It’s the experiences in life that make it worth living. Even within the same environment, one can experience different atmospheres. These variations in experience make the world a better place to live with multiple interpretations of the same thing.
The exhibition ‘Miniature Exhibition 2024’ featuring more than 60 artists curated interestingly can give you insight into the very experience of life through the artworks. The walls in the museum come alive to narrate different aspects of life as such there are different sections curated masterfully that accentuate the flavour of life.
The Museum of Nepali Art (MoNA) in Thamel, Kathmandu, is hosting the Miniature Exhibition 2024, curated by Rajan Sakya, with Ursula Manandhar and Rasana Shrestha as co-curators.
In the exhibition
The exhibition features more than 100 artworks by 69 traditional and contemporary modern artists, including Lok Chitrakar, Kiran Manandhar, Prem Man Chitrakar, Raj Prakash Man Tuladhar, Samundra Man Singh Shrestha, Ujay Bajracharya, Uma Shankar Shah, Madan Chitrakar, Rajani Sinkhwal, Pramila Bajracharya, Seem Sharma Shah, Shailee Bajraxharya, Swarnim Shakya, Sushila Singh and more. The museum’s walls are segmented and curated accordingly, narrating different aspects of life.
The exhibition primarily features three themes—inception, perspective, and miniature. The artists have incorporated cultural, religious, natural, and social motifs in realistic, abstract and traditional forms. The curators have selected artworks that convey a central message: the world does not revolve around you.
The exhibition comprises numerous exhibitions within itself, serving as a perfect platform to bring both veteran and young artists under one roof. “The exhibition Miniature is not just an exhibition; it’s a place for creating dialogue. It not only displays miniature artworks but also features sculptures and paintings up to 8 feet tall. This encourages visitors to question us, fostering a dialogue to better understand the world through art and to cultivate harmony with the realization that this world does not revolve around us—humans,” explained Sakya.
In Inception, Manandhar presented paintings of various shapes and sizes to depict the beginning of civilization and the cosmos as a whole. Manandhar has taken the Buddhist perception of cause and condition to assemble the walls. The paintings of Lord Ganesh, Lord Bhairab, Pancha Buddha, Lotus, Kumari and Manjushree are featured in it.
In Festival Euphoria curated by Shrestha visitors can immerse themselves in the vibrant energy of the Kathmandu Valley, steeped in the cultural heritage of its three cities: Patan, Kathmandu, and Bhaktapur. The exhibition features traditional structures and architecture from the Valley, along with sculptures of elderly people, paintings of musical instruments, traditional dances, and depictions of the people’s deep faith, all reflecting the lively colours of the Jatras. This atmosphere evokes a sense of joy and divine energy that permeates the Valley.
In the Miniature section, visitors can view paintings as small as 0.25 cm to 1 cm, visible only through a microscope. These traditional miniature paintings highlight the dedication of Nepali artists and showcase a unique art form found in Nepal.
Shifting perspectives
The exhibition questioned conventional ideas about size, suggesting that dimensions are irrelevant without a point of comparison, as any measurement is merely a human-defined construct. A single grain of rice, for example, may be insignificant to a human, yet it could sustain an entire colony of ants. This perspective leads to the idea that “big is small and small is big,” since these labels only hold meaning from a particular viewpoint.
The curators reflected on how people tend to evaluate everything—size, cost, distance, weight—through numbers, which play a substantial role in shaping perceptions. They clarified that their goal was not to alter reality but to offer a different, spiritual perspective through art. From eight-foot-tall artworks to microscopic masterpieces, the exhibition encompasses a range of scales, inviting viewers to shift perspectives—seeing through the eyes of a human, an ant, or even a whale. The collection showcases simplicity, intricacy, fine detail, and creativity, highlighting the talents of both seasoned and emerging Nepali artists.
The exhibition continues till December 31.
