Exhibit review: How one trip to Banaras inspired nearly 20 different artistic visions

An exhibition at the Kathmandu Art Gallery, titled "Homage to Banaras," presents a compelling collection of nearly twenty emerging Nepali artists, all of whom embarked on an educational visit to Varanasi, India. Despite sharing the same journey to the sacred city, each artist returned with a distinct interpretation of their experience, resulting in a diverse array of artistic visions.

The show, featuring works from students and alumni of Lalitkala Campus, moves beyond a singular narrative, offering a chorus of perspectives. Visitors encounter portraits, depictions of the Ganges river ghats, boats, cremation grounds, and flickering flames, all rendered by artists whose initial encounter with Varanasi profoundly impacted them. The gallery thoughtfully arranges the works by artist, allowing viewers to trace individual artistic dialogues with the city.

Varanasi, also known as Kashi and Benares, is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities and a paramount holy site in Hinduism. Situated on the banks of the Ganges, it is a place where pilgrims seek spiritual purification and where many Hindus consider dying and cremation auspicious, believing it grants liberation from the cycle of rebirth. This profound spiritual significance is palpable at Manikarnika Ghat, where funeral pyres burn continuously, a stark visual of mortality existing alongside the vibrant daily life of vendors, boatmen, worshippers, and tourists.

This unique collision of the sacred and the ordinary is precisely what captivated the Lalitkala Campus artists. Arjun Basnet's work, for instance, directly stems from witnessing the coexistence of cremation rituals and daily life at Manikarnika Ghat. His pieces, such as "Galactic Serenity-Souls" and "Witness to Ash I," use circular forms as metaphors for souls transitioning through the universe, prompting contemplation on impermanence and transformation rather than literal depictions of the afterlife.

Fire also appears in a gentler context within the exhibition, referencing the nightly Ganga Aarti ritual, a fire ceremony performed on the ghats as an offering to the river. Bipran Chettri's "Ganga Aarati" captures this spectacle, showcasing another facet of Varanasi's spiritual and cultural landscape as interpreted by the artists.