KATHMANDU, Jan 28: The thought of working after the completion of studies is intimidating for almost all students. Questions like “What area of occupation will my degree support, and whether or not it’ll help me make enough money, if not more?,” occurs to many of us.[break]
The conventional 9-to-5 working environment is the first option for many different reasons, job security being one of them. When you’re involved with a company/firm on a predetermined salary basis, salary at the end of the month is guaranteed, along with other benefits provided.
But with the gradually growing pursuit of arts among youngsters today, the scenario is a little different.
At a time when jobs that were previously considered to be secure are no longer so and pursuing arts comes with a price. The insecurity of not being recognized as an artist or not being able to create art that’s different or in a way that’s different among thousands of counterparts involved in the very same thing is there.
Then there’s the financial insecurity aspect for artists, with no enterprise as such, there are not many who can or have survived with just being an artist.
“We have to be ready for work anytime. The flipside of being an artist is that although there’s a lot of curiosity and excitement when we’re working, there’s a lot of struggle, too. Lack of instability in this field means that sometimes having no work, hence no pay,” says theatre artist Aashant Sharma.
Sharma says that with the current sociopolitical and economic condition of the country, the situation is the same for every other field of employment. Every occupation has its own adversity, and these days, working on a salary basis doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s job security.
Not many people in today’s world stick around the same workplace and keep changing jobs out of curiosity or plain boredom of doing the same thing everyday.
“People are slowly starting to understand the value of art around here but it’ll take some time for them to respect and reward artists and their work,” Sharma adds emphasizing that then, artists may be able to survive on arts they create. Otherwise, financial insecurity is here to stay.
However, Sujan Chitrakar, Art & Design Professor at Kathmandu University, believes that there are many avenues an artist can explore and it’s not necessary for an artist to limit his/her art within the studio.
“When somebody consciously chooses to be an artist by profession, s/he shouldn’t expect to sustain just by selling paintings. It depends on an individual how far he can go to sell his expertise and get into self-entrepreneurship,” he says.
Sharma says thoughts of insecurities had occurred to him as a student. “My Gurus used to tell me that this line of work had no definite future. It can go either way; it was upto the person.”
Ratina Bajracharya, 25, who is doing her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Lalit Kala, is also involved with Srijanalaya at Yetkha Baha as a teacher. Previously a student of Commerce, Ratina pursued arts without letting thoughts of employment opportunities and future in the field of arts get the best of her.
“An artist can always look for alternate sources of income, and there are many different ways to sustain financially in this field,” she opines.
“It’s difficult to make money with one’s own art but easier if you facilitate other people who are willing to pay you for creating art for them,” says Nikesh Shakya, 20, a sophomore at Berklee College of Music. “Importance of art in everybody’s life aside, making money in this business is difficult.”
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