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Posted
on 13-Aug-02 05:22 AM
BICHALIT BARTAMAN
August 17, 2002
Bashantpur Dabali
Press Release
(13 August 2002)
We live in troubled times. We look around and see our economy, our political institutions, our societies and cultures and our systems of social peace in trouble. Caught in the crossfire between violence and more violence, and in the absence of social justice, the lives of Nepali citizens are increasingly becoming troubled.
Against this backdrop, we -- Nepali artists, writers, musicians, photographers, thespians, poets, journalists, social commentators and art-enthusiasts -- have decided to join forces and put on an arts event called Bichalit Bartaman (The Disillusioned Present) in Kathmandu.
We have decided to put on this public event to give an outlet to voices and thoughts that surround us amidst today's troubled times, and to share our social and humanitarian concerns for peace and justice with the public at large.
This idea of Nepali artists' getting together to rise up to the challenges thrown up by the times is in keeping with a tradition followed by Nepali artists in times of trouble. During the national referendum (Janmat Sangraha) of 1979, for instance, Nepali poets of various backgrounds campaigned for multi-party democracy by taking their poems directly to the people through Street Poem Revolution (Sadak Kabita Kranti).
Similarly, in the Jan Andolan of 1990, Nepali artists and writers of various political persuasions gathered at Sarswoti Sadan at Tri-Chandra College, where they sat down en masse, with lips sealed with black ribbons. This was to protest against the absence of freedom of speech and a lack of social justice.
It is in continuation of this tradition that on this coming Saturday -- the 17th of August 2002 (1st Bhadra, 1959 BS) -- 17 arts-related organisations, working through diverse genres and institutional set-ups, have voluntarily come together to organize a day-long arts event in Basantapur Dabali in Kathmandu. The main purpose of this arts event is to raise an effective voice for peace and justice. It aims to do so by promoting creative and group-based activism that would bring together diverse concerns and fragmented efforts in one place to push for peace collectively. To this effect, participating artists of all disciplines will freely express their own thoughts regarding today's troubled times.
We do not believe that we can achieve peace by merely wishing for it. One essential condition for peace is that we actively seek ways to lessen trouble by intervening to change cycles of violence and mayhem into lasting peace and justice. Bichalit Bartaman is our collective attempt to speak out in these troubled times. It is also our attempt to seek ways to lessen trouble and to intervene to help change cycles of violence and mayhem into a just peacefulness.
We request the members of the media to help us meet the purpose of Bichalit Bartaman through reports and features. Thank you
Sincerely,
Khagendra Sangraula and Ashutosh Tiwari
On behalf of The “Bichalit Bartaman” Organizing Committee
and
INSTITUTIONS:
Aarohan, Abhiyan Sahitya Pratisthan, Asmita, CWIN, INSEC, Martin Chautari, Naad Samuha, National Forum of Photo Journalists, Photographic Society of Nepal, Pragatisheel Lekhak Sangh, Pratibimba, Sahitya-Sandhya Nepal, SAP Nepal, Sarvanam, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Sisnupani Nepal, Srijana Chaitra Teen,
suskera.com and Yamini4Arts.
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