video archive
Special series of shorts on Nepal’s traditional artisans
I. This series of video shorts were created in 2017 by Gary Wornell and Rewati Gurung from Moving Mountain Pictures as part of a World Bank, Japan Social Development Fund and Nepal’s Poverty Alleviation project. Nepal has a wealth of craft spread across the country, but much of it adheres to strict traditional styles. In an effort to open up the local crafts to access markets in the capital Kathmandu, the project focused on business skill building and design training for the artisans in several districts of the country. They also formed themselves into collectives to pool resources and have better access to raw materials, equipment and sales channels.
Treasure of Nepal
II. This series of videos were created by Gary Wornell for an exhibition at Finland’s Lahti Art Museum in 2016. Gary started collecting footage of traditional craftspeople in the Kathmandu valley in 2014. Working with two brilliant Newari guides and translators—Shailaja Kasaju and Anmol Bajracharia—access to even the most hidden specialists tucked away in the backstreets of Lalitpur was possible. As a former ceramic craftsman, Gary was able to communicate his passion for craft to each of the artisans, and was granted permission to film in workshops and studios that would otherwise be inaccessible to foreigners.
Pradiip Maharjan has been creating religious statues from the Buddhist tradition using the lost wax technique, known in Newari as thajya, for over 17 years. From the original clay models, the sculptures are converted to thin wax shells which are then covered in a mixture of clay and rice husk moulds. In the fire the wax melts out, replaced by molten copper to create the final form after which the works are meticulously hand carved and finished before being gold plated.
Everywhere you go in Nepal you find gold. Gold is the metal of the gods and deities and it is used in its purest 24-carat form. Ram Krishna Prajapati’s gold plating workshop collaborates with the copper sculpture makers with their religious statues and objects of worship. Ram’s work stands out for its multiple layers of fine polished gold producing stunning quality and a rich sheen achieved by more than a decade of passion for his craft.
Mingmar Lama is a Thangka painter in Boudha, Kathmandu. Thangka painting is one of the oldest forms of art in Nepal dating from the 11th Century AD. Masters of the art must study the sacred Buddhist texts to understand the deeper meaning behind the subject. In thangka workshops all around the Kathmandu valley, artists sit patiently for hours in front of their canvases applying natural stone colours one stroke at a time. From sketching the outline, to painting and finally the application of gold, thangkas can take hundreds of hours to complete.
Rabindra Shakya comes from a long family tradition of metal workers. He and his craftsmen practice the traditional craft of Thodya (embossing in metal sheet) Majha (giving complete form) as it is called in Newari. The forms follow strict geometric rules and yet when the work is complete, one barely notices the matrix of shapes that are foundations of the statue. The workshop, Image Atelier produce large and small sculptures for religious practices as well as decorative elements for traditional buildings.
In a workshop in Patan two hammers strike a red hot blade in regular rhythms against a steel anvil and the distinctive form of the knife starts to take shape. Khukuri, the revered weapon of the Gurkha army as well as an everyday household tool, is more than a knife in Nepal: it is an iconic national symbol of strength and resilience and a source of pride of the Nepalese as well as being highly appreciated by collectors around the world.
Ratnamani Bramhacharya is a self taught woodcarver with a working knowledge of a dozen others. His family were tailors from Tilaurakot; a direct line of descent from the Buddha’s family. It was this family connection that inspired him to create religious works and by the time he was 12, Ratna had already started to create a wide variety of secular and religious sculptures as well as copying lost artefacts. Ratna also promotes woodcarving by providing training in his local community of Bungamati.
There is an abundance of jewellery in Nepal following ancient traditions, with each ethnic group having its own styles. In Abbas Karim Bhatt’s Tibetan jewellery workshop in Lazimpat, women work on stones and settings in one room while men cut and braze the silver sheet in another. Finally the finished pieces are polished and assembled. Here they craft in white metal and silver a wide variety of items including necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets and headpieces mainly using Turquoise, Coral and Amber.
Chhongnorbu Sherpa’s paper factory is nested between a Buddhist monastery towering above storage sheds and local houses in a small field in Kapan. He started making paper at the age of fifteen when he first arrived in Kathmandu from his village, working with his relatives, learning the craft. Eight years ago he started his own business, Himalayan Spirit Paper.
Lokta paper is made from a local species of Daphne Cannabina or Daphne Papyracea also known to the locals as Baruwa or Kaagte Paat. It grows best at heights above 2000 meters in the Himalayan forests. The bark is harvested by women, providing them with an income and from high up in the hills it finds its way down into the valley and into these workshops; a chain of economic benefits that provides employment opportunities for many.