About Indigo Gallery
After traveling for a year in India, I moved to Kathmandu in 1971, met the Italian artist, Piero Morandi, started a painting workshop, and began to meet artists. I was fortunate that included Siddhimuni Shakya, the most famous Newar painter of that period, who drew on deep immersion in the Buddhist tradition and stunningly precise brushwork, to create religious narrative paintings of singular beauty. He set my first standard for fine painting. Next I met the master bronze casters of Patan, Bodhi Raj Shakya, Jagatman Shakya and Manjoti Shakya whose evanescent waxworks and fiery processes engrossed me most of my adult life. These encounters led me to co-found Indigo Gallery in 1981, which became dedicated to fostering the Newar arts of metalcraft and painting.
The gallery’s aim was to develop contemporary traditional arts as fine as those found in international museum collections. By guaranteeing work at such high standards I hoped to re-direct collectors from the purchase of antique artworks that deplete Nepal of its cultural treasures and offer them instead a role in the 1500 year continuum of Nepal’s artistic tradition. By urging today’s Newar artists to develop their skills and even surpass those of their ancestors, Indigo contributed to improved income and living standards for these fine artists. The gallery became well known in Kathmandu Valley guidebooks and to collectors and Buddhist practitioners worldwide.
Paubha Painting
Although the names of artists appeared very rarely on paintings or any other religious images, that anonymity began to change in the early twentieth century, with the fame of one Shakya family. Anandamuni Shakya (1903-1944) worked in Lhasa as a young man and returned to Kathmandu richly rewarded by a Tibetan patron with a lifetime supply of precious mineral pigments. Anandamuni opened his own art gallery in 1944. His son, Siddhimuni Shakya (1933-2001), was only eleven years old when his father died, but he emulated his father’s work and eventually outshone his talent. They became the first, and for a while, the only Newar artists to sign their works. Their artistry has now passed into the gifted hands of Siddhimuni’s son, Surendra Man Shakya. This is a classic pattern in Newar artist families in every medium, with the profession being handed down on distinct patrilineal lines. Like the Shakyas, Indigo was the first gallery in Nepal to regularly showcase artists by inviting them to sign their own artworks.
In the mid 1970’s a talented young non-Newar artist named Mukti Singh Thapa arrived on the scene. He was born in Bandipur, a prominent Newar town 144 kilometers west of the Kathmandu Valley, where as a boy he earned pocket money by selling his simple floral sketches to Newar girls to embroider on cloth. After shifting to Kathmandu he was taught to paint thangkas (Tibetan religious painting) from a Tibetan monk named Tenda Lama from Dharamsala. His skills greatly impressed a Western friend who began to bring him photos of old murals, paintings and temple details from sacred sites, bahals (monasteries), durbars (palaces) and museums. He found the early Newar-inspired paintings of the Beri school of Tibetan painting[1] that prevailed from circa 1180 – 1600 in Tibet more appealing than the calm, cool and spacious paubhas (Newar thangkas) then being painted by the Chitrakars (Newar painting caste). His re-introduction and interpretation of the old Newar style, with natural pigments, a vivid range of reds, and a robust portrayal of gods and goddesses, burst open the character of art in the Joche Tole tourist market. He attracted students from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, who became the next generation of artists. His success created a renaissance in Newar art, at the time when tourism was growing and attracting young budget travelers as well as more affluent world travelers. With his successful example and mentoring, the opportunities for non-Newar artists expanded.
Indigo Gallery supported the finest artists working in the Kathmandu Valley by creating a place to show their artwork. The gallery expanded their sources by reproducing great works of art preserved in international art museums and printed in catalogs and art history books unaffordable to the artists. Since these pieces of cultural heritage were seldom otherwise available to them in Nepal, this cultural activism constructively served both the artists and the patrons of Indigo Gallery.
Repousse and Casting
Repousse[2] and casting were also boosted with the opening of Nepal’s southern border in 1950 and the rising numbers of tourists since 1965. Many were interested in going home with a piece of Newari art. Throughout this time, the Tibetan diaspora also enhanced the development of traditional metalwork. Some Tibetan Buddhists settled and built monasteries in Nepal; others emigrated farther, building monasteries on every continent. As Tibetans recreated their traditions in new lands, their need for images and ritual implements led them to commission Newar images, large and small, for their sanctuaries. Icon merchants selling to the general public in shops across the world have also added to this demand. And importantly, the rising upper middle class and Nepali elite are also interested and able to purchase fine Newar Buddhist and Hindu images. All these forces have inspired artisans to make statues of the very highest quality, selling for many thousands of dollars.
Ateliers in Patan for the past thirty years have made hundreds of large images and shipped them across the world, and the market is still expanding.[3] Unlike with painting, religious statue metalwork predominantly remains in the hands of Newar families, mostly Shakyas and (less frequently) Vajracharyas. Rudravarna Mahavihar, or Ukubahah, in the city of Lalitpur (or Patan) is the center of traditional bronze casting by the Shakya caste. Over 100 shops in the Ukubahah area alone sell cast bronze images; if one includes the whole Kathmandu Valley the number could approach 700. Today there have never been more shops selling religious statues in the Kathmandu Valley, from the narrow lanes of Patan to the 5-star hotel lobbies. Anyone visiting these shops will see wealthy buyers from across the world with discerning eyes looking for icons for their devotions and investment.
It is widely recognized that Buddhist images produced elsewhere cannot compete with those being made in the Newar workshops. Adhering to traditional lost wax and repoussé techniques, including fire gilding, Newar artisans regularly reach very high and consistent standards. In the past 10 years, casting artists have been regularly collaborating with specific chasing artists, each boosting the other to finer intricacy of detail than ever seen before, for the discerning art collector, dharma practitioner and monastic institution.
In addition, there are factories in the industrial estate where images are mass-produced with less quality and sold for export all over the world. Some workshops specialize in religious accouterments like butter lamps and Vajrayana ritual implements to adorn altars and perform rituals. Given the demand, they now use assistants from any caste group with basic skill in the use of hammer and punch to do rough finishing.
Globalization A New Threat
One multi-cultural shift in production does worry the Newar artist of today: globalization in the form of “technological capture” could threaten their livelihood. In the past ten years Chinese tourists and businessmen have been visiting Nepal in increasing numbers. Many have bought Newar art and some techno-innovators have begun mass-reproducing images in China with the aid of advanced technology. Now that this technology has become less costly, their method is: capture images in three-dimensional scans; print out plastic or latex molds using 3-D printers; use these to create final metal image products produced by large vacuum-casting machines, that do not need chasing. Thus, what is in Nepal is still a handmade process with eyes and hands on each precious piece, can now be mass-reproduced in China. Once perfected, this process may result in images at ‘museum quality’. In this respect, the certified provenance of Newar artwork is a very important question today.
Leading Contemporary Artists/Artisans
Today, a host of Newars, including Lok Chitrakar, Purna Prasad Hyoju, Surendra Man Shakya, and Udayacharan Shrestha, lead the contemporary production of traditional painting. Mukti Singh Thapa and Gyan Bakta Lama are two of the non-Newar painters very prominent in this living tradition. The late, Raj Kumar Shakya, and his brother Rabindra Shakya are the leading producers of large scale repousse art in Nepal. Bijaya Shakya, Rajan Shakya and Rajendra Shakya, are three of the leading bronze casters of Ukubhaha whose works are sought after by many collectors. Rustum Amatya, protégé of the late great master, Bhim Shakya, is today’s finest chasing artist.
Newar Artistic Diaspora in the Global Art Markets
International expositions have also contributed to the huge surge of Newar arts into the global market in the past 20 years. In these gatherings, patrons seek to display the very highest standards of Buddhist culture and Newar artistry, producing larger, more ambitious images. One example of this trend is the work of the repoussé artist, Raj Kumar Shakya, who is a fifth generation practitioner of this art form. Raj Kumar is the grandson of the famous repousse artist, Kuber Singh Shakya[4] (1895 – 1955), whose images still can be found across the Kathmandu Valley. The high profile of Raj Kumar’s engineering and artistic success initiated a succession of commissions, including a 115 foot high image of Guru Rimpoche (Padma Sambhava) that sits atop a 40 ft tall monastic building in Taksila, Bhutan. It touches the sky at 155ft, making it the tallest repousse image in Asia. Raj Kumar has also exported works of art to more than 15 other countries.
Now that the Chinese are allowing Tibetans to practice Buddhism again, Chinese engagement in restoration of monasteries – sometimes the same ancient monasteries that Red Guards damaged or destroyed during the Cultural Revolution – has also created a large market for Newar artists. The growth of many Asian economies and the wealth in their Buddhist populations has also contributed to resurgence in building new monasteries and personal shrines. Buddhists across Asia can be seen most days negotiating the purchase of Newar Buddhist art works.
Problem of Art Theft
The opening of Nepal to tourism and international aid organizations in the 1950s introduced its treasure trove of living art to the rest of the world. Combined with lax restrictions on exports and corruption in the government, many works of art disappeared from temples, monasteries, and families between 1955 and 1985. That the theft of antiquities from Nepal is a problem is evidenced by empty architectural niches and plinths that once held metal and wooden statues that now grace international museums and private homes. This wave of theft led elders responsible for Newar sanctuaries, both Hindu and Buddhist, to erect welded metal cages designed to protect the revered divinities from thieves, both domestic and international. Today, it seems the gods reside behind self imposed jails while thousands of Nepal’s other greatest art treasures sit in exile.
Influence of 2015 Earthquake
The earthquakes of 2015 were devastating to the material culture of northern and central Nepal, including the areas of Newar culture in the Kathmandu Valley. The tragic loss of lives was worsened by the destruction or severe damage to many of Nepal’s seven UNESCO World Heritage sites as well as to hundreds of neighborhoods that had conserved the temples, monasteries, rest houses, and countless small monuments that constitute the Kathmandu Valley’s famous and sacred urban fabric.
The rich resources of the numerous traditional artists, builders, and carpenters that abound in the Valley, coupled with past documentation of their plans and construction techniques, has assisted Nepal to reconstruct and repair damaged sanctuaries for worship and culture. Nepalis still have a strong devotion to their religious traditions and each reconstructed temple or monastery has required a surge in work for Newar artisans, including painters and metal workers. Sanctuary walls need to be adorned with murals and paubha paintings in the Newar style, their struts and lintels decorated with carved wooden figures related to worship, façades enhanced with repousse images, and its niches filled with metal-cast gods and goddesses. As in other disasters, the chaos may have created opportunities for thieves; but recovery has also created employment, which validates the need for traditional craftsman to continue teaching and practicing the ancient techniques of the Newars.