The topic of “Where is Art in the Constitution?” received an attendance of less than 20.[break]
Regardless, the two speakers for the afternoon, art teacher Nabindra Man Rajbhandari and lawyer Divye Jha, presented several issues before the few present.
“Besides freedom of expression, the government should work to creating a market for the arts, through its promotion as well as its preservation,” opined Rajbhandari, and added, “The state should have policies that will support careers in this field and ensure social security of artists.”
“Freedom of expression falls in the basic human rights section, which automatically includes artists as well,” clarified Jha, and continued, “However, legal concerns such as ownership of artworks after they are sold and after the death of the artist need to be addressed.”
Does the buyer of a work of art have the right to alter the piece? When a photograph of an artwork is taken, does it become the sole copyright of the photographer, or does the artist have any right to the image? From the imposition of taxes on the sale of artworks to the freedom of artistic creativity in expressing thoughts without abusing other’s freedom, the discussion led to an existing example that calls for the necessity of an Act for the arts in Nepal.
“Look at the statue of Prithvi Narayan Shah in front of Singha Durbar. Who gave him the right to add an umbrella and color it?” asked Rajbhandari, referring to Laxman Khadka, the old man who roams around Kathmandu, cleaning national monuments. Some of his antics have been clearly unsettling to artists.
“The Constitution-drafting Committee and concerned Constituent Assembly (CA) members approached us two weeks back to have us submit a draft for the arts, which is why we held this session,” expressed artist Ashmina Ranjit who coordinates the monthly discussions of art, after the discussion ended.
“Art here incorporates music, theater, film, literature along with visual artists. Although we had invited representatives from these sectors, they clearly aren’t concerned,” she asserted.
The meeting held two weeks back included senior artist Kiran Manandhar and famous singer Ram Krishna Dhakal as well.
“I hadn’t expected such negligent attitude, especially from someone like Kiran Manandhar who passed off the task as the CA members’ responsibility,” apprised Ashmina, and went on, “This is about the upliftment of art as a whole, not about bringing in personal differences.”
Manandhar, who has been lobbying with the government for the establishment of a Fine Arts Academy, stated, “If the CA members can go about asking for votes from people, they can’t say that they don’t know about the arts. They should talk to artists.” Talking about the Academy, he mentioned, “There will be a minister who will pick two artists, and they will jointly choose 24 other artists to be part of the Academy.”
“I don’t think policies are possible right now. Freedom of expression is already part of basic human rights,” apprised principal of Aarohan Gurukul, Sunil Pokharel, who could not attend the Tuesday session.
However, present at the discussion was Gautam Rai, central committee member of All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU), who has been mediating meetings between Constituent Assembly members and the art community.
“Even jogis (sages) came to voice their opinions, but not even a single artist approached us. It could be because of the political trend—burning tires and so on—that deterred artists to come to us.
But we are making amends,” he put in, and concluded, “Nonetheless, artists can’t protest and complain that they haven’t been represented after the draft is complete.”
No matter what, it is artists who will have to bear the loss.
Despite disappointments from the art community, Ashmina Ranjit and her team have already set on preparing a draft and plan on making sure that as many as artists will get to read it and present their thoughts at the next discussion round.
Related story
‘Art Evolves: Nepali Modern Art’: Review
