Nepal’s largest festival of contemporary arts, Kathmandu Triennale (KT 2017), which kicked off on March 24, has now entered its last weekend of shows. Organised jointly by Siddhartha Arts Foundation and Belgium-based SMAK (the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art), the festival features works by 70 artists from 26 countries, which have been exhibited concurrently in eight venues around the Valley. This edition of the fest has been themed “My City, My Studio / My City, My Life.”

“On behalf of the KT 2017 team, I would like to thank all the participating artists for their hard work and commitment towards making Kathmandu Triennale a success,” reads a statement issued by Sangeeta Thapa, director of the fest. “Not only did the artists create great works of art, but also participated in encounters activities—in the form of workshops, talk programmes, master classes, portfolio reviews—which involved artists, art students and other members of the community.”

Set in motion by a performance art by Ashmina Ranjit, the fest saw works of a variety of range, by artists in the likes of Alice Fox (UK), Bart Lodewijks (Netherlands), Carole Vanderlinden (Belgium), Francis Alÿs (Mexico), Heide Hinrichs (Germany), Lee Kit (Hong Kong), and Nepali artists such as Bhuwan Thapa, Bikash Shrestha, Jupiter Pradhan, Kiran Maharjan, Laxman Bazra Lama and Manish Lal Shrestha, among many others.

Before the art jamboree closes this Sunday, the organisers have announced a host of programmes that will continue even after the official closing of the fest. The Opening Encounters Exhibition, slated to be held at Children’s Art Museum, in Hattisar, will kick off on Saturday and will run for a month. That same day, a special edition of the monthly Art Market is taking place at Yellow House, in Sanepa, also as part of the fest. A community acknowledgement programme will be held at Nayabazaar, Kirtipur, the venue where artist Amrit Karki’s giant mural, Rectangle, is on display. 

On Sunday, artist Manish Lal Shrestha’s work Project 1336 will be rallied from Nepal Art Council through Siddhartha Art Gallery to Maitighar Mandala, before the official closing of the event.