self portrait is one of those creations that stand out from the rest. She has portrayed herself as an image of a traditional Nepali woman attired in a green sari and red chholo.

Neelam Tamrakar’s abstract has added another diversity to the creations. Her painting is in the shape of a mandala with four doors, where each door is symbolised with red, blue, yellow and green colour.

Ganesh is the common thread that links the paintings of Sushma Rajbhandari, Sashi Kala Tiwari, Dipana Sharma and Sabita Chitrakar. However, their ways of presenting this common subject varies — Rajbhandari has symbolically presented Ganesh in the form of four vinayaks, while Tiwari’s presentation of Ganesh is more of abstract.

Also the coordinator of the exhibition, Rajbhandari said, “This exhibition has provided an common space for both the well known and new artists. And probably this is the first time this number of female artists have come together at once.”

The exhibition is on till April 19.