As the capital city braces for gloomy and uncertain days ahead with political parities announcing joint movement and the Maoists back to their violent ways to disrupt the upcoming municipal polls, the denizens of this city can atleast take some respite from all this madding chaos by visiting Nepal Association of Fine Arts located inside the sprawling Rana mansion of Sitabhawan in Naxal where the 36th National Art & Craft Exhibition – 2062 is currently on.

You walk in through an entrance of the Rana mansion with the board of NAFA and National Birendra Art Museum hung atop it, walk through a dark corridor and climb a flight of stairs to reach the top floor that houses NAFA and National Birendra Art Museum, and immediately after you saunter inside you come across the paintings that are on display here. For the first few minutes you may simply need to think where to start.

With altogether 276 artists from around the country participating in this annual art and craft competition in four different categories (contemporary painting, contemporary sculpture, traditional and craft), with some artists putting up more than one work of theirs; the paintings literally occupy every inch of the wall of different galleries and also the hallway that connects it along the entire top floor. Hence it is tiring to go through each work of art individually. To add to it the haphazard placement of the paintings on the walls, according to one visitor, creates problem in taking in all the paintings on display properly.

But this messiness notwithstanding, some paintings and sculptures give some kind of order to this exhibition. Take for instance, artist Asha Dangol’s arresting painting titled ‘Tantrik Love,’ done on acrylic color which was also adjudged first in contemporary painting category. The painting is so sensuous and at the same time mystical that one could only express awe at the achievement of the artist. The same goes for Kriti Chand’s painting titled ‘Rachana’ which came second and Jasmin Rajbhandari painting titled ‘The street’ which came third, although one could clearly see the influence of Picasso on both these artists. Works by Roshan Pradhan and Gautam Ratna Tuladhar are equally splendid and the judging committee did well in giving special prizes to them.

In the contemporary sculpture, Sudarashan Bikram Rana’s work received first prize, but it was Bhuwan Thapa’s depiction of ‘current situation’ on wood that seemed to hold some ring about it. The artist should be appreciated for his splendid effort in depicting the troubled times we are living in, and his creation rightly claimed the second prize in the category.

But it is not only the works of prizewinners that makes the visit to this exhibition worthwhile. Other paintings and sculptures on display are equally remarkable and only add to this fascinating experience. To name a few, paintings by Puran Khadka and Buddhi Thapa are, as always, splendid, as are those by young artists like Erina Tamrakar, Rabin Koirala and Krishna Prakash Shah.

Other prizewinners of the 36th National Art & Craft Exhibition, 2062 are as follows:

Bijaya Maharjan ‘s ‘Desire’ claimed third prize in the sculpture category while special prizes were given to Narendra Prasad Bhandari and Roshan Marjan.

Ram Prakash Shrestha was declared first in the traditional category while Sundar Sinkhwal second and Devendra Sinkhwal third. Bijaya Sarga Jyapoo and Kunchhang Lama received special prizes.

Similarly in craft category, Bibhusan Navin Tamrakar received the first prize, Binod Shakya second, and Shyam KC third. Shyam Sundar Yadav and Thirtha Man Sthapit received special prizes.

And lastly for the regional prizes, Chhetra Lal Kayastha was awarded from the western region, Tirtha Niraula from the eastern region and Uttam Shakya from the central region.