For some reason art was never a priority when it came to my education

here in Nepal.

I am happy to report though that this is no longer the case, at least with the museum in Chhauni, because of the 60 to 70 thousand people who visit it annually, most are school children.

The museum itself though, which for your information is our designated official National Museum, is, tragically, a bit of a disaster. Not because it isn’t worth seeing, the collection is stunning and the scope of the museum ranges from the arts to natural history, but because of the very clear lapses in curation and even simple maintenance.

Housed in three separate wings, the museum’s collection consists of the Art Gallery proper, in which there are works ranging from the Licchavi period onwards into almost present day. The pieces on display are divided fairly arbitrarily, into stone craft, metal work, woodcarvings and finally illuminated manuscripts and paubha work. In this wing, almost everything is dependent on the natural light streaming in from the beautiful long windows. But, be warned, if you go there as we did, later in the afternoon, when

there is no electricity, you will need a torch or the light from your phone’s screen to look at the collection properly.

The situation is similar in the historical wing that houses the natural history collection, which, for school children, but really even for adults, is fascinating. This section includes, among many fascinating items, a magnificent whale jawbone, and a stuffed Danphe, or Himalayan Monal, the Lophophorus impejanus—our transfixing, iridescent national bird, which few of us have had the privilege of seeing in its natural environment. Unfortunately, nothing is labeled properly, the windows are depressingly dusty, and the potentially gorgeous courtyard in this 19th Century building built by Bhimsen Thapa is shut off to the public and full of pigeon droppings and errant feathers.

Finally, there is the Buddhist Art Gallery; again full of treasures, but ill-lit and non-informative in the way things are arranged. For anyone who has been to the Patan Museum and has lingered over the magical atmosphere there, the National Museum will be a bit like a knife to your heart in comparison because of its obvious potential and its apparent neglect.

Speaking to Mandakini Shrestha, the museum’s chief administrator, it is clear that this particular national treasure has somehow slipped through the bureaucratic cracks in terms of the attention it needs, both in funding and human resources. While the annual budget allocated to it is approximately Rs 30 million, that amount includes the administrative budget as well. Therefore what is leftover after salaries and even just regular maintenance is not nearly enough to plan or reorganise any kind of grand restoration.

Additionally, the ticket sales are submitted daily to the government, and while it can range from between Rs 150,000 in peak months to as low as

Rs 40 or 50 thousand at other times, that income could have been a welcome plus to such a meager budget, especially were the prices to be raised from the current, extraordinarily low, rates.

Ms Shrestha also confided that the museum is not really on the tourist circuit even while its proximity to Swayambhunath ought to make it so. Perhaps even a decent museum café or serious attention to the garden areas (the museum sits on 25 ropanis of land) would help—she is certain of the potential, yet no one seems to have the enormous drive and energy to take on the kind of work

that a project such as this would require.

Art activities and access to art can be incredibly therapeutic. Works of art can speak to us on levels that words can’t quite reach and give both children and adults outlets for emotions that we don’t quite know how to express. Even though it is refreshing to hear that school children frequent the museum, and there are educational programmes run annually on International Museum Day (May 18),it is still a travesty that a museum with so much promise sits like an orphaned child.

Our educational system has never really bothered withart; perhaps it is time that we turned our attention towards it to help both ourselves as well as our children.