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Madame
Curator
India,
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar,
Thailand and Singapore - she has seen them all.
Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, East Timor, Hong
Kong, China, and Australia – she has been there too.
United States of America, Mexico, United Kingdom,
Netherlands, Curacao, Belgium, Norway, Federal
Republic of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy,
Serbia, France, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates and
Iran – these have also been part of her itinerary. A
world traveller? That, she certainly is. Her most
recent trip in September this year took her to
Kosovo where her husband, Sunil Thapa, is the Head
of Field Office of the UNHCR Mission there.
Sangeeta Thapa is one person who can truly lay claim
to be the Marcopolo of Nepal. She is worldly wise
then? Maybe. Maybe, because looking at her
diminutive figure and her ageless face, coupled with
a countenance that exudes outright transparency, one
finds it hard to connect such rich worldly
experience with one who is so apparently young.
Young both in mind and body. And, by all accounts,
at heart. Her two week stay in Kosovo left her
frightened. “I came to know first hand about the
horrors of ethnic cleansing,” she says. “And I am
really scared that the present scenario in our own
country shows similar tendencies.”
Writing about this lady can easily make one believe
that nothing less than a book length feature will
suffice. Her life seems so full of varied
experiences garnered over 46 years of global
exposure. She is the Director of Infinity
International, an event management company. She is
often called in to be a judge at various
competitions, including those on talent, photography
and art. She has frequently been called to speak at
various functions, some of which have been: Women,
Work and Health Congress, where she spoke on “The
Impact of Conflict on Rural Women in Nepal-An
Overview”; Mapping the Change - a seminar organized
by the Pakistan Section of AICA (International Art
Critics Association) in Karachi, Pakistan and,
in1996 - Collective Consciousness and Art in Nepal
at the USIS, Kathmandu.
Sangeeta was a special invitee of the Prince Klaus
Foundation for Art and Culture on an extended art
tour to Holland, Mexico and Curacao in 2007 as well
of the Government of Pakistan for a cultural Tour of
Gandhara Region. For the historic exhibition, Old
Masters Young Voices, featuring SAARC artists at the
Alhamra Gallery in Lahore, Pakistan, she was
nominated to curate artists from Nepal and she has
been the Regional Coordinator for Women, Work and
Health Congress in New Delhi, India, in 2005.
Sangeeta has been recipient of many awards including
the Birendra Aishwarya Sewa Padak, the Rajat
Mahotsav Padak and the USIS Award presented by the
Chicago Artists International Program (CAIP) to
observe and study “Museum and Art Gallery
Management” in 1995. A member of many social and art
organizations, there is no doubt that Sangeeta Thapa
is a lady much in demand.
That, of course, is just what her own life is all
about without taking into account her very
interesting family background, both in relation to
herself as a daughter and as a daughter in law. As
the latter, her current address reads: Gha-1/676,
Maligaun, Kathmandu-05. Yes, the very same address
of Surya Bahadur Thapa, a man who has been the Prime
Minister of Nepal more than a just a couple of
times. Sangeeta’s husband, Sunil, is the ex-PM’s
only son. As for the former, Sangeeta Thapa, nee
Rana, is the daughter of Himalaya Shamshere Rana –
the founder and chairman of Himalayan Bank, at one
time, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, and, in his hey
days, important UN emissary to many nations around
the globe. Hey days? Hey days indeed – this is easy
enough to surmise from the fact that, for almost the
first half of her life, his daughter did not get the
opportunity of living in Nepal for any great length
of time – posted as he was in one foreign shore or
the other – and, of course, where Daddy went, could
little daughter be far behind?
So it was that Sangeeta did her O Levels from United
World College for South East Asia, Singapore (1978)
and A Levels from Rosemead, Sussex, UK (1980).
Further studies included Foundation Year Studies at
West Sussex College of Art & Design, UK (1981) and
two years of college at George Mason University, USA
(1981 - 1983). Her early schooling included sojourns
at the Christian Missionary School in Kabul and the
American School in Rangoon as well as a year long
stint at St. Mary’s in Kathmandu. But enough of all
that. Although very interesting, one can easily get
exhausted delving into her life. There’s no telling
where it will lead to – so diverse and full has been
her life’s journey. So, let’s talk about the
present. And, at present, it is common knowledge
that Sangeeta Thapa is a writer whose columns appear
regularly in leading periodicals and dailies. More
than that, she is the curator of Siddhartha Art
Gallery – undoubtedly one of the best run galleries
in town. A gallery that is much sought after by all
artists here to display their collections in. A
gallery that many foreign artists feel honoured to
be invited to exhibit their works in. The prestige
that the gallery has earned has not come about on
its own volition – it has been a long and dedicated
labour of love for its curator, Sangeeta Thapa. How
fitting that the Siddhartha Art Gallery is located
(since 1997) within the beautiful confines of Baber
Mahal Revisited – a labour of love itself for its
owner, the dashing Gautam SJB Rana, and, it so
happens, cousin to Sangeeta.
The site is, as mentioned, one that cannot be
bettered, the precincts itself being an art form in
itself. Nevertheless, one can expect only so much
from a setting. Recent closures of some well known
galleries, as well located, around the city, vouch
for the fact that much more is needed than just
ideal location to make a gallery run successfully.
This, Sangeeta is proud to say, the Siddhartha Art
Gallery has done, and done very well and
consistently. On September 27th, 2007, the gallery
celebrated its 20th year by holding an exhibition of
works by the acclaimed Austrian artist, Soshana,
who, herself was celebrating her 80th birthday, and
who, even at this late period in her life, still
appears to be going strong creating many more
beautiful canvases. One can assume that Sangeeta, by
holding the octogenarian’s exhibition, must have
meant to press home her own belief that her gallery
too would live as long, and live as well.
But that is only an assumption. Truth be told,
Sangeeta is one curator who has never shied away
from taking on challenging tasks. And truth be told,
holding an exhibition such as Soshana’s is no mean
task. Sangeeta discloses, “Well, yes, there is some
hassle involved in bringing in foreign artists’
paintings. You know, we even have to pay customs.”
What about the works that are not sold ? “We have to
send them back, and obviously, that too is a bit of
a problem,” replies the curator with a wry smile.
The gallery, in its 20 years of existence, has held
many such shows by artists from India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Japan, China the
Autonomous Region of Tibet, Korea, Australia,
France, Belgium, Austria, Holland, Germany, the
United Kingdom, Finland and the United States. Till
date, the gallery has been venue to 253 exhibitions,
the impressive voyage of contemporary art
highlighted by major events like the retrospective
exhibitions of the late Amar Chitrakar, Karna
Narsingh Rana, Shashikala Tiwari, Ragini
Upadhya-Grela, Uttam Nepali, Shashi Shah and the
late Tej Bahadur Chitrakar. Community art projects
have included Khulla Dhoka and Nirantar Khulla Dhoka in
which artists and poets came together in an
amalgamation of art and poetry. The near future will
probably see the gallery playing host to its third
community art project “Whose City Is This?” The
gallery also has some publications to its credit
including two on the above mentioned ‘Dhokas’ as
well one on poetry by a young artist.
It comes somewhat as a revelation to know that the
Siddhartha Art Gallery, in spite of its formidable
reputation and cannot claim to be so secure from the
financial angle. According to Sangeeta, “It’s not a
cake walk running an art gallery. For one, the art
market, even though it might look like it’s
flourishing, is severely affected by the low number
of patrons. What’s more, the number doesn’t seem to
be growing.” She adds, “Nepali art is relatively
cheap because of this. And it might not sound so
nice, but really, patrons, because they know this,
are not averse to exploiting the situation by
demanding heavy discounts.” Sangeeta also makes it a
point to state that her gallery does not have
related business offshoots like framing etc. so that
the gallery has no other way than to run on its own
steam.
The curator is therefore specially proud to declare
that her gallery, in spite of its constraints, has
made efforts where it can to play its part towards
charitable works. Works which include donations of
Rs.30,000 to the Red Cross Earthquake Relief Fund,
Rs.50,000 to the renovation of the Krishna Mandir in
Patan, Rs.10,000 towards the construction of the
Maternity Ward for underprivileged mothers in
Prasutigriha Hospital, Rs.7,000 to the Ganesh
Foundation for cleft palette surgery, Rs.10,000
towards the renovation of the Tumbaha Narayan Temple
in Patan, and Rs.65,353 to Shree Nepal Rastriya
Madhyamik Bidhyalaya, Dumwara, Bahra - a school for
the visually impaired. Sangeeta, in her personal
capacity, also raised funds in 1985 to sponsor three
prominent Nepali artists, Manohar Man Pun, Jagdish
Chitrakar and Shashikala Tiwari to exhibit at the
October Art Gallery in England.
Sangeeta Thapa says she inherited her love for art
and literature from her father, and her practical
sense, from her mother. Surely she will pass these
traits on to her daughter Seetashma as well as to
her son, Siddhartha. Her love of art has also made
her into a collector herself, with a substantial
number of art works in her personal collection. One
of Siddhartha Art Gallery’s most important clients
is the curator’s own brother in law, Prithvi B
Pandey, Director of Nepal Investment Bank, who is,
in fact, as important a collector for other
galleries as well. “But, he does make use of the
present situation to bargain hard,” laments Sangeeta.
The curator, as mentioned before, likes to write.
Her Agony Aunt column in an English daily was quite
a popular feature (‘I stopped after some time’) and
her writings on art in a women’s magazine (‘Which I
continue to do’) is well appreciated by the
discerning reader. “Actually, I started writing
around 1990 when, during a Shashikala Tiwari
exhibition, a very important artist/litterateur
would not write a few words for the brochure unless
he was sure that the queen herself would be
inaugurating the event,” discloses Sangeeta. “I
requested another high profile personality to write
but he too was of the same opinion. Therefore, I had
no choice than to write it myself.” Well, as they
say, some you win, some you lose. However, happily,
in this case, it turned out to be a win-win
situation. Not only does the curator now write
regularly for magazines, but she is also much in
demand by artists to write their exhibition
brochures.
One question remains – why did Sangeeta Thapa not
follow her interest in painting herself, seeing that
she, after all, did study the subject ? In her own
words, “ I didn’t have the patience to be chained to
a canvas.” Nevertheless, luckily for many artists
here, the almost-artist decided to turn curator.
“Actually, at first I didn’t know what being a
curator meant,” she says. “Now, of course, I know
what it’s all about.” So, what it is all about? She
agrees to the definition, i.e. – ‘A curator
acquires, cares for, develops, displays and
interprets a collection of artefacts or works of art
in order to inform, educate and entertain the
public.’ “Besides,” she adds, “A curator’s job also
involves public relations and the building of a
loyal clientele base.” No doubt, one of the secrets
of the gallery’s success could probably be
Sangeeta’s privileged family background along with
the high connections inbuilt therein.
Still, and all, the curator must be bestowed with
all credit for making use of the same – not many do.
And it is specially creditworthy because, after all,
Sangeeta Thapa, through her privileged background
and her love for the arts, started out on a mission
that has helped to bring Nepalese art and artists to
a level that surely would have been less likely if
she hadn’t done so. So, finally, it must be said
that Sangeeta Thapa, globe trotting curator, and her
gallery, Siddhartha Art Gallery, have become icons
in their own time and all artists here surely wish
them all luck and good fortune in their further
journey ahead.
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