This past year was an exercise in equanimity. Forced indoors under lockdown, quarantine or ‘shelter-in-place’ orders as governments scrambled to contain Covid-19, many of us eventually found ourselves on edge, listless and irascible. By the end of the year, we were spent. In such trying times, we turned to indulgences and sought comfort in that most maligned of disciplines – the arts.
These words echo Kunwar’s sadness at not being lucky enough to read queer stories, but with his memoir, he has paved the way, signaling to queer writers that their stories are equally valid. Kunwar sings a song for me, and for all those queer individuals who have been waiting like caged birds for someone to come along with a heartfelt lullaby.
Episode 8 of the La.Lit podcast is online! Assistant editors Itisha Giri and Niranjan Kunwar discuss Niranjan’s book “Between Queens and the Cities” published by Fine Print Books. You can order your copy of the book via Thuprai and Kitab Yatra, and via Amazon.com for those outside Nepal.
‘Line of Thought: Dialogues on Pedagogy and Personal Practices’, running at the Nepal Art Council in Babarmahal until Saturday, 18th January, 2020, intends to start conversations, some beyond pedagogy and practice.
What this collection is not is just a paean to a lost homeland or the pain of exile. In stories both accomplished and inept, there is a nuanced look at what it means to be Tibetan, not just as a nationality, a political or religious identity, but as simply human.
Perhaps our salvation and power lie in standing together and sharing our stories, loudly and clearly.
We can blame climate change for the scattering of our seasons, and the cultures they enable. This is no less than a remoulding of our imaginations. But how do we face up to our rebellion against Mother Nature, and her wrathful, deadly response?
Through her personal history, she exposes how our national, collective history discards women’s experiences by always focusing on paternal family history and lineage.
The contemporary art scene in Nepal might be vibrant but it’s not unambiguous. Who are the true contemporary Nepali artists of this decade? And what exactly do we mean by the term?
