The eighth leg of Kala ka Kura, organised by the society of Fine Arts Journalists (Sofaj), saw artist and critic Madan Chitrakar engage in conversation with journalist Devendra Thumkeli. Kala ka kura, an arts forum that takes place every second Monday of the month, was held at the Nepal Art Council.

The event featured talks on myriad issues of artistic concerns such as art journalism, the writing of art history, and criticising the art. Speaking during the event,  Chitrakar said, “We do not have a long history of art writing in Nepal…And so, there is limited discussion about art in Nepal because of the dearth of art writing.”

At the forum, Chitrakar also emphasised on the need for exploring Nepali art history. “If we do not care much about the history of arts, we will have no basis to judge the artistic trends. This will lead to the loss of the art’s socio-cultural value,” he said. “However, the present landscape for arts in Nepal is far better than it used to be,” he continued, “Art journalism, perhaps, has not progressed the way it should have, but the fact that we get to see a number of news articles and features on arts is satisfactory.”

He also expressed his concern over the lack of art criticism in Nepal, “The criticism pieces we get to see are more focused to the persona of the artist than the art itself…This should be changed. An art critic should have knowledge about the more of practical aspects of arts, we remain stuck in the theoretical as of now.” The event also saw presence of artists Sudarshan Rana, Sanjay Shrestha, Purna Ranjitkar, Nagendra Prasad Poudyal, Navendra Limbu, Divesh Pradhan and Keshav Raj Khanal, among others.