Articles
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MAA:YU MEANS MOTHERS
Nepali arts and crafts are in decline among local people, with sheer economics dictating the preference for cheap, low quality goods, primarily those made in China, over more expensive products made to last. Most handicraft businesses, therefore, have to largely depend on an ex-pat or overseas client-base. Maa:Yu Creatve Creation is no exception to this but the small enterprise is determined to preserve tradiitonal skills and empower the women that it employs. Louisa Kama is proud to collaborate with Maa:Yu and support Nepali arts and artisans through the creation of a range of 'branding' products handprinted with woodblocks.
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THE CREATION OF THE KATHMANDU VALLEY & THE MANJUSHRI MYTH
The story of Manjushri and the creation of the Kathmandu Valley can be regarded as a myth or even an allegory; a didactic tale meant to entertain and yet educate in much the same way as the myths of Ancient Greece or even the biblical book of Genesis which chronicles the creation of the world and all that is in it in a mere seven days. It is no easy matter to attempt to put the key events in context or even in order; to verify their accuracy; to distinguish fact from fiction. So all I can ask for in my retelling of the tale is Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ‘willing suspension of disbelief’.
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BECOMING LOUISA KAMAL
‘Pen names are masks which allow us to unmask ourselves’ – Terri Guillemets
The decision to assume a pen name was not easy for me. Nor was it something that I did willingly. I wanted my book—the first of many, I hoped—to make its way into the world under my name, my real name, to announce my achievement to all who knew me! It felt a little strange assuming this persona, to see her name on the cover of my first book; to design and print name cards in her name; to introduce myself as ‘Louisa Kamal’ to those who had no inkling of my former self, my former name. But slowly, like new garments which feel a little unfamiliar on first being worn but which one grows into, I started to feel comfortable in this fresh guise; empowered by all that the name contained and the freedom from my past which it symbolised.
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ANG TSHERIN SHERPA & INDENTITY FLUIDITY
Born in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 1968, Ang Tsherin Sherpa is the son of the renowned thangka artist Urgen Sherpa. Having spent many years living and working in the USA, he is once more based in his native country developing not only his own distinctive artistic style but also the art scene in Nepal as a whole. In 2022, Tsherin Sherpa was the first Nepali artist ever to be represented at the prestigious Venice Biennale and he has recently been appointed a trustee of the Rubin Museum of Art, New York. His new gallery, ‘Takpa’, a word-play on the Tibetan word ‘mitakpa’ or ‘impermanence’, is scheduled to open in Lazimpat, Kathmandu, in early March 2023. Recently I was fortunate enough to interview him for this article in his bright and airy studio on the northern edge of the Kathmandu Valley.
*This article was published in www.askmeaboutnepal.com
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BUDDHA JAYANTI 2021: A PERSONAL MEDITATION
On 26 May 2021 the Buddhist world celebrated Vesak Day—known in Nepal as Buddha Jayanti—or the birth, death and enlightenment of Buddha Sakyamuni. However, Nepal was in the middle of its second COVID wave: the national 40% RT-PCR positive average over the previous week had unenviably put the country in the global number 1 slot, making it the centre of international media attention. Louisa recounts the atmosphere and her emotions during those difficult days.
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