Detail: The Himalayan Art and Cultural Heritage Project and photo.circle cordially invite you to the inauguration of REMEMBERING THE LOST SCULPTURE OF KATHMANDU, an exhibition of paintings and research by Joy Lynn Davis

Friday, 10 April 2015 | 5:00 pm onwards
Nepal Art Council in Babar Mahal, Kathmandu

Special guests:
His Excellency Dr. Urs Herren, Swiss Ambassador to Nepal
Mr. Bhesh Narayan Dahal, Director General of the Department of Archaeology
Dr. Dina Bangdel, Professor of Asian Art at Virginia Commonwealth University
Mr. Christian Manhart, UNESCO Representative to Nepal

The exhibition will run from 10 April to 22 May 2015
Gallery Hours: 11 am - 6 pm | Closed on Tuesdays

ABOUT THE PROJECT
Since the 1960s, thousands of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures have disappeared from the Kathmandu Valley’s public temples, shrines, courtyards, fountains, and fields. Before they were stolen, nearly all were worshiped as living deities in their communities.

This art and research project by Joy Lynn Davis documents community response to the loss of those sculptures. Paintings, interviews, and photographic documentation weave together narratives of Kathmandu’s sacred spaces, exploring how people respond when religious art objects—that exist, not as commodities, but as vital living community participants—are physically removed.

Paintings bridge the present and past states of these sacred spaces by realistically depicting the sites as they look presently and then visually “repatriating” the stolen sculptures back into those sites with 23 karat gold. Gold provides a visual language revealing which sculptures were stolen and references the commodification of the sacred. Accompanying each painting are historical photographs of the stolen sculptures, current photographs of the sites, information about the sculptures and any replicas, and interviews with local elders, devotees, and temple caretakers.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Joy Lynn Davis is an artist and researcher from California, currently living in Lalitpur. She was an artist in residence at Kathmandu Contemporary Arts Centre (2012-2013) and Santa Fe Art Institute (2008, 2009). She received her BA in Art from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2002. In 2012, her work was sponsored by UNESCO and exhibited at Patan Museum. She is the founder of Himalayan Art and Cultural Heritage Project, a non-profit working to preserve and promote awareness for the artistic and cultural heritage of Nepal and other areas of the Himalayan region.

To learn more about the project: www.rememberingthelost.com
For direct link to the Press Pack: www.rememberingthelost.com/press