Feb 2 2024

Indigeneity and Histories of Resistance: Collective and Contemporary Artistic Practices in Nepal

South Asia Reading Group

February 2, 2024

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

MekhLimbu and Lavkant Chaudhary are artists from Nepal who are part of the ArTree Nepal Collective. ArTree Nepal was formed in 2013 in Kathmandu by five artists from diverse indigenous backgrounds. Using grassroots interventions, their practice actively counters hierarchical social structures of religion, caste, class, and gender, while questioning the nature of authoritarian governance, even in modern democracies. The collective has also focused on deconstructing the processes of internal and external colonization in Nepali history, which is obfuscated in mainstream narratives. Simultaneously, the group has drawn attention to the increasing relationship between globalization and the exploitation of Nepali migrant workers, a link which has become a fundamental lifeline of the Nepali economy. ArTree furthermore operates on egalitarian values, which includes sharing finances, spaces, materials, and decisions among all the artists of the collective.

Contact

Institute for the Humanities

Date posted

Jan 11, 2024

Date updated

Jan 22, 2024