In 2010 KCAC, established Nepal’s first International Contemporary Arts Centre hosting exhibitions, workshops and symposia and giving bursaries to emerging Nepali artists. The art reference library is the largest of its kind in Nepal, with more than 5,000 books thanks to major gifts from Tate Britain and many private donors.
In 2011 KCAC was invited to move to a building in the garden of the Patan Museum. We officially opened in March 2012 with two international exhibitions. Pepon Osorio’s, ‘Resting Stops’, supported by the Bronx Museum, and Antonio Nodar’s ...from portrait to self-portrait... supported by the Elsa Peretti Foundation.
THE STORY SO FAR
January 2016 Our studios are open - please contact ankitbilashjoshi@gmail.com about availability and costs.
25th April & 10th May 2015 The Earthquakes in Nepal. All our artists were okay, but life is difficult in Nepal, not helped by the Indian blockades.
April 2015 ‘Botanical Art Masterclasses’ in collaboration with the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh.
June 2014 ‘From Tokya to Kathmandu - Recollections in Print’ Kabi Raj Lama’s exhibition of work made during his residency.
November 2014 Eka Deshma, the Nepalese short film festival, brought to the UK in partnership with KCAC showcasing cutting edge short films by emerging talented Nepali filmmakers.
November 2014 New Art Now exhibition at the Royal Over-Seas League, during Asian Art in London showcasing work of four KCAC scholarship artists.
June 2014 Metadata - The exhibition of work made by Subash Thebe during his residency.
December 2013 ‘Narratives of Faith & Memory. Remembering the Lost Sculptures of Kathmandu’ Exhibition by KCAC international artist in residence Joy Lynn Davis sponsored by UNESCO.
October 2013 ‘Artists from the Roof of the World’ an exhibition at the Royal Over-Seas League in Piccadilly during Asian Art in London showcasing the work of our first five scholarship artists.
May 2013 Sequential Dissonance, Mekha Bahadur Limbu’s exhibition of work made during his residency.
11th September 2012 Manish was issued with a ‘death threat’ by activists from the World Hindu Federation and threatened with arrest. The exhibition was closed.
22nd August 2012 ‘The Rise of the Collateral’ scholarship artist Manish Harijan exhibits work made during his residency.
24th March 2012 KCAC officially opened at Patan Museum with an exhibition by Antonio Nodar with over 300 Nepali artists, sponsored by the Elsa Peretti Foundation, and Pepon Osorio’s ‘Resting Stops’, sponsored by the Bronx Museum.
24th October 2011 As it Happens KCAC scholarship artist, Soni Shakya, exhibits work made during her residency.
April 2011 KCAC began the exciting move to the Patan Museum and the cataloguing of the library begins.
August 2010 Sanjeev Maharjan and Sunita Maharjan our first two artists-in-residence, exhibited work from their residency at an exhibition called ‘Repeating Bodies / Structural Space’.
17th January 2010 KCAC opened Nepal’s first international contemporary arts centre at Gyan Mandala in Lalitpur with a gallery, bookshop, coffee shop, art library and four studios. The Actor’s Studio of Nepal & the Esther Benjamins Trust joined us soon after. On the opening day children from Little Garden School (a special needs school in Bhakrapur) spent the morning making paper-bag masks (art is not on the school curriculum in Nepal.) At lunch-time Pawankali the elephant walked from the local zoo, adding an auspicious note to the occasion and launching Nepal’s first ‘Big Draw’ with artists and art students converging on KCAC from all over Nepal..At 5pm Kathie Hall, the British Ambassador’s wife opened the exhibition of Birendra Pratap Singh.
October 2007 KCAC was founded by Celia Washington as a British charity (1121118) to help raise funds for Nepal’s first International Contemporary Arts Centre in Nepal.
November 2006 The first proposal for an international contemporary arts centre in Kathmandu was written and Celia Washington returned to the UK to establish a British charity to raise the money.
HOW CAN I HELP?
As a British Charity we are dependent on our sponsors and supporters.
If you would like to know more or find out how you can volunteer or sponsor our ground-breaking project please visit our how can I help page and/or contact me.
co Founder Director
