Entertainment
Never forget
Two years after the 2015 earthquakes, many things have changed and much hasn’t. On the surface, it appears that Nepalis have ‘risen above’ the adversity and moved past the disaster, but it’s not necessarily true.Abha Dhital
Two years after the 2015 earthquakes, many things have changed and much hasn’t. On the surface, it appears that Nepalis have ‘risen above’ the adversity and moved past the disaster, but it’s not necessarily true.
The second iteration of Reflections 25.4.15, an exhibition based on the stories of ten people affected by the 2015 Earthquakes, is coming to a close at Nepal Art Council, Babarmahal. Embracing multimedia storytelling—with fine art, photography, journalism and audio—the exhibit tries to invoke the sense that aids amount to nothing if they are not reaching the right people in the right places. It also puts light on the fact that rebuilding is not just a physical process, but also social and psychological.
A story on display that is likely to move the spectator is that of Santu Kumari Shrestha, who confides in her interview that there hasn’t been much difference in her life before and after the quakes.
A mother of three, her eldest son suffers from cerebral palsy, but she still doesn’t know what it is. Sanu’s community has outcasted her family because her son is deemed “possessed”. Her family of five, after losing their house to quakes and their lives to the stigma, still live in a one-room makeshift shelter.
Apart from Sanu, other stories on display, of both victims and experts, range from that of a National Reconstruction Authory official to a psychologist who promotes ‘hug to heal’, to two elderly friends who had to evacuate their village because of the constant threat of landslide.
Reflections 25.4.16 is the brainchild of Marli Gordon and Bhuwan Rokka, who also run an organisation called Nepali for Nepali, and Harry Morgan a reportage illustrator who at the time of the earthquakes, set about recording the events that unfolded through drawing.
This is the second year that the organisers have run Reflections. Last year there were 20 stories on display. This year there are only ten, each of which is portrayed in original or reproduced art, alongside photographs and an audio-interview.
Talking to the Post about the objective, co-director of Reflections, Marli, said: “I know the urgency has gone, but it’s depressing how no one has what they need and there’s no excuse for it. There are so many aid organisations, with so much money, but maybe the approach to disaster has to change. Rebuilding has to be done on a local and a personal level.” She added, “After this exhibition, even if people go home and just think about how much still has to be done, our goal has been met.”
The weeklong exhibition which began on April 25 will culminate on May 12 with an auction. At the auction 10 works by Nepali artists and international artists will be on sale.